This French crepes recipe will inspire your wanderlust! Enjoy a taste of France in your own home kitchen, courtesy of Samantha from 9to5 Nomad.
Are you ready to say ‘bonjour’ to a new, easy meal?
French-style crepes are one of the easiest foreign cuisines to master and are incredibly versatile.
Inspired by my own homestay in France, I’m excited to share this French crepes recipe with you.
Find out how I came to master the art of crepe making and follow along with the recipe below to make them at home!
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My French Crepes Story
My first international trip was to France back in 2008. I was 16, and so excited to experience ‘French food’.
I had escargots and Julia Child in mind.
However, my high school budget didn’t allow for the finer things, so I spent many a meal enjoying food from the street vendors while lounging in parks.
While street food isn’t always my cup of tea, dining in this way opened my eyes to one of my favorite meals today: crepes.
My trip was planned for me in three sections. I spent the first 5 days exploring Paris with my classmates., Then, I had a week in a homestay to immerse myself in French culture. I finished with another 5 days with my classmates in Reims and Strasbourg.
You can imagine my delight when I got to my homestay and realized that crepes were not just a street-side delicacy, but SUPER easy to make at home.
Not only that, but they’re super easy to get creative with, turning them into a breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack food.
In my week-long homestay, I learned how to make delicious French crepes. Not only that, I even learned how to flip them in the air!
What are French Crepes?
Think of crepes as the cousin to the American pancake.
In fact, American pancakes only have one more ingredient than crepes do, although the proportions of ingredients between the two are also slightly different.
A crepe, or super thin pancake, is conveniently made up of ingredients that most people have in their kitchens already.
Because the batter does not include sugar, you can use crepes as the base for a sweet or savory meal.
A Foolproof French Crepes Recipe
(For Sweet or Savory Crepes!)
Okay, so now that your taste buds are activated, you probably want to know how to make French-style crepes.
The good news is, they are super simple and take only a few minutes to whip up.
If you’re a Wanderful member, you can watch the full video tutorial right here!
French Crepe Ingredients
You will need:
- 1/2C milk (dairy or other)
- 1/2C water
- 3T butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1C flour
- Pinch of salt
Equipment Needed
To make crepes, you’ll only need a few pieces of equipment. Before you start, be sure that you have:
- A large bowl
- A whisk or fork
- A nonstick pan or griddle
- A spatula to flip your crepe
Directions for Making French Crepes
The first step is to make your batter. I recommend adding each ingredient to a large mixing bowl in the order they are listed above.
I’ve found that if you add the flour first, the batter gets chunky, and we want to avoid that.
Continue to beat the batter until smooth. The batter should be thinner than when you make American style pancakes.
Next, we’ll heat a lightly oiled griddle or pan over medium-high heat.
My stovetop does well on about a 7/10 heat, but it’s electric and every stove is different. It might take a few tries to get your temperature and timing down.
Once your pan or griddle is hot, we’ll scoop about ¼ cup to ½ cup of batter onto the surface. I like to use the ½ cup that I used to measure out the milk and water.
If you are using a pan, you can pick the pan up and let the batter flow to the edges. A circular pan will help to create a more uniformly shaped crepe.
The goal is to have the batter coat the surface evenly.
The next step is to wait.
This is a perfect time to put a few of your ingredients away, but make sure to leave a measuring cup out to scoop batter for your next crepe.
It should take about two minutes for the crepe to cook on the first side.
After about two minutes, loosen it with a spatula and turn the crepe to the other side. It should sit on the second side for about 1 minute.
That’s it! You’ve probably only spent a few minutes in your kitchen, and you already have your first crepe!
I strongly recommend adding toppings right away and serving your crepes warm.
Serving Your Crepes
Perhaps the best thing about crepes is how versatile they are. You can make them sweet or savory, or even get creative and add cinnamon or other spices to the batter.
A few of my favorite crepe combos are:
- Sweet: Nutella & banana
- Sweet: Peanut butter & jelly
- Sweet: Butter & sugar
- Sweet: Mascarpone & strawberry
- Savory: Ham & swiss cheese
- Savory: Arugula, feta, and lox
- Savory: Tomato, balsamic, and mozzarella
- Savory: Spinach & mushroom
Notes on Crepe Presentation
As you serve your crepes, you get to be a little creative. Here are some of my ways to jazz up the presentation:
Drizzles – If your crepe is filled with tomatoes and mozzarella, then you might want to consider drizzling some balsamic on top to make it prettier.
Toppings – I recommend putting anything ‘bulky’ on the outside of your crepe. For example, if you’re having a banana and Nutella crepe, spread the Nutella inside and top it off with the bananas.
How to fold your crepe – You might want to fold your crepe burrito-style, roll it up tightly, or fold it into quarters. It all depends on how you want to top it off and plate it. In Paris, they’ll often fold a huge crepe into quarters then put it in a wax paper cone for you to eat on the go.
Crepe bowls – If you want to serve your crepe open-faced, you may want to put it into a bowl, then fill it with your toppings. This is a great way to add flair to a salad or even put ice cream inside.
Feature image by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash
Following this easy French crepes recipe brings a piece of Paris into your home. How did yours come out? Tell us in the comments!
