Crepes are easily the most favorite simple dish that my kids love to eat, over and over. There are tons of crepe recipes out there, but we stick to this one as it’s so easy to remember. I don’t even remember where this recipe came from, but somehow it became our family favorite.
Wondering what the “3-2-1” part stands for? It represents the ratio of ingredients to use. 3 units of milk, 2 units of water and 1 unit of vegetable oil. To be honest, 1 unit of oil is a bit too much, so I modified it to something like 0,5. The good thing is, since we have oil in the batter, there is barely any need to oil the pan anymore.
I’m gonna list the ingredients for one batch, but honestly, I pretty much always double it as these simple crepes really disappear within minutes 🙂 These crepes come out tender and soft and are extremely simple to make, try it!
Basic Crepes Ingredients
300ml (10oz) of whole milk
200ml (6,5oz) of water
50ml (3-4 tablespoons) of vegetable oil
450-500g (3 cups) of all purpose flour (00 type)
2 tablespoons of sugar (brown or white)
2 eggs
pinch of salt
TIP: You can also simplify this and use cups, so 3 cups of milk, 2 cups of water and half a cup of oil. This would be equal to a double batch, more or less.
How To Make Basic 3-2-1 Crepes
Watch the video or scroll down for step by step instructions:
1. Start by preparing all your ingredients, so you don’t have to run around the kitchen later on. It also made a nice photo, that’s why I aligned them all nicely like this 🙂
2. Put all ingredients into a large bowl and start whisking. It’s a good idea to start with the eggs and crack them first, to make sure no eggshells made it into the batter. Do not add all the flour at once, different types tend to work in a different way and you don’t want the batter to become too thick. You might need to ad more or less flour than what I listed in the recipe, based on what type of flour you use.
Call your kids in for help, they love to whisk with full power! 🙂
3. The final batter should be runny, but not as thin as water. It needs to spread out easily over the pan, but when it’s too watery, the crepes tend to fall apart or break. Add more milk/water or flour, when needed.
4. Heat your pan to medium high heat and splash a bit of oil into it. Remember that we already have oil in the batter, so do not add a lot of oil anymore. Just a little bit, so the crepes do not stick to the pan. Wipe the pan with a paper towel to remove excess fat. Keep the oily paper at hand, we will use it again to grease the pan a bit, once in a while.
5. Pour a soup ladle full of batter into the center of the pan, then rotate it to spread evenly. You want to reach a layer as thin as possible, but make sure the whole pan is covered. Having trouble spreading the batter evenly? It’s likely too thick and you need to whisk some more water or milk into it.
6. Wait until the top of the crepe is not “liquid” anymore, which should take about 1-2 minutes. The color will change when ready to flip.
7. Grab the pan, shake well to the sides for the crepe to release and flip it. You can also use a spatula or turner to flip the crepe.
8. Transfer the crepe to a plate and repeat the process until all the batter is gone. I always layer the crepes on the same plate, this keeps them warm and makes them even softer.
9. The toppings are totally optional, you can use whatever you want. My kids love them with strawberry jam or Nutella. Once topped, you can either fold or roll them, my kids prefer the rolls 🙂
Some More Tips For This Recipe:
- You can change the water/milk ratio. If you prefer more milk, go for it. Just do not replace the water completely, somehow it makes the crepes softer when it’s added.
- Don’t have enough eggs? No problem, but use at least one, the batter sticks together better that way.
- Adding sugar is optional too, you can skip it, or add more.
- We used very simple toppings and no additional decoration. Feel free to go wild here! Add whipped cream, fresh or canned fruits, sprinkle it with cocoa powder… the sky’s the limit.
- Did you make more crepes than you were able to eat at once? You can store them covered in the fridge for 2 days safely.
And there you have it. The most simple, yet so delicious, crepes that ANYONE can make. Trying to lure your kids into cooking with you? This is a great recipe to start with!
More dessert recipes to try:
- Delicious almond flour peach cobbler from Stacey.
- Easy to make lava cake dessert that everyone loves.
- Authentic Tiramisu dessert recipe from my son.
- Easy to make no bake pecan pie cheesecake from Shruthi.
Basic Crepes – The Most Simple 3-2-1 Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 ml of whole milk
- 200 ml of water
- 50 ml of vegetable oil
- 450-500 g of all purpose flour or 00 type
- 2 tablespoons of sugar brown or white
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a large bowl and whisk properly. Start with the eggs to make sure there are no eggshells in the batter! Add flour in batches.
- The final batter should be runny, but not as thin as water. Add more flour or milk if needed.
- Heat a non-stick pan to medium high heat and grease it with a bit of oil.
- Use 1 smaller soup ladle full of batter per crepe.
- Flip the crepe once the top side is no more “liquid”.
- Cook approximately 2 minutes per side.
- Repeat the process 🙂
- Toppings are optional, we used strawberry jam and Nutella.
- Fold or roll the topped crepes.
