Classic French Crepes (Basic Crepes)

A complete guide on How to make Classic French Crepes (Homemade Crepes) – soft, buttery, delicious, and infinitely versatile as a sweet or savory option for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or dessert! 

A simple, foolproof crepe recipe for sweet or savory basic crepes!

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love French Crepes! Soft, buttery, versatile and maddeningly delicious, what’s not to love? Add this to your arsenal of easy recipes that will be loved by all.

What are crepes?

Crepes are the European cousin of American pancakes. They are larger, thinner and more delicate than pancakes, because the batter is also thinner with no leavening agent to give them any lift and make them fluffy like pancakes. They also taste very much like pancakes, but not fluffy. 

Here I’m going to show you how easy it is to make classic French crepes, and share some tips on making perfect homemade crepes!

Varieties of homemade French crepes

Crepes come in two varieties –

• Sweet crepes
• Savory crepes

Sweet crepes are made with regular wheat flour (all purpose flour), and are usually slightly sweetened with sugar. These are perfect for breakfast or dessert. These sweet crepes are typically served with sugar, syrup, fruits, chocolate (or Nutella), whipped cream, or even ice cream.

Savory crepes are traditionally made with buckwheat flour. These are naturally gluten free, and have a nutty flavor because of the buckwheat flour. They are typically served for lunch or dinner, but they also work just as well for breakfast/brunch too. Savory crepes can be filled with savory fillings like ham, cheese, bacon, eggs, vegetables (like mushrooms), herbs and other types of meat filling too.

Having said that, I grew up eating savory homemade crepes that were often made with regular all purpose flour (wheat flour). So you can use either type of flour to make sweet or savory crepes. It’s all about flavor and what you prefer at the end of the day. Personally, I prefer AP flour crepes over buckwheat flour crepes, and I also prefer unsweetened crepes over sweetened crepes (even for dessert).

How to make perfect French crepes

Homemade basic crepes are ridiculously easy to make, and difficult to mess up. The main ingredients for French crepes are flour, eggs and liquid (milk or water). According to Ruhlman, the ratio for these ingredients is 8 : 8: 4 (that is 8 oz of eggs or about 4 eggs, 8 fl oz of milk or 1 cup, and 4 oz of AP flour or scant 1 cup).

However, I find that this ratio gives me crepes that are a bit too eggy for my taste, so I add more milk and less eggs to my crepe batter.

The other difference in my French crepe batter is that I add just a little oil (or melted butter) to make the crepes even softer.

What if your crepes become rubbery? 

There are two reasons for crepes turning out rubbery – too much gluten (flour), or cooking the crepes too slow. My French crepe recipe however eliminates these two problems.

With a liquid to flour ratio of 4:1 in this recipe, there’s no risk of the gluten in the flour being overworked because of the increased amount of liquid present. Plus the resting time of 20 – 30 minutes for the batter also helps to keep the crepes soft.

If you’re using a whisk, mix the flour with about half of the milk to create a smooth thick paste. Then add the rest of the liquid and mix it in, to make a smooth pancake batter.

However, I prefer using a stick blender, because I can add all the ingredients into a large bowl or a jug and just blend it all until everything is smooth (this only takes a few seconds). And for perfect results, I recommend leaving the crepe batter to rest for a little while to allow the gluten to rest.

The crepes are then cooked on a skillet over medium heat, allowing the crepes to be cooked in just over a minute. This quick cooking time allows your homemade crepes to be soft and buttery, without drying out.

Frequently asked questions about making crepes

How to cook perfect French crepes

While there are fancy crepe pans in the market, you don’t need an expensive crepe pan to make PERFECT basic crepes. A regular non stick skillet / pan works just as well. You can use just a French skillet pan to make the crepes as well, just make sure that the pan is buttered well so that the crepes don’t stick. If you’re new to making crepes, a regular non-stick pan is the best option.

Here I used a 10 inch pan to make 10 inch crepes. But you can just as well use an 8 inch or 12 inch pan as well, depending on what you have at hand.

As a rule of thumb, here are the measurements I use to make classic French crepes in different-sized pans.

• 8 inch pan – about 3 tbsp of batter (about 45 – 50 mL)
• 10 inch pan – about 1/4 cup of batter (about 60 mL)
• 12 inch pan – about 1/3 cup of batter (about 75 – 80 mL)

This is enough to create a thin layer of crepe batter on the bottom of each of these pans.

When the pan is hot, brush the surface with butter or oil. I prefer using butter.

Add the measured batter into the pan. Swirl the pan as you add the batter. Work quickly, to spread the batter evenly around the pan all way to the edges, so that you have a smooth edge. Continue to swirl the pan (and occasionally shake it gently), to move the batter around and fill the middle of the pan as evenly as possible.

Once the bottom of the pan is evenly coated with the batter, place it back on the heat and cook.

