Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- This recipe for palacinke (Croatian crepes) is easy for beginners and will give you perfectly soft, thin, and pliable crepes;
- With this recipe, you will get 24 palacinke (depending on the diameter of the pan you’re going to use);
- It’s best to leave the Croatian crepes (palacinke) batter to rest for 30-60 minutes;
- Buy the best crepe pan that you can afford. This is essential for making the best palacinke; pans with low rims, and thick bottoms that are easy to handle are the qualities you want to look for.
- In this post, you will learn how to properly rehat and freeze Croatian crepes and 10 ways of serving them!
I have a confession to make.
I’m one of those who struggled with making palacinke for a looong time.
My grandma always made them perfectly without ever using a recipe: she would add an egg, then a little milk, some water, a pinch of salt, and flour….and she would repeat these steps until she got a perfect consistency of the batter.
Every time I made them using this method, they were a serious failure. I would curse myself and the crepes, blame too many eggs, too high heat, wrong pan… until I decided to write my own ingredients and ratios for the best Croatian crepes.
I tried all possible combinations of interesting ingredients, changed ratios and pans, and experimented with baking temperatures until I came up with the recipe that works for me and you, my readers.
This is the one!
What Are Palacinke
Palacinke are thin, delicate Central and Eastern European-style crepes that are very popular in countries like Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.
So yes, this type of crepe is very similar to French ones. The main difference is that we like to add sparkling (mineral) water to the palacinke batter.
Ingredients For Traditional Croatian Palacinke
- Eggs – if you can, use free-range eggs that are not too large (M size). Let them stand at room temperature before adding them to the crepe batter.
- Milk – if you want thicker palacinke, you can use only milk. But, most of us in Croatia will combine milk and sparkling water when making the batter. This will result in soft, tender crepes.
- Sparkling water – as mentioned, use it for a softer, lighter, and more airy palacinke. If you don’t have it on hand, replace it with tap water.
- Fat – some melted butter or sunflower oil will make the crepes less prone to sticking to the pan, and simply, more delicious.
- Flour – use sifted, all-purpose flour.
- Salt – always add it to any crepe batter because it will help emphasize all the other flavors.
- Sugar – a small amount of sugar is enough. Traditionally, we Croatians like to use vanilla or bourbon vanilla sugar but you can experiment with other flavors as well.
- Additions – if you are making palacinke for children, please skip adding alcohol. But, some rum, orange or lemon liqueur, or even rakija will make palacinke taste amazing!
How To Make Palacinke (Croatian Crepes)
Check out the recipe card at the end of this post. It has the exact amounts of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions!
STEP 1: Melt the butter
First, melt the butter and set it aside to cool.
STEP 2: Prepare the wet ingredients
Break eggs into a large bowl, then whisk them with sparkling water, milk, rum, vanilla sugar, and salt.
STEP 3: Add flour and butter, then let the batter rest
Be sure to sift the flour if there are lumps and gradually start adding it to the wet mixture. Don’t put all the flour at once, because that will cause lumps which won’t be easy to break later.
STEP 4: Heat the pan and start baking palacinke
The first crepe is a test crepe: if it doesn’t turn out well or if it sticks, it doesn’t matter. Bake it, eat it, it’s still very delicious. Don’t worry because the next ones will be awesome.
How do you know when palacinka is ready to be flipped? Look at the edges, they should start to separate from the edge of the crepe pan and be golden yellow and crispy.
Best Pan For Crepes
So now that I’ve shown you my palacinke recipe, let’s talk very briefly about the pans.
Buy the best crepe pan that you can afford. This is essential for making the best palacinke; pans with low rims, and thick bottoms that are easy to handle are the qualities you want to look for.
Avoid the ones that are too thin and flimsy; those crepe pans won’t distribute heat properly.
FAQ
It’s not necessarily for the batter to rest, but the palacinke will be sooo much better if you do that. I recommend leaving it for at least half an hour at room temperature, preferably for an hour.
Julia Child claims that the crepe batter should be left in the fridge for at least 2 hours before we decide to bake it so that the flour becomes well hydrated. I tried this advice, and it’s fine, but I don’t think it’s necessary to refrigerate the palacinke batter (unless it’s really hot in your kitchen).
Yes, I tried this option, but I like to leave it at room temperature for a while before baking, otherwise they tend to crack. Be sure to stir the batter really well before pouring it into the pan.
The great advantage of palacinke is that they can be prepared several hours in advance, or even a day earlier, depending on what we plan to use them for. So the answer is – yes, palacinke can easily be baked in advance.
