Make delicious, delicate, tender Sourdough Discard Crepes with crispy edges using a few simple ingredients and your sourdough discard. Serve them for breakfast with your favorite fruit fillings or fill them with savory fillings and enjoy them for dinner.
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What are crepes?
Crepes are thin pancakes made with eggs, flour, milk, butter and salt. They aren't as fluffy as pancakes because the batter doesn't include leaveners like baking powder and baking soda. They are a bit like a delicate flatbread that can be filled with both sweet or savory fillings.
This crepe recipe is quickly becoming my favorite way to use up my sourdough discard for breakfast! They are soft, and buttery and satisfy both my sweet and salty cravings.
Love breakfast recipes? Try my Crispy Overnight Sourdough Waffles, Sourdough Discard Buttermilk Pancakes or Sourdough Discard Pancakes.
Making crepes with sourdough discard
When incorporated into crepes, sourdough discard imparts a delicious tangy flavor that's not overpowering. Since you’re not using it as a leavener, you can use your discard straight from the refrigerator. There’s no need to feed it or activate it before mixing it into your batter.
Older discard will have a tangier, more acidic flavor than a freshly-fed sourdough starter. Both will work for this recipe, you’ll just get a slightly different flavor.
Mixing your batter too early may make your crepes too sour. I wouldn't recommend letting your batter ferment for more than 4 hours. I prefer to cook all of my batter and store my crepes. They heat up beautifully so you can make them ahead, and store them in the refrigerator for a quick and easy breakfast, snack or light meal.
Looking for more ways to use up excess sourdough starter? Check out my guide to Sourdough Discard for a collection of my favorite recipes.
What you need
- Large eggs: Binds the ingredients and imparts the signature spongey texture to crepes, I haven't tried an alternative that works well as a substitute.
- Sourdough discard: Don't have discard? Add 56 grams of water and 56 grams of flour to your batter.
- Cane sugar: I prefer using cane sugar whenever I can since it's produced more sustainably than granulated sugar, feel free to substitute granulated sugar or brown sugar if that's all you have in your pantry.
- All-purpose flour: keeps these crepes light and tender, you can substitute a small amount of whole wheat flour in the batter to add more flavor (for example, use 45 g all-purpose and 15 g whole wheat), but don't use all whole wheat or your crepes may become dense and rubbery.
See the recipe card for the full ingredient amounts.
Step-by-step instructions
Always start with a preheated pan! Your first won’t be the best or prettiest, this is totally ok. Each subsequent crepe will be better as you get comfortable with the process.
STEP 1. Whisk the eggs, milk, sourdough discard, sugar and melted butter together in a large bowl
STEP 2. Stir half of the all-purpose flour into the batter at a time to avoid lumps
TIP: Gradually whisk the flour in to prevent lumps in the batter.
STEP 3. Add in the salt and whisk until the batter is completely smooth
STEP 4. Prepare the toppings while your crepe batter rests
TIP: Let the batter rest for 30 minutes before cooking, this will allow air bubbles to subside and prevent your crepes from breaking apart while you fry them.
STEP 5. Cook the batter in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat for 1 minute on each side
STEP 6. Fill crepes with your choice of fillings
Tips for success
- Don’t let the batter ferment for too long or your crepes may become too sour and develop off flavors.
- Use a non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron pan, using a stainless steel pan may cause your crepes to stick and break apart.
- Wait until the first side is cooked before flipping your crepe, otherwise your crepe will stick to the pan and may rip.
Serving suggestions for sourdough crepes
One of my most treasured memories is eating a crepe sucre sprinkled with sugar and a squeeze of lemon sitting by a pond at a park in Lyon, France.
My favorite way to enjoy crepes is with cream cheese filling, and homemade fruit spreads, like blueberry preserves, raspberry preserves or cranberry jam.
- Ham and gruyere
- Smoked salmon, capers and crème fraîche
- Strawberries and nutella
- Peanut butter and bananas
- Chicken and pesto
- Spinach, artichoke and cream cheese
- Maple syrup, cinnamon sugar apples
Recipe FAQs
Crepes are thin pancakes made without any leaveners and usually served with fillings. They have an eggy and tender texture with crispy edges. While pancakes are much fluffier and are leavened using baking powder and sometimes baking soda. Pancakes are usually topped with sweet toppings like maple syrup, butter and fruit.
