Description
Buttery and tender crêpes, that’s what I can promise you with my beloved family recipe! Crêpes are traditionally made with beer in the North of France. You can barely taste the beer but it gives an amazingly light and soft texture to crêpes.
Ingredients
Scale
- 75g butter (2.5 oz) (+ 1 tbsp to grease the pan)
- 300g flour (2 cups + 2 tbsp)
- 500ml whole milk (2 cups + 1 tbsp)
- 250ml pale ale (blond beer) (1 cup)
- 3 eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Make the crêpes batter. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat then set aside. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Gradually whisk in the milk and beer into the bowl (you can use a whisk, a hand mixer or a blender) and mix until fully incorporated. Repeat this process with the eggs and then melted butter. The batter should be as thin as light/single cream. You can sieve the batter into another mixing bowl with a strainer to get rid of any lumps. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the batter to rest in the fridge for at least 30 min.
- Prepare before cooking. Whisk the batter again for a few seconds and pour it into a big enough measuring cup/jug. I prefer not to use a ladle to pour batter into the pan as it takes too many precious seconds to add more batter if needed to cover the base of the pan. Crêpes batter cooks rapidly and I find it easier and quicker to pour it from a jug. Use whatever makes you feel more in control; whether it’s a measuring jug or a ladle.
- Pour batter into a pan. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat a crêpes pan (or a nonstick frying pan with low sides) over medium-high heat for a few minutes. To cook great crêpes the pan shouldn’t be smoking hot, but still pretty hot (like for a steak). Brush the pan with melted butter. Now holding the pan with one hand and the jug with the other, pour enough batter into the center of the pan to cover ¾ of its base. Then swirl the pan around, tilting it until the batter covers the whole base of the pan. A crêpe should be very thin.
- Cook the crêpe. Cook the crêpe for 2 to 3 min, until the edges start to crisp up and brown and the center has set and turned golden. You can check the color of the crêpe by gently lifting the edge with a spatula and having a quick look. Turn the crêpe over with a spatula. You can do the whole ‘flipping’ with the pan method but the outcome is less predictable. Sometimes I just grab the crêpes and turn it using my hands because I can’t be bothered. As long as you wait for the crêpe to have set enough before turning, you’ll be fine. Cook the other side for less long, about 30 seconds to 1 min.
- Repeat the process until all the batter is used. I follow the ‘pan’ method to keep the crêpes warm (check above in the post). In my family we brush the pan with butter between each crêpe. It’s not a necessity since it’s a non-stick pan BUT it makes them extra soft and buttery and who wouldn’t want that? If you’re having crêpes anyway it’s time to be extra!
Notes
You can keep crêpes batter for up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can keep cooked crêpes, placed in a plate covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 171
- Fat: 6.2g
Keywords: french breakfast, beer crepes