Wait for browning edges, before you flip over the crepe for classic French crepes

At this stage, you have TWO OPTIONS 

• For extra soft crepes:
  • Only cook the crepe until the surface of the crepe is set and there are no dry spots (only takes about 20  – 30 seconds). Then gently lift the crepe off of the pan (be careful as the crepe will be really soft), and flip it over for just a few seconds on the other side, if you like.
  • However when I make crepes like this, I don’t cook the crepe on the second side at all.
  • This crepe will have very little browning (if at all).
  • This is how I cook crepes for Sri Lankan Fried Savory Rolls (Chinese rolls).

Extra soft crepes, with little to no browning. Only one side is cooked until the batter is set. DO NOT WAIT FOR THE EDGES TO BROWN. 

• For more traditional crepes:
  • Cook the crepes until the edges are starting to brown lightly, and they look a little crispy (about 40 – 50 seconds). Gently lift the crepe off of the pan, and flip it over for about 10 – 15 seconds on the second side, until you have caramelized brown spots.
  • This crepe will definitely have caramelization on both sides.
  • These are the kinds of crepes that are made at creperies and used in typical French crepe desserts.

When the crepes have been cooked, stack them up on a wire rack or plate.

When you’re ready to serve/eat the crepes, simply cover them with another plate on top and microwave for about 30 seconds. The top plate allows the crepes to heat through steam, so that they don’t dry out. Remove the top plate as soon as you’re done microwaving so that the crepes don’t become soggy. These basic crepes are best eaten warm.

The first crepe you cook is often the “tester”, mostly because this is the best way to tell if the pan is properly heated and buttered well. So you can just make a smaller crepe first up, without wasting too much batter.

Classic Lemon and Sugar Crepes

Crepes with lemon and sugar is a really classic way to serve French crepes. And it’s easy too!

Simply sprinkle some sugar over one half of a warm crepe, then fold it into quarters. Top with lemon slices, some extra sugar and whipped cream, and serve! I prefer to use vanilla sugar over regular sugar, because the vanilla adds another subtle layer of flavor to this dessert. You can squeeze as much lemon juice over the crepes as you want and even dust them with powdered sugar if you like.

These lemon and sugar crepes are a delightfully sweet, tangy, refreshing and simple dessert! The salt also complements this dessert perfectly, and is also a reason why I don’t like to sweeten my crepes too much.

Other filling ideas

Sweet fillings for homemade crepes

• My personal favorite – Nutella and banana
• Strawberries (or any type of berry) and cream
• Banana and caramel/butterscotch
• Any fresh fruit with cream
• Chocolate and strawberries
• Lemon curd, or passion fruit curd and whipped cream
• Ice cream, toasted nuts and chocolate sauce

Savory fillings for homemade crepes

• Chicken and mushroom filling
• Shrimp
• Ham and cheese
• Bacon and eggs
• Ham and eggs
• Omelette with herbs
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Curried meat filling to make Sri Lankan fried savory rolls (Chinese rolls)

How to store extra crepes, or make them ahead of time

I personally like to make the crepe batter the night before, and keep it covered in the fridge for next morning.

However, you can make the crepes ahead of time as well. Plus, if you make extra crepes, you can store leftover crepes for a later date too. Here’s how.

Can I make this recipe ahead of time?

Making crepes is a bit time consuming, so it’s definitely good news that you CAN make it ahead of time. 

To store these crepes, I like to layer each crepe between parchment paper, then wrap (or cover) the whole stack with plastic wrap, and store in an air-tight container. 

If crepes are exposed to air, they will dry out. So it’s important to keep them covered with plastic wrap to prevent this. 

Keep these crepes in the fridge for up to 3 days, and you can preheat the crepes in batches in the microwave (parchment paper is microwave-safe).  Make sure to set the microwave cook time to between 15 – 20 seconds at a time, to prevent the crepes from over-heating and getting soggy. 

Can I freeze crepes?

If you want to keep the crepes for longer than 3 days, then you can freeze them for later. When the crepes have cooled to room temperature, wrap them the same way as mentioned above, and place them in an air-tight container that is also freezer-friendly. This way, the crepes can be stored for up to 2 months in the freezer. 

Let them defrost at room temperature or in the fridge, and warm them in the microwave as needed. 

If you liked these classic French crepes, then you my also like these classic recipes,

How to make perfect Choux Pastry

Classic Chocolate Eclairs

Homemade Pancake and Waffle mix

Classic Pound Cake

Fluffy Pancakes & Pancake Mix

EQUIPMENT & TOOLS I USED FOR THIS RECIPE

Whisks – A good set of whisks is a must for all of your baking needs.

Blender – Any good blender will do. I use my Vitamix blender which is a pretty powerful blender. 

10 inch non stick pan – I used this non stick crepe pan for crepes, but you can use any non stick pan at home. 

Flat spatula – to easily flip the crepes