Like most recipes, with a little practise making crepes becomes easy. Anyone can make homemade gluten free crepes if they want. Someone in your house will have fun stuffing, rolling, folding and stacking them. Don't wait for a special occasion, making crepes is as easy as making pancakes so just do it.
Serve crepes for breakfast, lunch dinner or dessert.
Almost every European country has a version of crepes. Palatschinken is the crepe made in Germany and Austria, Ukrainian people make nalysnyky, blintzes come from Russia and in Czech they eat palačinky. The list goes on and the recipes vary, but the main message is that if all these people can make crepes, you can make them gluten free.
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🥣 Ingredients
Typical North American pancakes are made with a leavening agent, like baking powder, which makes them thick. When you're making crepes, thin is in!
- milk (2% or whole milk)
- eggs
- butter
- EGFG gluten free flour blend (sweet rice flour, potato starch, sorghum flour, millet flour)
- oil for cooking
See recipe card for exact amounts.
🍳 Instructions for Making Perfect Crepes
I hadn't made crepes for years and after only a few tries I mastered the technique in my well used non-stick pan. Here are my tips for success.
- The pan should be quite hot before you start.
- Use a tiny amount of oil and wipe the pan with a paper towel before you cook each crepe. This evenly greases the pan plus picks up any flecks of batter from the last crepe.
- Use a measuring cup to pour the same amount of batter in the pan each time. You'll save a few seconds when you know you're pouring it all in the pan and that's the time it takes for the next step.
- Quickly swirl the pan so the batter covers the entire bottom.
- Use the thinnest flipper you have to easily flip the crepes without tearing them.
🥣 Substitutions
EGFG gluten free flour blend - If for any reason you can't use my everyday blend, work at finding a substitute. It takes trial and error but once you have a reliable blend, that works in most of your baking, it's a game changer. Just don't try and make it work in every recipe.
Rice Free - I haven't found the right combination of flour for the perfect rice free crepe, yet! These buckwheat crepes are best with a savoury filling but if you're looking for a rice-free crepe for a sweet filling just keep trying. Use the flours you can tolerate, learn as you go, and ask me questions along the way.
Dairy Free - Yes, substitute a plant based milk substitute for cow's milk.
📖 Variations for Gluten Free Crepes
Just like pancakes the amount of sugar varies among crepe recipes but using a different filling will make the most significant difference in your dish. Mix it up!
- Fold crepes in four and sprinkle with white sugar or icing sugar. Top with fresh fruit if you like.
- Spread each crepe with your favourite jam or even Nutella then fold in four or roll them up.
- Fill with freshly whipped cream, with or without fruit, then roll or fold as desired. Mine were made for dessert so I filled them with whipped cream and drizzled homemade strawberry sauce over them.
- Homemade pastry cream or this easy vanilla cream would be a fancy filling for a fancy dessert.
- Make an impressive crepe cake by spreading any filling on each crepe and stacking as many as you want for the desired size of cake. You'll find my tips for that in this post, Gluten Free Crepe Cake.
- Traditional French savoury crepes are made with buckwheat flour (a safe gluten free flour) but a crepe is a bank canvas. Fill any crepe with anything you want!
One recipe, endless variations. That's what gluten free cooks love!
🥣 Equipment
A crepe pan isn’t necessary but they do have some features for easy cooking. If your family loves crepes, or you're looking for a gift, here are some ideas.
- Cuisinart’s Classic non-stick 10-inch crepe pan.
- This high-end 10-inch Ceramic Nonstick Crepe Pan with a larger edge on one end.
- An electric crepe maker with batter spreader and wooden spatula.
- A heavy Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron Crepe Pan.
💭 Top Tip
Pay attention to the heat setting on your stove so you can repeat what works. Get some help, use two pans on different elements and learn more about your stove and your pans. I made my crepes with two regular non-stick pans. I had them both on the stove at the same time and was able to work efficiently, stay focused and figure out the tips I shared above.
Homemade Gluten Free Crepes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups milk (2% or whole milk)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 1¼ cups EGFG gluten free flour blend*
- 2 tablespoon sugar (or 2 teaspoon for less sweet crepes)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
- Whisk together milk and eggs. Add melted butter, stir and set aside.
- In a large bowl mix flour, sugar and salt.
- Add egg mixture to the flour and whisk until evenly mixed.
- Heat 9-inch non-stick pan over medium-high heat until hot. Take the time to determine the exact setting on your stove to fully cook the crepe without over browning.
- Pour about ¼ cup batter into the hot pan. Immediately tilt and swirl the pan so the batter coats the entire surface. Cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Flip crepe, cook for another 1½-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Put pan back on heat, add a small amount of oil as needed. Use a folded paper towel to wipe away excess oil and any flecks of crepe left behind. Do this after each crepe is cooked.
- Continue cooking until all the batter is used.
Notes
- Fill with whipped cream and strawberries. Roll up and serve for dessert.
- Sprinkle with sugar or maple syrup. Fold and serve.
- Spread with jam and roll or fold. Top with whipped cream or sprinkle with icing sugar.
- Spread with Nutella and top with sliced banana or strawberries. Roll or fold.
Nutrition
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New here? Overwhelmed or frustrated with gluten free? Get started with this guide to understanding gluten free flour. I guarantee, you can learn to cook gluten free food everyone wants to eat.
🎉 Exciting news! Adventures in a Gluten Free Kitchen, a membership for gluten free cooks who want to learn together, is here. Click to learn more!
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