Both of my parents immigrated to the U.S. from the former Yugoslavia and I grew up with Serbian food traditions. One of my favorites was palachinke, a Serbian crepe. My mom made it with just flour, eggs and milk and we usually fill it with jam or cinnamon sugar.
Other recipes call for adding butter, sugar or salt but it’s really not needed. Simple is best. You can opt for sweet fillings as mentioned above or savory like eggs/ham/bacon with cheese, or cottage cheese with chopped fruit like strawberries.
Either way, it’s an easy and tasty choice for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.
Here’s how to make it.
Add 1 cup flour, 1 1/4 cup milk and 2 eggs to a medium bowl and lightly beat it with a handheld mixer until combined. I often use whole wheat pastry flour. The batter should have a thin consistency (a few lumps are fine).
Heat a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium heat and coat with butter or cooking spray. Once heated, add about 1/3 cup of the mixture and keep maneuvering the pan until the batter covers it.
The first one always looks the strangest. But sure enough, once it cooks through, you will see, by peaking under it with a spatula, that it starts to get crispy. Flip it once it looks light brown underneath.
Once the other side is cooked, place on a plate and do the next one. This recipe makes about 8-10 palachinke.
- 1 cup flour (whole grain pastry flour optional)
- 1¼ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- Mix the three ingredients briefly with a handheld mixer.
- Heat 10-inch nonstick pan over medium heat and grease with butter or spray with cooking spray. Add ⅓ cup mixture to pan and maneuver pan to spread batter to completely cover the pan. When lightly brown underneath, flip the crepe and cook the other side.
- Add any ingredients you want and roll to make a crepe.
I can never buy crepes out because my mom would whip up piles of palachinke just like this. Usually adding just a tiny bit of lemon zest to the batter if we had some. And we always toss the first one 🙂
Esther — Thanks for the lemon zest tip! I never buy crepes either…
Hi Maryann I was looking up palachinke filling but noticed ur last name right away. Are u Serbian or Croatian by chance ? ( I’m Serb nationality ) just wondered. !
Melissa
I’m Serbian!
I’ve never made crepes before but you’ve just inspired me! Something new and different for my family to try. Just shared on my FB page too 🙂
Thanks Sarah! I figured some people have never made crepes so that’s why I posted.
Not to nitpick, but I noticed at the beginning you say one cup flour and 1 1/4 cup milk, then the written recipe says 1 1/4 cup flour and one cup milk. Could you please let me know which it is? Thanks!
Thanks so much for the catch — that was a mistake. I just corrected it!
I recently just started making crepes for my daughter. I’ve been experimenting with chickpea flour (since its so nutritious). Your recipe looks a bit more simple than what I’ve been attempting, perhaps I should try simplifying it!
It’s going to be end of mine day, except before ending I
am reading this impressive article to improve my experience.
My Grandmother was from Hungary and made these al the time. A different way we also used them, is once made, she would roll them up and cut them into thin strips, and we would have them in soup. A healthier “egg noodle” rather than pasta. Works well in chicken soup, especially when they get spongy and absorb the food. Thank you for the recipe, I tried all types of combinations.
My hungarian-amerian family only makes sweet palaschinta for Easter… i LOVE the soup idea! Thanks!
My grandmother was from Yugoslavia also.. my mom used to make her Crepes this way too but she made the filling with walnuts and sugar and I’m not sure what else would you happen to know if there’s anything else that should be added for the filling.
I think anything really. We like jam and cinnamon sugar.
My husbands grandmother is from Zagreb, Croatia. Grandma just turned 98 years old!. She makes the BEST Palachinke(s). She has been making them for many many years lol. I can only hope to one day with TONS of practice make them just as good. Edit** for some reason I wasn’t able to give the recipe 5 stars?.
Thanks Katie. I think the updated version of the recipe function doesn’t allow rating.
Hi Maryann,
Our grandma was from Serbia and we are beyond excited to have found your recipe because it is exactly how she would make hers!
We love ours simply with sugar.
Thanks again so much!
So cool! I love this because it’s simple and how my mom and my grandma made it.
Ahhh, I can smell the yumminess of PALAČINKE just thinking about them! I immigrated from Serbia to US with my parents in late 60’s… and still love making them for me and my extended (American) family!! The only thing I do differently is add SOME water along with the milk. Then enjoy them with cinnamon sugar or fresh jam 🙂
Interesting! I’ll try some water next time : )
Thanks for shar ing this amazing recipe.my family loved it.will be sharing this recipe with my friend s.they will like it.
My Croatian mother in-law taught me this recipe, but her little trick that nobody in the family knew was grating apple into the batter, made it softer and I only discovered this by chance, ( I caught her doing it) lol.
Thanks! I’ll try to remember that the next time I make it.