Sourdough Crepes

Sourdough crepes are surprisingly easy to whip up! With a slight tang from discard, they're also a great way to use up your leftover sourdough starter. This recipe can also be made with active starter – see more on that below. You can make the batter ahead of time if you'd like a stronger sourdough flavour. Unlike most sourdough recipes, there's no lengthy waiting time for these crepes. Just mix, using sourdough discard, and cook!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Eggs: use room temperature eggs for the best results.
• Milk: this should be whole milk, also at room temperature. You can use half cream half milk for richer crepes but we don't recommend using skim milk.
• Starter: this can be discard or active starter. If you're using active starter, be sure to weigh the ingredients, as it has a greater volume than discard does. Any sourdough starter will work (wheat, rye, etc.).
• Make it dairy-free: substitute a creamy non-dairy milk and a good vegan butter for the dairy products. Oil makes the crepes greasy.

For more discard recipes, try making your own sourdough crackers, depression-style sourdough chocolate cake, or whip up a batch of chocolate chip sourdough scones.

Method

Step 1: add the starter, butter, milk, and eggs to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

Step 2: add the dry ingredients to the milk mixture.

Step 3: whisk until very smooth.

Step 4: cook for about a minute before flipping and cooking for another 30 seconds.

Top Tips

• Make it ahead: if you want it ready for the morning or would like a strong sourdough tang, the batter can be mixed the night before and refrigerated overnight, tightly covered. Give it a quick whisk, then cook as usual in the morning.
• Don't overcook: the crepes will be tough and rubbery if cooked too long. Look for the edges lifting up, that's the time to flip them.
• Don't worry if they're wonky: you're probably going to fold them to serve in any case, and unless you have a crepe spreader, they're never going to be perfectly round. The important thing is that they're thin.

Recipe Notes

Use the thinnest spatula you have. We find that something like an offset spatula works perfectly for crepes.

You don't need a special crepe pan – any large non-stick skillet will do. The most important factor in crepe-making is the non-stick factor. Use a well-seasoned cast iron pan (as pictured), or any other clean, damage-free, non-stick frying pan you have on hand. Make sure the pan is well preheated before beginning to cook your sourdough crepes. Crepe batter will stick to a cold pan. You know how the first one is usually a flop? It's because the pan isn't hot enough yet!

Unlike German pancakes, which are meant to be a little thicker, crepes should be just about as thin as possible. Too thick and the texture will be off. Be prepared to tilt the pan immediately after adding the batter or they will be too thick, especially in the middle.

Serve with maple syrup, chantilly cream and berries, lemon or orange curd, or even something like cream cheese frosting if you want to feel very decadent.

How to Store

Storage: while they're best served immediately, you can store the crepes in the fridge for a day or two. Cool fully, then transfer to a sealed container. To reheat, pop them in a warm frying pan and cook just for a few seconds on either side to heat through (they will get very soggy if microwaved).

Freezing: crepes can be frozen but it's a little tricky – you can freeze in an airtight container with layers of wax paper in between, making sure the container is large enough that they're not folded. Thaw fully before separating and reheating as they're likely to break when frozen.

More Sourdough Discard Recipes