Crepes can be served hot or cold. I prefer crepes with savory fillings served hot. But sweet crepes can either be hot or cold.
Don't skip the rest period for your batter! This allows the gluten bonds that hold your crepes together to get stronger and the air bubbles to subside resulting in strong crepes that won't tear when you fill them!
Homemade filling recipes you may like
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Sourdough Discard Crepes Recipe
Equipment
- ladle
- 10-inch skillet or cast iron pan
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Ingredients
- 226 grams whole milk
- 3 egg large
- 113 grams sourdough discard
- 24 grams cane sugar
- 28 grams unsalted butter melted (plus more for cooking)
- 60 grams all-purpose flour
- 4 grams salt
Click US Customary to view volume measurements
Instructions
- Mix the wet ingredients: Whisk together the eggs, milk, sourdough discard, sugar and melted butter in a large bowl until no traces of egg yolk remain and the discard is dissolved.226 grams whole milk, 3 egg, 113 grams sourdough discard, 24 grams cane sugar, 28 grams unsalted butter
- Stir in the dry ingredients: Stir half the flour in and whisk until no dry bits of flour remain. Add the remaining flour and salt and whisk until the batter looks smooth and cohesive.60 grams all-purpose flour, 4 grams salt
- Let the batter rest: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the air bubbles to subside and prevent your crepes from breaking up in the pan. Don't let your batter ferment for too long or your crepes may taste too sour.
- Prep your fillings and toppings while your batter rests.
- Cook the crepes: Preheat a skillet over medium heat with ½ tablespoon of butter.
- Pour ½ cup of into the hot skillet and spread the batter into a thin, even layer. You can do this by either swirling the pan or using the back of a ladle.
- After 1 minute, gently peel the edges of the crepe away from the bottom of the pan.
- Flip the crepe and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Place cooked crepe on a large plate.
- Repeat with the remaining batter. Stack the cooked crepes on the plate until ready to serve.
- Enjoy: Spread favorite fillings and add toppings to your crepes and serve.
- Store and reheat: Cover the plate with aluminum foil and store crepes in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Reheat crepes in a hot skillet until completely warmed.
Tips
These recipes were developed and tested using grams for precise measurements. To increase your chances of success, I recommend investing in a kitchen scale. I've included rough volume estimates (in tablespoons and cups), but they might not be totally accurate.
Remember all ovens are unique, these recipes were tested in my oven which runs cooler than others. You might need to lower the temperature if your bake appears to be browning too quickly. Monitor your bake closely and make adjustments if needed.
Notes
- Calories are calculated based on crepes without any filling or toppings.
- Gradually whisk the flour in to prevent lumps in the batter.
- Let the batter rest for 30 minutes before cooking, this will allow air bubbles to subside and prevent your crepes from breaking apart while you fry them.
- Don’t let the batter ferment for too long or your crepes may become too sour and develop off flavors.
- Use a non-stick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron pan, using a stainless steel pan may cause your crepes to stick and break apart.
- Wait until the first side is cooked before flipping your crepe.
Nutrition
Nutrition info provided are estimates.
Kim Arnold
Excellent! For anyone who is avoiding gluten and dairy, this recipe still works! I made these with my gluten free starter discard, 1-1 gf flour, and a butter flavored coconut oil Served with whipped coconut cream and blueberries, Delish! Cannot wait to experiment with some of these other recipes with conversions. Thank you!
Hannah Dela Cruz
Hi Kim! Thanks for the note. I'm sure people will appreciate knowing these work with gluten free products. Thanks for trying them out.
Ben Hamilton
I made these crepes exactly according to the recipe, using the rye sourdough discard. The result was delicious! They were beautiful in color and had a captivating aroma. I'm really looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Hannah Dela Cruz
I'm so glad your rye starter worked for this recipe!
Kendyl
I made these this morning and they were fantastic! Super fast and easy. I added a touch of vanilla and filled them with whipped cream and strawberries. So good!
Hannah Dela Cruz
So happy you loved them. That filling sounds incredible.
Lupe
Very tasty! Definitely will use this recipe again to make a crepe cake. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.
Hannah Dela Cruz
So happy you loved them! I really want to make a crepe cake with them at some point too. You'll have to let me know how it goes.
Alla
Very tender and thin. Excellent!
Hannah Dela Cruz
I love love love this recipe and so glad you found it and liked it too!