Authentic French Crêpes (Ready in 15 Minutes)

This easy crêpe recipe makes thin and flexible crepes with a restaurant-level quality. It’s an easy recipe, made with simple ingredients, and ready in under 15 minutes. I’m a crepe fan because I’ve spent years making crepes in our family restaurants in the foothills of the Vosges mountains. So you can trust that this recipe has been tested many times over!

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French crepes, anyone? You might have tried some of my other classic French desserts like my floating island dessert, my madeleines, or my croffles, so it’s time for the classic of the classics. I am a French girl born and raised in France, so I am a fan of authentic French recipes and truly French crepes.

It’s typically French to serve sweet crepes for breakfast or snacks. But, savory crepes are also served in the French Brittany region as a meal filled with eggs, ham, and cheese. However, savory crepes are made with different flour.

• Sweet Crepe Recipe – Thin, golden in color, and made of all-purpose white wheat flour.
• Savory Crepes – Thicker, heavier, grey-brown in color, and made of buckwheat flour. Try my buckwheat flour crepes to make a savory crepe recipe.

It’s very easy to make a crepe batter crepe. All you need are 6 ingredients, a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a non-stick crepe pan.

The full recipe is just below, but be sure to keep reading after that for all my ingredient selection tips, cooking tricks, serving suggestions and much more!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Following is the full list of ingredients to make your perfect French crepe:

• All-Purpose Flour – Use white wheat flour. Other options are white spelt flour or white whole-wheat flour. For other flour options, try my Gluten-Free Crepes, Almond Flour Crepes, or Coconut Flour Crepes.
• Eggs – The classic recipe uses eggs. For a vegan version, try my vegan crepes.
• Whole Milk or skim milk for a lighter crepe. It will result in crispier crepes. You can also use dairy-free milk alternatives like almond milk, but it makes the crepes slightly crispier.
• Melted Butter – You can make crepes without butter. Simply replace with melted coconut oil or olive oil.
• Sugar or sugar-free alternatives like Monk fruit crystal sweetener or erythritol.
• Vanilla Essence – The crepe batter is flavored with vanilla extract or orange blossom flower water.

Making The Batter

1. Add the flour, eggs, salt, vanilla extract, melted butter, and sugar into a large mixing bowl (photo 1). 
2. Use a whisk or an electric mixer to gradually beat the milk until a smooth batter forms with no lumps (photo 2). A crepe batter is always thinner than a pancake batter recipe, and that’s normal. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the non-stick crepe pan.

Spreading The Crepe Batter

3. Oil the pan with an oil spray or melted butter (photo 3). It takes time and practice to perfectly tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread your batter evenly around the pan. First, I recommend pouring no more than 1/4 cup of crepe batter (photo 4). Next, make sure the crepe pan is very hot – preheat over medium heat for a few minutes.
4. Then, tilt and swirl the pan in a circular motion at the same time you pour the batter –  as you see me do in the picture above. The faster you tilt and rotate the pan, the better the crepe batter spread. As a result, it will cover the crepe pan surface with a thin layer that results in the most beautiful thin, and crispy French crepes.
5. Once the crepe is lightly brown, use an offset spatula to loosen the sides and flip the crepe. Finally, keep cooking the crepe on the other side for 1 minute.
6. Store the cooked crepes on a plate and repeat with the remaining batter.

Carine’s Tips

What are the tricks on how to make a perfectly thin and crispy French crepe? Let me tell you my secrets.

• Choosing The French Crepe Pan – The skillet you use makes a big difference in how the crepe will cook and how thin you can spread the batter. You must use a non-stick pan for the best results. It will work in a regular pan, but you will never get such a thin crepe. Otherwise, use a pancake griddle, but it is more difficult to create beautiful round-shaped crepes on a griddle.
• How To Fold A French Crepe – After you cook the crepe, bring it to a plate, add fillings and toppings and fold it. Most French people roll their crepes, and we eat them with our fingers. Restaurant chefs folded crepes in a triangle shape. But whether you fold or roll, always add the fillings in the open crepes. Then put the crepe back into the pan to melt and warm the filling before folding and serving them. Here you go! You now know everything about authentic French crepes! However, don’t hesitate to ask me more by leaving a comment! I will love to help you design your best crepe parties!

Frequently Asked Questions

Find below my answers to the most common questions on this crepe recipe.

More Crêpe Recipes

If you like simple, healthy, authentic crepes recipes, you’ll also love these: