Easy Peasy Crêpes (French Pancakes)

Easy Peasy Crêpes (French Pancakes) Hero

5 from 1 vote

Easy Peasy Crêpes (French Pancakes)

Crêpes have a reputation for being difficult to make – but not with this Easy Peasy Crêpes recipe! Make perfect crêpes every time with my tricks and tips. Perfect for pancake day… or any time you fancy French-style pancakes.

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Pudding

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings crêpes

Calories 101kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

250 g plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
500 ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
Oil for frying
Toppings of your choice

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Place the plain flour and salt in a mixing bowl and mix together thoroughly (to ensure the salt is evenly distributed).
Measure out the milk in a measuring jug and add the 3 eggs and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Use a balloon whisk to mix the milk, eggs and oil together thoroughly.
Pour the liquid into the flour slowly, whisking constantly to ensure the flour and liquid are well combined. You should end up with a smooth pancake batter that is roughly the consistency of single cream.
Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes. When you come back to it, whisk it again to ensure everything is still well combined. It should now be a little thicker – more like the consistency of double cream.
Put 1 teaspoon of oil in a crêpe pan (or large frying pan - see Note 1) and place on a medium-high heat for 1 minute. Swirl the oil so it evenly coats the base of the frying pan and put the frying pan back on the heat.
Pour 1 ladleful (See Note 2) of pancake batter into the crêpe pan and swirl so the batter coats the base of the pan, but doesn’t go up the sides.
Place the frying pan back over the heat and allow the pancake to cook for roughly 15 seconds.
Using a crêpe spatula (See Note 3) lift up one edge of the pancake to see if it is looking nicely cooked / a light golden brown.
When the pancake is cooked nicely on the bottom, either toss the pancake or use the spatula to turn the pancake over. (The pancake should come away easily from the pan when cooked, but if it doesn’t, simply use your spatula to loosen it.)
Cook the pancake for about 15 seconds on the second side.
Again, you can use the spatula to lift up a corner and check it is nicely browned.
When the pancake is cooked, tip it out onto a plate and place the frying pan back over the heat.
Pour in about ½ a teaspoon of oil and swirl. Put the pan back on the heat and immediately pour in 1 ladleful of pancake batter into the frying pan and swirl.
Repeat the above process to make the second pancake.
Continue until you have used up all the pancake batter.
Serve with toppings of your choice.

Notes

A bad pan is probably the biggest reason for pancake-related disasters! If you possibly can, I recommend you get a good crêpe pan. This is the one I use: Tefal Non-Stick 25cm Crêpe Pan* A proper crêpe pan is designed for the job and will make it that little bit easier. But a regular frying pan will work almost as well, so long as it’s a good non-stick one. If it’s cheap or old, your pancakes will most likely stick and you’ll end up with a right old mess!
I find a a soup ladle* is the best way to get just the right amount of batter into the frying pan each time. My soup ladle holds exactly 50ml (1¾ floz / ¼ cup) of batter, which is the perfect amount for 1 pancake. If you don’t have a soup ladle, you will need to find something else in your kitchen that will enable you to measure out 50ml each time, or judge it by eye. (If you have cup measures, you can use the ¼ cup.)
I find a specially designed, long and thin crêpe spatula* to be the perfect tool to use to lift up the corner of each pancake to check if it’s done and also to flip the pancake if (like me!) your pancake tossing skills are not too good. But if you don’t have one, you can use a fish slice*.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition