Easy chocolate crepes are thin and delicate French pancakes. It’s a delicious and impressive-looking recipe for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. I filled them with vanilla cottage cheese and simple raspberry sauce. They’re amazing!
What are crepes?
Crepes are super thin, wide and very delicate French pancakes. They are known as a French delicacy, but this type of pancakes is really popular in most European countries. This is variation on the traditional recipe – cocoa is added to the batter making these pancakes even more delicious and decadent. Chocolate crepes from my recipe are soft in the middle and crispy on the edges.
Ingredients:
These are pretty standard and easy to get crepe ingredients with the difference that a part of the flour is subbed by cocoa, and part of the milk by sparkling water. You can use just regular water if you don’t have sparkling water on hand but I believe that sparkling water makes lighter and softer pancakes. The difference is not that huge though, to make an extra trip to the grocery store.
I like to flavor the pancakes with vanilla extract but you can omit it (just add water instead) or use vanilla sugar. Instead of granulated sugar, you can add light brown sugar for rich, caramel flavor.
What pan is best to use?
These pancakes are very thin and delicate so it’s necessary to use a non-stick pan. Really any non-stick pan will do but the best is pancake pan! If you love making any kind of pancakes or fritters you will be happy with the purchase. This pan has low rims which makes flipping the pancakes much easier (it’s shown on the photos below).
Step by step instructions:
- Sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl.
- Add all the other ingredients except from the butter and mix until combined. Add the melted and just slightly cooled butter and mix again.
3. The crepe batter should have a whipping cream consistency, it will be much thinner that American pancakes batter! You can also whisk the batter by hand, if you see small lumps of batter, this is fine. Leave the batter to rest for a minimum 30 minutes or better 60 minutes or even overnight if you have time.
4. Cook the crepes – add just a little bit butter to the pan and heat it well. Add a portion of crepe batter into a pan – you should hold the pan at this moment (should not be on the burner) and tilt it until the batter is spread evenly on the pan. I’m adding something in between 1/4 and 1/3 cup per 9-inch / 23cm pan.
5. Put the pan back on the burner and cook the pancake. I’m cooking the pancakes over high heat until almost cooked through. You can see that the edges start to look dry and more lightly colored. Loosen the edges from all sides to make sure that the pancake doesn’t stick to the pan, slide the spatula under the pancake and quickly flip over.
6. Cook only briefly on the other side and transfer to a plate. It takes me about 60 seconds on one side and 15 on the other but this cooking time may be different for you, depending on your burner and pan type.
How to make the perfect chocolate crêpes (tips for success)?
- It’s very important that the pan is well-heated. If the pan is not well heated the pancake will be oily and may break more easily.
- I really like a flexible silicone spatula for flipping the pancakes.
- Cook the crêpes on one side until almost set, then turn them over and cook only briefly, for a couple of seconds. High heat works best for me.
- Always make sure that the pancake doesn’t stick to the pan before trying to turn it over.
- The batter shouldn’t be too thick (the crêpes should be really thin), it should have the consistency of heavy cream
- In the recipe below I’ve described how to cook perfect pancakes, but if something goes wrong, remember – practice makes perfect and broken crêpes are delicious too (eaten with your hands straight from the pan, mhmm). It gets easier with each crêpe! The first crepe can often tear.
- Making pancakes is never a quick affair. To make things easier and quicker – you can prepare the batter the day before. Additionally, if you have some experience, you can cook them on two pans simultaneously.
- If you’re making a lot of crêpes, you can keep them in the preheated to the minimum temperature oven until you’re finished cooking all the batter.
Serving suggestions:
- I like them most with the vanilla cottage cheese and raspberry sauce but this is just one of many filling ideas that would go well with these crepes. You could also try:
- Fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
- Chocolate spread and fruit sauce (like strawberry or raspberry sauce).
- Chocolate spread and bananas.
- Fresh fruits and chocolate ganache (melted chocolate mixed with whipping cream).
- You could make chocolate crepe cake! (stack of crepes with some creme in between).
Storage/How to make it ahead:
- The crepe batter can be easily made ahead. Store it in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days. Let stand for 15-30 minutes before cooking it and stir thoroughly.
- Cooked pancakes can also be stored – wrap the pancakes tightly in plastic foil and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Warm them up on a pan (just put them in a warm pan for a couple of seconds). These pancakes won’t taste as good as freshly made ones.
Another pancake / crepes recipes you should try!
