For years I shied away from making crepes. My first attempt at making them was shortly after I was married. I took a recipe that my parents had used on countless times, mixed up the batter and heated up my pan. I was using a small frying pan as I only had a limited set of pots and pans at the time and certainly didn’t have a crepe pan. I carefully poured in the batter and after a half minute things were looking good. Time to turn the crepe over to cook the other side.
I used my spatula to lift the edge and the crepe stuck to the pan. I tried a little harder and the crepe tore. OK. Not critical that it was perfectly round, so I decided to try another edge. Stuck. Tore. More sides….stuck…tore. I ended up with a pan of weak looking crepe parts.
I threw the pieces away and tried again. Same thing. Again and again I ended up with useless, mangled pieces. I gave up on making crepes for a very long time.
Many years later I obtained a crepe pan and, more importantly, some knowledge and tried again.
I now can make crepes pretty easily. Here is what I do:
- The pan must be at a medium heat.
- Spray the pan (even if it is non-stick) with PAM or other cooking spray for EVERY crepe.
- The first crepe almost always tears. Don’t worry about it.
- When you pour in the batter, lift the pan off the heat and rotate the pan so the liquid covers the pan completely. If you have holes, add a little more liquid to those spots. Place the pan back on the heat.
- Use a thin edged spatula when trying to get under the edge. Flip from the pan if you are comfortable, else make sure your spatula is big enough to support the crepe during flipping.
This recipe is the base for many things. Fill with whatever you want (chicken in cream sauce, strawberry pie filling, etc..).
Crepes contain very basic ingredients.
I used 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe. Use the basic crepe as a building block for something better, like blintzes or my breakfast lasagna.
Crepes – basic
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 egg and 1 egg yolk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp butter melted butter
Directions:
Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Add salt, eggs, and 1/2 of the milk.
Stir with a wire whip until smooth. Add the remainder of the milk and melted butter or oil.
All the ingredients may be put into the blender for 10 seconds and use immediately – or if prepared by hand, allow it to rest for 1 hr so that milk and flour will be well blended.
The batter may be prepared for later use and will keep in the refrigerator all day. If it is left for the next day, it may need to be thinned with 2 more tbsp milk.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
Hi, Before I pour the batter in the pan, besides spraying pam in the pan, I also add some butter to brown the crepe & add flavor to the crepe. I do not put butter in each time I make a crepe, depending on how the crepes are working in the pan, I wait until the 4th or 5 crepe to butter the pan again. I do not make crepes often, but when I do, I make several dozens and freeze them. I put wax paper b/w each on and then put the cooked crepes in a tupperware container. Pat
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I never knew that crepes were such a hard thing to cook.
I had my first crepe 2 years ago, my Father was watching the food network and decided that would be a good breakfast.
I ve been making them ever since. Never had a rough time or a tough moment. I have used non stick pans every time, so I don’t know if that has something to do with it, or if I have just been a victim of luck.
Anyways what do you fill your crepe with? Typically I will use fruit and Nutella but everyone has a different favorite filling and I’m always interested in hearing what it is.
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Thanks for the recipe…my mom made the best crepes and I never did get her to show me. I love them just rolled up with brown sugar. We called those brown sugar pancakes 🙂 I’ll have to dig out the pan that she always used.
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I’m going to do this…thank you!
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You have made me hungry. Now I have to decide if I’ll make crepes for dinner or dessert.
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It helps to let the batter rest for at least an hour.
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This is a very simple solution to what seems sometimes to be a nerve wrecking situation. I’m gonna try making crepes again using your recipe. Thank you!
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My wonderful husband made these for me yesterday…they were perfect! I rolled them with brown sugar and they were (almost) as good as the ones my mom made.
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I was just thinking of making crepes and happened upon your blog. Thanks for the great tips!
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