Here are 10 tips for making perfect crepes, light and supple, every single time. Crepes are perfect for anytime of the year, any occasion, and especially on Crêpes Day aka La Chandeleur, every year on February 2nd.

10 Tips for Making Perfect Crepes

  • Skip the batter resting time: in a crepe recipe, the batter usually needs to rest for a couple of hours before you proceed to the flippin’. If you don’t have so much time ahead, just gently heat the milk until lukewarm before mixing it with the flour. This way, you can use the batter straight away.
  • No lumps: to avoid lumps, simply sift your flour beforehand.
  • The secret: to enhance the taste of your sweet crepes, add a tablespoon of Grand Marnier, Kirsch, Cognac or Rum in the dough.
  • To get a light texture: for light crepes, replace the milk with beer or cider in the dough. Do not worry if you don’t like alcohol, the alcohol evaporates when cooking.
  • Flavor the crepes batter: have fun flavoring your crepes, adding some cinnamon in the dough, vanilla, orange blossom, lemon or orange zest.
  • Spice things up: to give your crepes a pretty orange color and a subtle taste, infuse 1/4 teaspon saffron with a tablespoon of cognac or rum, and use it in your batter. You can also grate a tonka bean instead.
  • Find your favorite topping: powdered sugar, honey with lemon, melted chocolate or chocolate spread, jam, salted caramel … there are many ways to garnish your crepes! You can even make them in a savory version (just remember not to sweeten your pancake batter in this case).
  • Flip it like the French: flipping the crepes is a very fun French tradition. Can you do it too? ; -) Send us your videos (best in slow motion).
  • Roll, fold and style: you can simply wrap your pancakes and enjoy them as they are, fold them in four, or shape them into beggar’s purses, etc.
  • Serve with a bowl of cider: the French tradition calls for a bowl of cider to drink while enjoying the crepes. For kids, just serve a glass of milk or a hot chocolate.

Crepes recipes

Here are just a few crepes recipes from the blog with different topping ideas. Because we all need a basic crepes recipe, I will start with this one. Then of course there are many others to try. Enjoy and have fun. You will soon master the French crepes as well!

Easy French Crepes

Easy French Crepes. My very best way to enjoy crepes is with sugar and lemon juice. Quite simple, right? The crepes have to be very thin, light, and supple.

Chocolate Praline Crepe Cake. The wonderful gigantic chocolate praline crepe cake comes in so many layers!

Salted Caramel Apple Crepes Rolls. A fancy fruity crepes recipe combining apples and caramel. Delicious!

Crepes Suzette. A classic French crepe recipe served with a delicious orange (or mandarin) butter and flambé with Grand Marnier.

Saffron Crepes with Rum. Add some extra taste to your crepes with this subtle version combining saffron and rum together. Sprinkle sugar on top or enjoy flambe with rum!

Spelt flour crepes are easy to make, with a perfect thin, light and supple texture and a mild, nutty flavor.

Spelt Flour Crepes. Spelt flour crepes are easy to make, with a perfect thin, light and supple texture and a mild, nutty flavor.

Best toppings for crêpes

My favorite crepe filling is and will always be the traditional sugar-lemon juice, with a little bit of butter. But there are so many other options, you can’t ever get tired of crepes!

Almond and Hazelnut Praline Paste. This very nutty spread is SO decadent, you can’t ever get enough of it!

Lemon Curd. Easy to make, creamy, and loaded with citrus flavors, lemon curd is always a hit!

White Chocolate Spread. This original spread is incredibly delicious and very easy to make.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. Better than Nutella and 100% homemade without palm oil. Learn how to make it too!

Dulce de leche is a thick, creamy caramel sauce made with condensed milk and sugar. This foolproof method is NOT the traditional recipe but it gives the best results with a minimal amount of time and attention.

Spiced pumpkin spice butter is wonderful spread on crepes. Super easy to make, with real pumpkin.

Pecan Spread. This healthy pecan spread is prepared with no dairy and no added sugar. Just the good stuff!

What about pancakes?

You can also make an American crepe party instead, using pancakes instead of crepes: discover my perfect fluffy American pancakes recipe, my lemon and poppy seed pancakes, and even my vegan pink pancakes!

Between crepes and pancakes, it is just a matter of taste and preferred texture (thin and supple, or thick and fluffy). You can garnish both of them the way you like. Whatever the one you choose, I wish you all a happy crepe party!