- Classic apple crepes.
- Basic crepe recipe.
- If you have no time (or patience) to cook each pancake separately try these oven-baked pancakes: lemon blueberry sheet pan pancakes.
- If you’re looking for something new and unconventional, maybe try this super fluffy Chocolate omelet.
- What about pancakes on the savory side? Try these smoked salmon pancakes with honey-mustard sauce or cheesy vegetable crepes. These are also European-style pancakes, so thin and wide, but a little thicker than French crêpes (more like a German/Austrian ‘Pfannkuchen’).
Chocolate crepes with vanilla cottage cheese and raspberry sauce
Ingredients
crêpes:
- 1 ¼ cup (5.7-oz/160g) flour
- ⅓ cup (1-oz/30g) unsweetened cocoa
- ¼ cup (1.8-oz/50g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) milk
- ¼ cup sparkling water or just water
- 3 large eggs
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons (1.6-oz/45g) butter melted and cooled
raspberry sauce:
- 14 oz (400g) raspberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
vanilla cottage cheese:
- 1 lb (450g) cottage cheese or cream cheese + little bit milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for cooking:
- clarified butter or oil of your choice
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Instructions
make the crêpes:
- Sift the flour and cocoa into a large bowl, add all the ingredients for the crêpes except butter (sugar, vanilla extract, milk, sparkling water, eggs, salt), mix with a whisk or a mixer (the mixer is better) until the batter is smooth. Add the melted and slightly cooled butter, mix again. The batter will be a bit thinner than the American pancakes batter. It should have the consistency of heavy cream (more or less).
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let stand for about 30-60 minutes (or overnight in the fridge). Stir the dough before cooking the pancakes.
- Prepare a non-stick pan (the best is pancake pan, it’s low-rimmed, which makes the flipping very easy, my pan has a diameter of 9-inch/23 cm). Grease it lightly with butter, wipe the butter excess with a paper towel. Heat the pan over high heat (important, the pan must be well-heated!). Grease the pan only before the first crêpe.
- Pour the first portion of the batter into the pan, simultaneously tipping the pan so that the mixture spreads evenly (you should hold the pan in your hand at this moment, it should not be on the burner). Pancakes are supposed to be thin, so they need to be cooked very quickly. I cook them over high heat exactly 60 seconds on one side, then 15 seconds on the other (the timing may be different depending on the burner and pan type). Flip the pancakes when they are almost cooked through and their edges are beginning to lift away. Use a spatula to loosen the pancake from all sides, when it moves freely, slide the spatula under the pancake and quickly flip it over. Cook briefly on the other side, transfer to a plate.
raspberry sauce:
- Add the raspberries and sugar into a medium saucepan, cook for a few minutes over medium heat until raspberries break down, sugar dissolves and the sauce is heated through. Remove from the heat. You can add a little more sugar, if you wish, but I like when my raspberry sauce is slightly sour.
vanilla cottage cheese:
- Mix the cheese with sugar and vanilla extract together.
assemble:
- Put a tablespoon of the raspberry sauce and vanilla cheese on each crêpe, roll it up. Don’t put a lot of filling inside, as too much filling can overwhelm the taste of these delicate and thin pancakes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- 1 cup is 240 ml.
- Instead of vanilla extract, you can add vanilla sugar (the best is vanilla sugar with real vanilla bean).
- Instead of granulated sugar, you can add light brown sugar for a rich, caramel flavor or even add xylitol, which is a more healthy sugar substitution.
- Very briefly cooked crepes will be soft and tender. When cooked a little longer (just a couple of seconds) will be soft in the middle and crispy on the edges, which is what I prefer. Adjust the cooking time to your liking!
- Instead of cottage cheese, you can use cream cheese, you only need to dilute it a bit with milk so that it’s spreadable.
- Instead of raspberry sauce, you can make a strawberry sauce or use fresh strawberries (in season) with whipped cream on the side.
- If you’re making a lot of crêpes, you can keep them in the preheated to the minimum temperature oven.
- Cooking pancakes is a little time-consuming, so you can make the batter the day before. On the next day, stir the batter and let stand for 15 minutes before cooking.
- Cooked pancakes can also be stored – wrap the pancakes tightly in plastic foil and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Warm them up on a pan (just put them in a warm pan for a couple of seconds). These pancakes won’t taste as good as freshly made ones.
- Calories count: 1 serving = 1/3 recipe = 5 crêpes. This is only an estimate!
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
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