15 Best Ingredients To Fill Your Crepes

Light, delicate, and incredibly versatile, crepes have won over palates everywhere. To make a good crepe, it is necessary to first prepare a good batter, which is made with flour, milk, eggs, and butter, and must be runny enough to coat your pan evenly but thick enough to hold whatever fillings you see fit to add. Originally from France, these thin pancakes have a naturally sweet flavor that lends itself well to a seemingly endless variety of fillings. Not only that, but their thin and lacy appearance conceals a tender, slightly chewy bite that melts in your mouth, especially if you add some good quality melter butter. These subtleties in taste and texture give crepes the status of blank canvas, allowing a myriad of fillings to shine brightly, from simple classics like lemon juice and powdered sugar to more elaborate combinations like pineapple and dulce de leche.

Crepes can also be used to host savory fillings like ham and cheese, but let's be clear: savory fillings are typically reserved for the domain of galettes, which are made with buckwheat flour instead of regular flour, and come specifically from the Brittany region of France. Their texture is a bit thicker, allowing them to accommodate heartier fillings like melted brie cheese and a sunny-side-up fried egg. Other than that, galettes look and behave very much like our dear, old crepes. So let's take a look at which fillings work best in these culinary delights, whether they be crepes or galettes.

For a truly sophisticated take, try to think of the most expensive ingredient money can buy, and put it in your crepes. In particular, we suggest adding a few small spoonfuls of caviar coupled with some crème fraîche to counteract the saltiness of the fish eggs. That's how simple it is. And the premise is simple, too. If caviar and crème fraîche can be used to great effect on blinis, those little Russian pancakes made with buckwheat, why not put them on a crepe instead? It works just as well, and you don't even have to do any cooking aside from making the crepe itself. Just serve it up with some caviar and crème fraîche on the side and your guests can dish up as much of the toppings as they like.

Just make sure you don't serve caviar in a metal bowl or use a metal spoon to scoop it up. That's because it tends to take on a metallic taste (which doesn't happen in the tin cans in which it's stored because of the inclusion of a non-reactive coating). Instead, keep the caviar in glass or ceramic bowls, and use a mother-of-pearl spoon to serve it.

When it comes to crepes, the basic, most simple recipe you can find, aside from eating them completely plain, is to top them with powdered sugar and a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice. But basic and simple don't mean boring, by any means. This sweet and tart combination brings out the silky texture and subtle flavors of the crepe, filling your mouth with an intense burst of sugar with hints of childhood insouciance.

Just be aware that because the ingredients are so simple that they really stand out, so you're going to want to make sure you use good quality lemons and sugar. If you have a granulated sugar that you like, or raw cane sugar or even coconut sugar, you can make the powder yourself in a high-powered blender or a spice grinder. You can even add a touch of cornstarch to make your home-made powdered sugar more shelf stable.

Matcha green tea powder seems to be everywhere these days. Pretty much every urban coffee shop serves it, you can find it in your waffles, cheesecakes, and even your tiramisu. And now, you can also put it on your crepes. Because of matcha's unique combination of flavors, which include sweet, bitter, grassy, and earthy, it's quite possible that there is nothing this powder can't do.

To make this delicious twist on a classic crepe, just add some matcha powder to your crepe batter and continue to cook it as you normally would. But the matcha's role doesn't end there. Now it's time to blend some more powder into a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt along with some honey. Fill your crepes with this mixture and roll them up or fold as desired. Some drizzled melted chocolate on top can't hurt with the flavor and will be sure to make the dish even more visually appealing.

If lemon and sugar or ham and cheese are the most basic fillings for crepes, a fried egg fulfills that role for galettes. But again, basic is not boring, because if you play your cards right, that fried egg is going to provide a beautiful gooey sauce that will soak into your spongy galette like maple syrup does with pancakes.

This interplay works best when you add ham and cheese. Just spread some Dijon mustard on your prepared galette, top it with a piece of ham and some cheese, and plop your fried egg right on top of that. But be sure not to overcook your fried egg. In order to create that gooey sauce, your egg needs to be done over-easy or sunny-side-up. You shouldn't be frying that egg for any longer than two minutes on one side in the former case, and 30 seconds to one minute in the latter.

One crepe or galette filling you will often see served at creperies in France is the combination of brie and walnuts. That's probably because this is a winning pairing, but it's also simple to make. Just prepare your crepes as you have in the past and place a few slices of brie on top with a dollop of butter to ease the melting process. Add a few chopped walnuts, or put them aside to serve as a garnish, and bake the crepe in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, until the brie is nice and gooey. Serve with a drizzle of honey on top.

Now, since we're being so fancy here, you're probably wondering which sophisticated wines you should be drinking with your brie and walnut crepe. The answer would be an acidic wine to counteract the effect of the brie's typical richness. And if that's too plebeian for you, consider that bubbles are also great at providing respite from the heaviness of rich cheeses. Try pairing your brie with a fine glass of Champagne or a dry Prosecco.

No one can deny the deliciousness of a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so it's safe to assume that these ingredients will get along just as well when wrapped in a soft, warm crepe instead of two slabs of bread. As with the Nutella crepe, this recipe also involves just making your crepe and spreading your favorite peanut butter and jam on each half of a freshly made crepe.

If that seems too easy to be true, you can follow a few extra cooking steps to get back into your comfort zone. For one, you can easily make your own peanut butter. Avoid the sugars, preservatives, and mystery ingredients in mass-produced peanut butter and simply shell some peanuts yourself and zap them in your food processor until smooth. For the jam, cook some Concord grapes with sugar, lemon juice, and salt and safely can the resulting jam to use later on your peanut butter and jelly crepe.

Craving apple pie but not willing to put in the effort? We have a solution for you. Just cook up some caramelized apples with all of your favorite warm and cuddly spices, and use them as the filling for your crepe. No need to toil away on a laborious pie crust.

Because the apples take center stage in this recipe, the trick is to pick the right ones for the job. In particular, you will need a robust apple variety that holds its shape during the caramelization process and doesn't turn to mush. Some great choices in this regard include Cortland apples, due to their hardy nature, Braeburn apples, due to their crispiness, and the Granny Smith apple, which is ideal for retaining its shape during cooking — just remember that it is very tart as apples go, so if you want something sweeter, it's best to opt for a different variety.