)
I must give my 86-year-old Grandmother all of the credit for this crepe recipe. This is her signature breakfast dish that she is kind enough to make for our entire family (all 25 of us) each time we get together. Our family has gotten so big that in recent years she got smart and started working on making our crepes weeks in advance. So she now brings big frozen pre-made batches of this delectable dish to satisfy everyone’s cravings, which means she can spend less time in the kitchen and more time playing with all of her great-grandkids!
All I did was slightly modify my grandma’s recipe to include whole-wheat flour and honey instead of sugar. I am thrilled to say that those minor changes barely changed the consistency of the batter, and the end product still tastes delicious. While I grew up eating these crepes for breakfast (there is only a tablespoon of sweetener in the whole batch) I think they are just as fabulous as a dessert, too. If you want to serve them for an after dinner treat try rolling them up with strawberries and whipped cream inside and top them with chocolate sauce. Alternately, you could put baked apples (seasoned with butter, honey and cinnamon) inside too. The possibilities are endless!
One last thing, I am not going to lie and say this is recipe is “easy” like most of the others I have posted. Making good crepes does take time and practice, but I assure you that it will be worth the effort if you just have a little bit of patience until you get it right. And be prepared to throw a few mangled ones out if it is your first time making them. Also, this is by far my oldest daughter’s most favorite breakfast and just the four of us will devour an entire batch. So if you want to impress your guests with this dish you may want to double the recipe (and once you get really good you could try to have two pans going at once). Good luck and enjoy!
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted + extra for cooking
- Put all ingredients in blender and mix well. Let stand about 15 minutes.
- Melt and swirl around a small pat of butter in an 8 or 10-inch frying pan over medium heat.
- Angle pan and pour enough batter on one side to thinly and evenly cover the pan. Very quickly swirl the batter around to cover the pan in one thin layer.
- Immediately use your cooking spatula to push down the thin edges of the crepe around the perimeter.
- After about 1 minute (and once it is golden brown on the bottom) carefully flip it over without tearing the crepe.
- Fry for 1 more minute on the other side (until it is golden brown as well) and then roll up each crepe.
Serve with 100% pure maple syrup.
Here are pictures of each step. Click if you wish to enlarge…
Have made this recipe for 3 Sundays in a row. My kids LOVE them and so do I. Looks like it’s become our Sunday morning breakfast tradition. Thank you!
Just curious on how your grandmother froze these. Did she put wax paper in-between or just stack them up when cooled and freeze in a bag? Thanks for sharing her recipe! It looks delicious!
Hi Lori. I actually roll them up and then freeze them. For that, I just wait for them to cool and then put them in a baggie or foil and either put them in my refrigerator for the next few days or freeze them. If I were going to freeze them unrolled, I would probably put a piece of wax or parchment paper in between each one. Jill
Hey Jill since it seems that you have frozen some. How is that you reheat them again?
Hi Sara. I usually try and defrost mine in the refrigerator the night before and then just reheat them in a toaster oven. Jill
i made a double recipe and loved them. my daughter and i are on a diet and dis is so ideal.i dont wanna deprive her as she is still young, so this a great way for her to feel like she is getting tasty foods. she loves them with fruit and i dont mind when she has it for breakfast and lunch as its a lot more healthier than the junk and processed foods.
thank you for the lovely recipe
Thank you for all of your recipes! These are so yummy! Mine ended up a little thicker because I am not yet able to successfully flip the thin ones. I’ll have to practice. I added a TB ground flax to the recipe. Then after letting it sit for 15 minutes I added chia seeds. I ate mine with berry sauce (your recipe) and sliced bananas.
I just made these crepes for my husband who LOVES crepes, and he didn’t even know they were whole wheat! And I didn’t tell him either. Thank you so much! They were tasty!
[...] Quinoa Flour Crepes Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real Food Whole-Wheat Crepes [...]
Can I use something other than milk? Like more water and half and half or something. I have no more milk and I’m going in to have my baby tomorrow and am trying not to have to buy more milk until after! If not, I can go get a little container, but I’m trying to not have to do that because it’s more expensive that way anyway! Thanks!
Hi Heather. You could try changing the liquids. I have not done it so I’m not sure how it will work. Jill
Just made these for the second time this morning and they get better each time as I’m able to make them thinner and crispier!! Picky almost 2 year old loves them as well (as long as she has pure maple syrup to dip them in!)
Thank you so much for sharing your family recipe, and making it healthy!! These will definitely be a breakfast (lunch, dinner, dessert) staple around here from now on!
Enjoying them with fresh organic blueberries and a maple syrup latte then off to the Farmers Market to replenish our egg and syrup supplies.
Amazing, delicious, healthy
I ate with blueberries just like the picture and tasty great
We had this for breakfast today-my kids ask for them often. I make a sauce with organic Greek yogurt and a bit of honey to serve with fresh strawberries, bananas, blueberries, etc. My kids love anything that’s “build your own.” I cook them in cast iron with a bit of olive oil in the beginning, and they are super easy to flip.
I make crepes gluten free dairy free for my son and they taste just as good. I use either almond or coconut milk with GF all purpose flour. He loves these.
How many crepes does this recipe typically make(or how many servings)?
HI Layne. Lisa estimates 12-15 crepes. ~Amy
hi! do you have the calories posted for your recipes?
Hello Ashley. No, sorry. We do not provide nutrition information on our recipes. There are tools available online to help you calculate, however. ~Amy
[...] our search for non-cereal breakfast foods, we gave the crepe recipe from 100daysofrealfood.com a try this morning. These were much easier than I was expecting based [...]
[...] Whole Wheat Crepes with Homemade Fudge (secret recipe from my friend, Nixon. She will not share!!) and Vanilla Ice Cream [...]
I bake a lot of whole spelt flour. do you think Spelt flour would work in this recipe? thanks. can’t wait to try them.
Hi Lisa. You should absolutely try spelt in this recipe and let us know what you thought! ~Amy
Hi! I when I make manicotti, instead of the store bought noodles, I make crespelles and fill them. The technique is the same and I have found that 2 T of “batter” is the perfect amount to swirl in a 6″ skillet. Cant wait to try these tonight!! Sliced bananas inside with berry sauce?? YUM!!
I made these for my family this morning with the berry sauce, and they came out fantastic. Thanks for the recipe.
[...] Recipe from 100 Days of Real Food. [...]