French Pancakes - Crepes - A Recipe with Variations

French pancakes - crêpes - are thin, crisp, lacy pancakes that are exceptionally delicious with all kinds of fillings... Another advantage of these pancakes is that they are easy to digest, which matters during the Hanukkah marathon :) We offer a basic pancake batter recipe and several variations, with useful tips for making authentic Crêpes françaises! 

Whisk together the sifted flour and eggs. While continuing to stir, add the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth, fairly thick, creamy batter. Use more or less water as needed.

• The amounts of water and eggs can be adjusted depending on whether you want thinner crêpes or thicker ones (more eggs).
• The crêpes will be more tender if you use butter in the batter (they will also release from the pan more easily)
• Sugar gives the crêpes a richer flavor; however, it also makes them more brittle when rolled up.
• If you add vegetable oil to the pan, the crêpes will stick!

Melt a knob of butter in a well-heated pan and pour in the desired amount of batter. For authentic Crêpes, the batter covers the entire pan; but you can adjust its thickness and how well it is cooked to your liking (the ideal option is to use a special electric griddle—a Crêpe maker).

Remove the cooked crêpes from the pan with a spatula and stack them (if they stick together, place parchment paper between them).

• Crêpes made without sugar do not stick to one another. There is no need to place parchment paper between them.
• If the batter has been left to stand before cooking, the first crêpes may have holes. Stir the batter before pouring it into the pan to prevent this.
• To keep the crêpes warm, stack them and cover with foil. You can also fry them in a pan after filling them (the "nalistniki" variation), or reheat them in the microwave.
• Unfilled crêpes can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for a month (before freezing, place the stack of crêpes in a freezer bag and remove any excess air before sealing). To defrost, leave the crêpes to thaw at room temperature before separating them.

Filling options:

• sprinkle the cooked crêpes with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon
• spread with chocolate or nut spread and fold into a triangle
• spread with marmalade and roll up
• wrap vanilla ice cream in a crêpe
• fill the crêpes with farmer cheese or spread with sour cream; et cetera...

bon appétit and have a happy holiday!