When I was in high school, my grandma gave me a crepe maker that she had had for years but had never really used - she thought that I might use it since I liked to cook and try new recipes. This appliance may not be the most attractive or modern one that I own, and the handle has been taped several times, but I have used it many, many times and it still makes a perfect crepe every single time!
There is actually a recipe printed on the crepe pan and that is usually the one that I use! I wish all of my appliances had a fail-proof recipe printed on the side...what a brilliant concept!
Crepes
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tsp lemon extract
Blend or mix ingredients well. (I usually just use a hand mixer, but have mixed this in my blender as well and it works great too.)
If you have a crepe maker, you can just pour the batter into the crepe pan and then dip the heated crepe maker into the batter. Hold upside down for a couple of seconds right above the pan, just until the batter stops dripping off, and then flip the crepe maker right side up. The crepes usually only take about 30-45 seconds to be totally cooked, and then they slide right off the crepe maker, beautiful, perfect and ready to fill with whatever yummy toppings you choose.
If you do not have a crepe maker, just pour enough of the batter into a non-stick frying pan (over medium heat) to make a very thin layer over the entire bottom of the pan. You can lift the pan up (off the burner) and rotate the pan to help swish the batter around, and you can use the back of a spoon to quickly spread the batter as well. The trick is to spread the batter into a thin circle before it cooks and you aren't able to spread it....and this happens within a few seconds, so you need to be quick.
Crepe Filling
- 8 oz pkg cream cheese
- 8 oz pkg Cool Whip
- 1-2 cups powdered sugar
Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth! Keep refrigerated until ready to use. I usually make this first and keep chilled until the crepes are all ready so that I can enjoy my crepes when they are still warm and fresh!
I don't always make this filling when we have crepes, but my whole family loves it! The wonderful thing about crepes is that everyone can customize their own! Any type of fruit is wonderful with this filling, but our favorites are strawberries, bananas, raspberries, blueberries and peaches. My husband spent a couple of years living in France (so he tends to be a little more particular about his crepes!), and one of his favorite crepe concoctions is just a little bit of lemon juice and sugar spread on the crepe...that's it! You can do butter with cinnamon and sugar, yogurt with fruit, Nutella, jam....it's all yummy!
Bon appetit!
