Indulge in these delicious, light, and soft chocolate crepes recipe, made using only cocoa powder. They're perfect any time of day, for a decadent breakfast, snack, brunch, or as a dessert with your favorite topping.
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Why you'll love this recipe
As a French Pâtissière, I can attest that this classic French crêpes recipe holds a special place in my culture and childhood, beloved by both children and adults alike as one of the most popular desserts.
And this chocolate version won't take you any longer than the traditional recipe, with only cocoa powder for the chocolate version (bonus: I tell you how to flavor it with real chocolate for an even more intense rich chocolate taste).
- Easy and super-quick crepe recipe (the easiest dessert to make).
- Soft and light texture, with a light chocolate taste thanks to the unsweetened and natural cocoa powder.
- All my tips for making them and having a smooth crepe batter.
- Perfect with all your favorite toppings, Nutella, jam, fresh fruit, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream.
More Chocolate Desserts
Ingredients and substitutions
*You will find the quantities and complete instructions to make these easy chocolate crepes at home in the recipe card at the end of the page.
Cocoa Crepe batter
- Flour: Use preferably white wheat all-purpose flour that you can replace with a gluten-free flour blend.
- Cocoa: Use only bitter, unsweetened cocoa powder to flavor the crepe batter.
- Eggs: Use large eggs at room temperature.
- Milk: preferably half-skimmed or even whole milk, but you can also replace it with a vegetable drink such as almond milk or oat milk.
- Sugar: Optionally add a tablespoon of granulated white sugar or brown sugar for more flavorful crepes.
- Butter: Also optional but I advise you to add a little unsalted butter melted for soft crepes. You can also replace it with neutral vegetable oil but the butter gives more flavor.
- Vanilla and salt: Essential to bring out all the flavors.
Materials: Use a nonstick crepe pan, pancake pan, or crepe maker and a hand whisk and hand mixer for a smooth batter.
How to make Chocolate Crepes
Mix dry ingredients
- Place all dry ingredients, flour cocoa powder, granulated sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix with a hand whisk until you have a completely smooth preparation.
*These chocolate crepes have a light chocolate taste, for a more intense and rich chocolate taste see the recipe variation section for a real chocolate flavor.
Add wet ingredients
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the previously beaten egg mixture and vanilla extract.
- Whisk in dry ingredients gradually, starting in the center.
- Gently mix with one hand while pouring in the milk with the other hand until you have a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
- Finish by adding the melted butter and mix again to incorporate it into the preparation.
Cooking
- Heat a crepe pan over medium-high heat and grease it with a bit of butter or coconut oil.
- Pour in a medium ladleful of batter into the hot pan and make circular motions so that the batter covers the bottom of the pan completely in a thin layer.
- Cook for about 1 - 2 minutes then turn the crepe over with a crepe-turner or a flat rubber spatula and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the other side.
- Place the cooked chocolate crepe on a flat plate or enjoy it warm with the filling of your choice.
Crepe Filling Ideas
Here are some crepe-filling ideas to make a fabulous dessert :
- Praline paste, a very popular hazelnut and almond filling in Brittany.
- Homemade applesauce, a classic that goes perfectly with caramelized apples flavored with pumpkin pie spices.
- Banana, Nutella, and vanilla ice cream
- Homemade peanut butter or almond butter with fresh berries.
- Whipped cream, fresh strawberries or raspberries.
- Cream cheese filling with cherry pie filling and hot chocolate sauce.
- Homemade fruit jams, strawberry compote, raspberry compote, lemon-blueberry compote, lemon curd filling.
Storage Instructions
Room temperature: Cooked chocolate crepes can be stored at room temperature for about 1 day under plastic wrap or in an airtight container box.
In the fridge: You can also store the remaining batter in the refrigerator in a glass bottle with a lid for 2 days.
Make ahead of time: Make the batter ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Tip for this recipe
- Use quality ingredients at the same temperature to avoid lumps in the chocolate crepe batter.
- Mix well, gradually adding the milk to the center of the bowl while whisking gently to obtain a smooth crepe batter.
- Use a hand blender if necessary to remove residues and lumps.
- Leave the chocolate crepe batter to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This will allow the batter to hydrate and develop its flavors.
- Heat the greased crepe pan thoroughly before starting to cook the chocolate crepes.
- Be careful with the amount of batter you pour into the pan, pouring a medium ladleful (often the first crepe is a flop and that's ok).
- Allow the crepes to cook through before turning them over with a flat spatula. If they're not cooked through, they'll break apart.
Recipe Variations
Crepe cake: Make it a fabulous birthday dessert by trying the crepe cake with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.
How to flavor crepe with real chocolate? At the end of the preparation, add 150 g (5,3 oz) of melted chocolate and mix until the chocolate crepe batter is smooth.
Mocha crepe: Add 1 tsp of instant coffee to the crepe batter to make a chocolate mocha crepe flavor.
More crepes, pancakes, and waffles
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
The difference between the crepe batter and the pancake batter is the ratio between the dry and the liquid ingredients. The crepe batter is more fluid, unlike the pancake batter which is rather thick.
Yes, you can replace the cocoa powder with baking chocolate to melt in the milk before adding to the dry ingredients.
You may have stirred the flour into the liquid ingredients too quickly, causing lumps. Mix gradually and use a hand blender if necessary to remove lumps.
While resting is recommended, it's not absolutely necessary. You can let crepe batter rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Did you like this recipe? Don't forget to rate it and leave me a review in comments! And to not miss any recipes follow @sweetlycakes on Instagram and tag me to share it if you make this recipe 😊!
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Chocolate Crepes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 crêpes
Description
Easy recipe for chocolate crepes made with cocoa powder (for about 12 crepes)
Ingredients
- 220 g (1 ¾ cup) Flour - all-purpose
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp Sugar - granulated
- 30 g (⅓ cup) Cocoa powder - unsweetened
- 4 Eggs - room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 500 ml (2 cups) Milk semi-skimmed or plant milk
- 30 g (¼ cup) Butter - unsalted and melted
Instructions
Chocolate crepe batter
- Place the dry ingredients in a large container, the flour, powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder and mix until smooth.
- Make a well in the center and pour in the previously beaten eggs.
- Using a whisk, gradually mix in the dry ingredients from the center while pouring in the milk little by little.
- Finish by adding the melted butter and mix again to incorporate it.
- Beat the mixture until it is smooth and homogeneous (you can use a hand blender to obtain a smooth dough without lumps).
Cooking
- Heat a pancake pan over medium heat and lightly grease with a little butter.
- Pour a ladleful of batter into the skillet and make circular motions with the pan so that the batter spreads all over the surface.
- Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
Notes
Conservation : Before cooking 1 - 2 days in the refrigerator and after cooking 1 day at room temperature
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 crêpe
- Calories:
- Sugar:
- Sodium:
- Fat:
- Saturated Fat:
- Trans Fat:
- Carbohydrates:
- Fiber:
- Protein:
- Cholesterol:
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