No.40 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Crêpes

Made famous by Ginette Mathiot

Photo: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From I Know How to Cook (Je sais cuisiner), 1932.

France's street food and home breakfast, made by the million on Candlemas every February. Mathiot's book taught generations of French families.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in I Know How to Cook.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (190 g) all-purpose flour
• Pinch of fine salt
• 1 tbsp sugar (leave out for savory crêpes)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
• 3 tbsp (42 g) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 1 tbsp rum or orange liqueur (optional)
• To serve: butter and sugar, lemon, jam, or Nutella

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and whisk them, slowly drawing in the flour.
2. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking, to make a smooth batter without lumps. Whisk in the melted butter and rum. It should be the thickness of heavy cream.
3. Cover and rest at least 1 hour at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge). This relaxes the flour so the crêpes are tender.
4. Heat an 8- to 9-inch crêpe pan or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and wipe with a little butter.
5. Lift the pan off the heat, pour in about 3 tablespoons of batter and immediately tilt and swirl the pan so the batter coats the bottom thinly. Pour any excess back.
6. Cook about 1 minute, until the edges lift and turn lacy brown and the bottom is golden. Loosen with a spatula and flip with your fingers or the spatula.
7. Cook the second side 30 seconds and slide onto a plate. Repeat, stacking the crêpes; butter the pan every few crêpes.
8. Serve with butter and sugar and a squeeze of lemon, or fold around jam or chocolate.

Chef's tips

• If the batter thickens as it rests, whisk in a spoonful of milk.
• Stacked and wrapped, crêpes keep 2 days in the fridge and freeze well.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot: get the book, No. 51 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

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