Crepes or pancakes – the difference is visible for some people and yet it’s not noticeable at all for others. But which do you prefer?
The reason you’re here is to see if you can make crepes with a pancake mix and that’s exactly what you’re going to learn.
But I am also going to show you if you can make pancakes with a mix for crepes so you should stay tuned and keep on reading!
By the end of the post – you’ll know the “big” difference between the two but you’ll also know exactly what it is you have to do if you desire crepes.
What’s the Difference Between Crepes and Pancakes?
If you didn’t know the difference between crepes and pancakes and you went to Google it – you might have been left confused.
How come? Both crepes and pancakes are very similar in looks, yet there’s one main difference that not many people know about.
So what’s the “big” difference between the two? It’s a very simple one.
The difference is the raising agent. While the pancake mix has a raising agent such as baking soda, the mix for crepes doesn’t feature a rising agent.
And what difference does the rising agent make?
If you’ve tried both pancakes and crepes, you could notice that the thicker and fluffier while crepes are thin and flat.
So this is the main ingredient difference that leads to a different structure and texture. If you thought that these two are the same – you were wrong and I highly recommend you try both before you make up your mind!
Also, if you have a look at both pancakes and crepes recipes, you’d notice slight differences in the number of ingredients that are used for both.
But which one is better? It’s up to you but hear me out first if you still didn’t make up your mind!
Is Crepe Batter the Same as the Pancake Batter?
Even though there are little tweaks to the pancake batter, the main difference is the use of the rising agent.
Crepe batter is made to “thin out” the pancake which is the main reason why crepes are traditionally thinned out with the help of a cast-iron griddle.
After that, crepes can be stuffed, folded, or even topped with sweet fillings (or savory).
Therefore, there is a small but important difference between these two – and if you end up using crepe batter to make pancakes, you might end up disappointed as you would still make crepes.
But is there a solution to this and is it even possible to make pancakes out of the crepes batter?
Nothing is impossible and if you keep on reading, you’ll find a couple of tricks that I learned over the years, and that has helped me easily transform the batter to adjust or accommodate to others.
This is very useful when you have one batter available and ready and yet you have guests that have different preferences.
How to Make Crepes With a Pancake Mix?
Even though it’s easier to make crepes out of the pancake mix, it’s definitely not impossible to make crepes out of the pancake mix.
You just have to “optimize” the pancake mix. You can’t remove the rising agent – but there’s one thing you can do to try and get the batter as close as possible to the true pancake batter.
When I say “optimize”, I actually mean to thin out the pancake batter as the pancake batter is very thick in comparison to the crepes’ thin batter.
And how do you do it?
All you have to do is mix half a cup of pancake mix with all-purpose flour. This is how you thin the batter but also reduce other ingredients that are already included in the batter.
After that, mix the mixture with 1 1/4 cup of water to thin out the mixture further, and after that – don’t forget to add 2 beaten eggs, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
Depending on the amount of your pancake mix, this “optimization” will help you make at least 24 crepes.
Give this a try and see the result. If you aren’t satisfied with the crepes – don’t be afraid to “optimize” the mixture again!
That’s exactly how you make crepes with pancake mix and whoever told you it’s impossible – they were wrong!
Are Crepes Healthier than Pancakes?
The main reason why most people choose crepes over pancakes is that crepes happen to be healthier than pancakes.
How?
Since crepes are made without the rising agent and a couple of other ingredients, they’re way less dense and have fewer calories.
But here’s where the big problem occurs.
A lot of many people think of crepes as a healthy alternative to pancakes and they end up eating a lot more crepes than they would eat pancakes.
Therefore, in the long run – you aren’t going to end up in a caloric deficit yet you’ll eat the same amount of calories (or more), just the double number of crepes.
So if you really like pancakes more, you should eat pancakes (reasonable amounts), but if you don’t – eating crepes in a reasonable amount will still help you eat fewer calories and enjoy your favorite dessert.
And if you’re on a very strict diet – whether you like crepes or pancake more, they will only make a good fit into your schedule under the “cheat day”, unfortunately.
But again, something is still better than nothing, right?
Conclusion
Making crepes with pancake mix is definitely possible and all it takes is a bit of an additional mixture that you can create very quickly.
Therefore, you can actually make both pancakes and crepes out of the crepe mixture. This will help save you a lot of time making two different mixtures if you’re having guests over.
What do you prefer more – crepes or pancakes? Did you ever try making crepes out of pancake mix?
I’d love to hear how did it go and if you’ve used my advice from this post – I’d love to hear your opinion on this, so please, leave a comment below!