There are several ways you can reheat palacinke or French-style crepes. Personally, I prefer to reheat them either in the microwave or directly on the pan. Know that you won’t get the same result: if you want the crepes to be completely soft, then I recommend reheating them in the microwave (be careful not to heat them for a long time so they don’t get soggy).
If you want the crepes to have a slightly crispier edge, heat them directly on the pan: coat the pan with a thin layer of cold butter and heat on both sides. Do not reheat them for too long because they will harden and become too crispy.
You can reheat thawed palacinke in the same way.
There is a high probability that you are baking them at too low a temperature or you are trying to flip them to the other side before the first side is fully cooked.
Yes, you can freeze crepes (palacinke) but always freeze them plain, without filling.
There are two possible answers to this question: the first is that the crepe batter is too thick: different flours absorb liquid differently, so the liquid ingredients can always vary slightly. In this case, add more milk.
Another possible reason why the crepes turn out too thick is an overheated pan on which the poured batter cannot be distributed well, so we have to add more batter to cover the entire surface of the pan. This results in thicker crepes.
Solution? Adjust the baking temperature.
How to Freeze Palacinke
If you really make so many Croatian crepes that you just don’t have time to eat them, or you want to have a stash in the freezer at midnight when you have PMS or some other life crisis, you can freeze the palacinke. Place a piece of parchment paper between each crepe and arrange them one on top of each other, then place them in a wide plastic box that can be closed tightly, or even better, wrap them with aluminum foil. Or you can put them in a zip-lock plastic bag. Close tightly and freeze.
Be sure to write the freezing date and use them within 2 months.
When you want to thaw them, take them out of the freezer at room temperature, remove them from the zip-loc bag, and leave them outside until they soften (they thaw quickly). Then follow the reheating procedure for freshly baked palacinke.
Important note: Never freeze the crepes together with the filling/spread.
Palacinke Fillings And Recipe Ideas
So now that you’ve seen my palacinke recipe and all the little tips & tricks regarding this beloved dessert that we Croatians love so much, let me show you some ideas for fillings and spreads!
Palacinke are usually rolled with the filling inside, but they can also be folded into quarters, too.
Here are 11 ideas on serving palacinke (Croatian crepes):
- Oven-baked stuffed sweet cheese crepes
- Palacinke with your favorite chocolate spread
- Palacinke with no-churn bourbon vanilla ice cream
- Palacinke with nut butter (thin it with some applesauce or warm water to make it more spreadable) – babies and toddlers will love this!
- Palacinke with fresh apricot jam
- Palacinke with oven-roasted plum jam (without added sugar)
- Wine chateau palacinke
- Palacinke with lemon curd
- Crepes Suzette (you can use palacinke for that recipe, too)
- Breaded cheese and ham palacinke
- Crepe (palacinke) cake
If you try this recipe, don’t forget to leave your comment and rate the recipe here on the blog or tag @foodandmoodblog in your social media posts!
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Croatian Crepes (Palacinke)
Ingredients
- 4 eggs M size
- 500 ml sparkling water or tap water
- 800-900 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon rum
- 20 g vanilla sugar
- 4 g salt
- 40 g butter melted
- 450 g all-purpose flour sifted
- additional fat for baking crepes lard, ghee, sunflower oil…
Instructions
- Melt the butter and leave it aside to cool down a bit.
- Break eggs into a large bowl, then whisk them with sparkling water, milk, rum, vanilla sugar, and salt.
- Start adding the flour to the bowl with the wet ingredients. It is important to add the flour gradually to avoid the formation of lumps.
- Finally, add melted butter or oil, whisk well, and leave the batter to rest for 30 to 60 minutes on the kitchen counter.
- Heat up a crepe pan well. Thinly coat the surface of the pan with a kitchen brush dipped in grease or oil, then pour part of the mixture. Start pouring in the center of the pan, then quickly swirl the pan to let the rest of the mixture spread towards the edges.
- Bake each crepe on medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes on one side and 30 to 45 seconds on the other side. When it's done, take it out on a plate and repeat the process until you use up all the batter.
- Serve warm with your favorite filling or spread. Dobar tek!
Notes
- I recommend baking the palacinke in 2 equal pans at the same time, to shorten the baking time. The baking time in the recipe card refers to baking crepes in 2 pans at the same time.
- Use a silicone kitchen brush to brush the crepe pan before baking each crepe. If you don’t have one, you can also use clean, folded kitchen paper and coat the surface of the pan with the fat before baking the crepe.
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided is an estimate based on ingredients data and should be used for informational purposes only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on factors such as portion size, preparation methods and ingredients used.
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