Is there any better way to satisfy your sweet tooth than with French desserts?
From buttery and flaky to rich and decadent, I am completely obsessed with French pastries.
So, if you’re looking for inspiration, check out these 23 popular recipes you can easily create in your own kitchen.
1. Brioche Bread
Brioche is wonderfully soft with a hint of sweetness. It has a rich, buttery crust with a light and fluffy interior.
That incredible flavor comes from the high butter content, a characteristic of enriched doughs. With the right recipe, it’s surprisingly simple to create.
This bread is so popular in France that some adore it even more than croissants.
2. French Beignets
Unlike their American versions, French beignets are round, not square. But they’re just as pillowy as any you’d find in Café Du Monde.
These unique donuts are so yummy, you don’t even need fillings or decadent frostings. Just give them a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
Yum!
3. Crêpe Cake
Skip plain crêpes and make a whole crêpe cake. With layers of slightly sweet pancakes and whipped cream, it’s light but fulfilling.
Plus, it’s topped with chocolate ganache for a punch of rich bitterness. It’s a popular dessert in France, and it’s easy to see why.
Try adding color to the cream for a rainbow effect.
4. French Macarons
French macarons are delicate, flavorful cookies that are fitting for any party. They’re airy and often super colorful, with the cookies and filling popping in a display case.
These treats are made using almond flour, sugar, and egg whites, and they can be filled with jams, pastes, and frosting. They’re a pain to make, but gifts of these are stunning.
5. French Cruller Doughnuts
French cruller doughnuts are fried dough rings covered in a sweet glaze. The dough is made from choux pastry (the same one used to make cream puffs).
It’s piped into strips and fried, creating a light and airy doughnut with a crisp exterior. They’re often enjoyed with coffee or tea as breakfast or a snack.
6. Classic French Opera Cake
Opera cake is a truly luxurious French dessert with several layers. The key is a soft, slightly chewy almond sponge soaked in dreamy coffee syrup.
There are usually three thin sponge layers with coffee buttercream. It’s topped with more buttercream and dark chocolate ganache and coated in a thin chocolate glaze for a glossy finish.
7. Classic French Rum Baba (Baba au Rhum)
French Rum Baba is a cylindrical cake traditionally made with brioche dough. The dough is marinated in spiced rum syrup overnight for great flavor.
This syrup is enhanced with orange or lemon zest for a unique taste. Just one bite of this distinct blend of flavors will tickle your taste buds.
8. French Canelé (Cannelé de Bordeaux)
Baked in special beeswax-lined molds, canelé is a popular French pastry that started in Bordeaux, France. They take the shape of a cylinder after being removed from the molds.
Thanks to the beeswax, they have caramelized crusts and a tender, custard-like interior. They truly are spectacular.
Baking canelés can be tricky, but you’ll get there with patience.
9. Classic French Palmiers
Palmiers are sweet, buttery cookies with just three ingredients. You’ll need puff pastry (ready-made is fine), sugar, and cinnamon.
Mix the cinnamon and sugar, then roll it up in the pastry. How easy is that?
These cookies are crispy outside and light inside. Although the heart shape is a signature, it’s not essential.
Feel free to make pinwheels instead.
10. Pain d’epices – French Spice Bread
Pain d’epices is a traditional sweet bread with flour, honey, and spices. It has a dense texture and a sweet and savory flavor, similar to gingerbread cake.
It’s a great addition to cheese platters or savory dishes like roast pork.
11. Madeleines
Sweet, light, and buttery best describes madeleines. These shell-shaped French cakes are dessert staples.
They have a melt-in-your-mouth texture and golden exteriors to please everyone. Madeleines pair with coffee or tea or as a snack.
12. French Pain au Chocolat
Pain au chocolat is a well-known French pastry, just behind the croissant. It’s a roll with laminated dough (pastry and butter layers).
But this one has a stick of dark chocolate in the middle. The chocolate melts during baking for a decadent, gooey filling.
Pain au chocolat is in most French bakeries, and they’re often enjoyed for breakfast or as a snack.
13. Classic French Chocolate Éclair
Here’s another choux pastry you’ve probably already tried. The chocolate éclair is a quintessential dessert in French cuisine.
Like macarons, it’s versatile and traditionally filled with pastry cream and topped with ganache. But it’s also become an icon.
You’ll find it everywhere with colorful glazes and yummy fillings. And you’ll want to try them all.
14. Gougères (French Cheese Puffs)
Gougères are savory French pastries made with choux dough folded with cheese. If you’ve never made choux before, it’s easy.
Just bring water and butter to a boil, then dump all the flour into the pot. Mix with a wooden spoon, cool slightly, then mix in the eggs.
Add cheese (Gruyère is the best choice). Bake until golden and enjoy fresh.
15. Homemade French Croissants
Making croissant dough from scratch takes time (days). You’ll make the dough and let it rest (it contains yeast, so it’s essential). Then it goes in the fridge or freezer, preferably overnight.
The next day, you’ll roll and fold in the butter. This is the first “turn,” and it must go in the fridge/freezer again.
From there, it needs two more “turns” which involve rolling the dough and folding it. That goes back in the fridge overnight, and then you’ll roll, cut, and shape the croissants.
Croissants need to rise and then bake. Is it worth it?
Yes.
16. French Financiers
French financiers are small, rectangular teacakes with nut flour and browned butter. They come in flavors like almond, hazelnut, and pistachio.
Teacakes can be eaten any time, but they’re often enjoyed in the morning with coffee or tea. Financiers taste delicious and have symbolic meaning in France.
The teacake’s shape pays homage to gold bars, meaning prosperity.
17. Homemade Chouquettes (French Pastry Sugar Puffs)
Pastry sugar puffs (chouquettes) are French treats that can be served for breakfast or as a snack. Made with choux pastry, they’re covered with powdered sugar and have a chewy, salty-sweet finish.
These French delights are enjoyable on their own and pair with melted chocolate for something extra special.
18. Paris-Brest
Like eclairs and crullers, this is a choux-based pastry. You can expect a light and airy treat with a crisp edge.
But where eclairs only have a small amount of cream in the middle, the Paris-Brest almost overflows with it. Traditionally, it’s filled with hazelnut praline paste and dreamy hazelnut mousse and topped with flaked almonds.
19. Kouign-Amann
Kouign-Amann is a laminated dough like croissant dough. The dough and most of the work are identical, so if you double the recipe, you’ll get two treats.
The key difference is sugar added in the last turn. As you roll it out and fold it for the final time, you’ll roll sugar into the dough, caramelizing it while baking and giving you an impossibly rich, sweet, and crispy treat.
20. Bouchée à la Reine (Vol-au-Vent)
Bouchée à la Reine is a savory dish of puff pastry filled with creamed mushrooms and diced chicken. Topped with a creamy white sauce, it’s popular all over the world for its crunchy, flaky crust and rich filling.
It can be served as an appetizer or a main course, making it a true crowd pleaser.
21. Crème Brûlée (French Vanilla Custard)
Crème brûlée is an exquisite dessert that’s not as complicated as you might think. It’s a layer of thick pastry cream or custard with caramelized sugar.
The only “chefy” thing is that you need a chef’s torch to brûlée the top for that signature crack. Served in ramekins, it’s the perfect ending to a dinner party and only requires egg yolks, sugar, and milk.
22. Mini French Breakfast Puffs
French breakfast puffs are like a cross between a muffin, a profiterole, a donut, and a churro bite. These unique treats have a soft interior with a crisp outer texture.
They’re rolled in cinnamon sugar for a layer of warm crunch. These morsels pair well with coffee or creamy yogurt for a hearty breakfast.