Crêpes, those deliciously thin pancakes, are a favourite in France… whether served with fruit or eaten simply with a whisper of Nutella or a good squeeze of lemon and a dusting of sugar. Crêpes are easy to buy ready made or can be prepared in a batch and frozen for use at another time…
Wini Moranville, author of The Bonne Femme Cookbook, has the best and easiest crêpes recipe..
To make the prefect crepe…
Makes 12 7-inch crêpes
For the crêpes
3/4 cup 2% or whole milk
1/2 cup water
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional melted butter for the pan
Pinch salt
1. Place the milk, water, eggs, flour, melted butter, and salt in a blender in the order given. Pulse until blended, scraping down the sides of the blender container once. Refrigerate batter at least 1 hour and up to 48 hours. (This allows the bubbles to settle out so the crêpes are less likely to tear during cooking.)
2. If the batter has separated during refrigeration, stir it gently to blend. Because each crêpe needs to cool individually on a plate, set four plates (7 inches in diameter or larger) on a countertop, ready and waiting to receive the just-made crêpes.
3. Brush the bottom of a 6- to 7-inch nonstick skillet with butter to coat it lightly. Heat over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into hot pan quickly swirling pan to coat the bottom of the pan with batter. Return to heat and cook until lightly browned on bottom and crepe flips easily, about 30 seconds. Using a thin pancake turner or heatproof spatula, flip crêpe and cook about 30 seconds more.
4. Slide crêpe out of pan and onto one of the plates. Repeat with remaining batter, buttering pan only if necessary. (Reduce heat to medium if crêpes brown too quickly.) Once you’ve made four crêpes, you can start stacking the cooled crêpes, freeing up a plate for stacking the next one hot out of the pan.
To Freeze crepes… Stack them between sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper. Cover them with plastic freezer wrap and freeze. Thaw the stack in the microwave 9about 1 minute) or overnight in the refrigerator. Then re-heat each crepe individually, either in a pan on the stovetop for a few seconds or in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
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and for a sweet addition… Wini suggests…
Strawberry – Caramel and Marscarpone Crêpes
Makes 6 servings
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
Make crêpes as directed and keep 6 crêpes warm, loosely covered with foil, in a low oven while you prepare the filling ingredients. In a small saucepan, heat the caramel sauce until pourable cosistency. In a chilled mixing bowl, beat heavy cream, marscarpone and sugar until stiff peaks form. To serve, spread about 3 tablespoons of the marscarpone cream over one half of the crêpe. Fold crêpe in half, then in half again to create a wedge-shaped piece. Spoon the fresh strawberries over part of the crêpe; drizzle caramel sauce over strawberries. Repeat with remaining crêpes and serve.
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for more ideas about crêpes… 50 Savoury and Sweet Recipes
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I look forward to trying out your recipe this week Vicki.
They look absolutely delicious. I had no idea you could freeze them!
Paul
I make this exact recipe every morning – fresh crepes for my daughter and she loves them with nutella and fresh berries. I know that it might just be a phase, but I want to savour the memory of these mornings.
They remind me (and hopefully my daughter) to begin the day with a little luxury!
pve
those look beautiful! I’ve never had much luck with crepes. They tasted good, but looked horrible!
I’m surprised that stack of golden crepes has not disappeared already, so tempting!
I wonder how your crepes would taste compared to Palatschinken, the Viennese version. The batter recipe is almost identical (sans butter, though). There must be something in the way one flicks the pan or so that accounts for the difference in taste.
Crepes are one of our staple foods. We recently had a wonderful chicken and mushroom crepe at a little restaurant in Denver. Will need to try the Strawberry Caramel you mention. Thanks!
Vicki,
I’m just old enough to remember the crepe pans that took the U.S.A by storm in the seventies. I love crepes and will definitely try this recipe.
Have a good week.
Karen
I didn’t know about letting the batter rest! Thanks for the tip!
Sounds very Yummy!
xo, Lissy
YUM!! My daughter likes to try her hand at crepes – so will be passing this on to her and will hopefully be the recipient of her efforts!!
Oh yum! I’ve been in Ireland for 2 weeks (follow my travels on my blog!) but have missed these little doses of France you deliver so beautifully, Vicki. I’ll have a lovely time catching up with you this week.
Have you and David Leibovitz talked today, Vicki?
He wrote a post about a most scrumptious hazelnut chocolate spread someone makes from scratch in Paris. And now this story about crepes. Crepes and homemade Nutella. There is no better match in the world. It is only 7:00am in Seattle, but I am ravenous already 
Bonne semaine! Veronique
… My mistake. David’s spread does NOT include chocolate. That makes it even more intriguing, of course, and I am positively certain it would taste delicious on your crepes, non?
You brought back some good memories Vicki with this crepe post today. There was a chain of crepe restaurants in all the malls in the 70′s and my shopping cohorts and I would go there after a day of shopping. We would spend our last $10.00 (married student days) for a plate of peach crepes, sometimes chicken, but always delicious and fun. I used to make them but always had trouble with the well-executed flip so half didn’t make it to the plate. I could try them again and maybe I will. Chat tomorrow? Much love XO
I probably won’t make these but I’ll pass along to my daughter who will!
V
Vicki-
Thank you for sharing this!! I love crepes, and especially love them for dessert.
Trying this one today. I too cook many at the time.
Teresa
xoxo
I adore crepes + will dive right into this recipe. Thank you for stopping by my blog again-(the white animals are such fun) xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
This is the best cookbook. Although, I have not made the crepes all the recipes that I have made are delicious. I am making the pork chops with mustard caper sauce tonight and madeleines.
my mouth is watering… i can taste them now! xx
Though i’m not sure there is such a thing as a ‘whisper’ of nutella as far as the french are concerned – well in this neck of the woods anyway. It even gets eaten direct out of the jar!!
Vicki, I think that your crepes paried with Sharon’s strawberry jam would be the most deliciously decadent treat! Yum! XO
Love crepes with all sorts of fillings but for some reason never acquired the taste for nutella. I first had it in the mid 70′s while in Italy. A jar of organic peanut butter will be gone faster than the jar of nutella in my house. Wondering if something is wrong with our tastebuds.
Oh thank you for this Vicki, especially the part about freezing them. It’s difficult to cook for friends and have them starving for the next crepe, even if you have two pans going, and, God forbid, three, not to mention the mess afterwards if you don’t have enough help on a given day.
Making ahead, I love that.
I love that you shared this Vicki…one day soon I’m going to try these! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
xo Mary Jo
Oh yum! I’m def saving this recipe and trying soon!
xo . trina
Yummy just made a load of pancakes for my daughter & her girlfriends last weekend will have to try out these recipes i love Crepes
)
Oh yum. Crepes were a favorite of my husband’s. He was the only one in the family to make them and loved them with fresh strawberries. Is there a more versatile food? Shiree’
Hi Vicki—Thank you a million. I’m going to try it this week-end.
Have a super week!!
Mary
These look delicious and I love the photo. Gorgeous. My French husband has a little secret… he puts a bit of beer in the batter. And his crepes are always perfect! And try squeezing fresh lemon on the crepe when it is almost cooked and then sprinkling sugar on top of that. No need for anything else. Bliss!
I would highly recommend not using water in your recipe
Vicki this recipe is wonderful…my crepes turned out beautiful. I let the batter rest over night!