Three batters, three textures
Pancakes, crêpes and buckwheat galettes start from the same ingredients but in very different proportions. American pancakes use a thick batter with baking powder that rises in the pan. French crêpes use a thin, pourable batter rich in eggs and milk and no leavening. Breton galettes use buckwheat flour, water and salt for a crisp, nutty wrap. Choose what you are making and how many, and the calculator scales a reliable base recipe.
Base recipes
| Pancakes (makes 8) | Crêpes (makes 15) | Galettes (makes 10) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1½ cups (190 g) | 250 g (2 cups) | 250 g buckwheat |
| Eggs | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Liquid | 1¼ cups milk (300 mL) | 500 mL milk (2 cups) | 600 mL water |
| Melted butter | 3 tbsp (42 g) | 50 g | none in the batter |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp | 2 tbsp (30 g) | none |
| Baking powder | 3½ tsp | none | none |
| Salt | ¼ tsp | a pinch | 1 tsp |
Worked example
For 12 pancakes, the calculator gives about 2¼ cups (285 g) of flour, 2 eggs, about 1.9 cups (450 mL) of milk, 4½ tablespoons of melted butter, 1½ tablespoons of sugar and just over 5 teaspoons of baking powder. Eggs are rounded to whole numbers.
Technique
- Pancakes: whisk the dry ingredients, then the wet ones, combine and stir only until the flour disappears. Lumps are fine; overmixing makes pancakes tough. Cook about ¼ cup of batter on a medium-hot griddle and flip when bubbles form and the edges look set.
- Crêpes: whisk the eggs into the flour, add the milk gradually to avoid lumps, then the melted butter. Rest for an hour. Pour a small ladle into a hot, lightly buttered pan and tilt it to cover the base thinly.
- Galettes: mix the buckwheat flour and salt with the water and egg, beat well and rest for several hours. Cook on a very hot griddle or crêpe pan, then fill.
Measuring flour
Flour weights vary by how it is scooped. The calculator uses 125 g per cup, which matches the spoon-and-level method. If you scoop straight from the bag, you may pack in 20% more, so a kitchen scale gives the most consistent results.