These cream puffs are a classy french dessert made with choux pastry that is baked until golden brown, filled with whipped cream or pastry cream, and dipped in chocolate.
Many people including me are intimidated by making choux pastry because it can go wrong in so many ways, but I found the best recipe and tips and tricks to make this recipe foolproof. Sounds good? Read on for tips!
If you like making classic desserts, check out our creme brulee, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip banana bread, chewy peanut butter cookies, and brownie cookies.
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What is choux pastry?
Choux pastry is a french pastry dough made with simple ingredients like water, butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. When baked, this pastry puffs up and creates a pocket that is usually filled with different fillings.
Choux pastry is used in many well-known recipes like churros, eclairs, and Profiteroles.
Why this recipe works
- It is made with a delicious choux pastry.
- Can be filled with any of your favorite fillings!
- Perfect for any occasion like parties, holidays, birthdays, and more!
- It is a foolproof recipe! Read all our tips to prevent these from deflating!
- Can be topped with different types of toppings!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
For the choux pastry
Water- room temperature water will work.
Butter-Â use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious puffs.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Eggs- you will need 1 large egg for this recipe. Make sure that your egg is at room temperature.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the whipped cream
Heavy whipping cream- use cold heavy whipping cream.
Powder sugar- you will need powder sugar for this recipe. you don’t have to buy powder sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Vanilla extract- for extra flavor.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 218c (425f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, add the butter, sugar, water, and salt, over medium heat, and mix with a wooden spoon until the butter is melted and the mixture is well mixed. Bring to a boil.
Add the flour and turn the heat to medium-low and stir constantly until you dont see lumps of flour visible and the mixture is well combined. Keep stirring for 1-2 minutes to release extra moisture from the dough.
The dough will come together into a ball and a thin film will form at the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer for about 2 minutes to cool down the dough.
Add 4 eggs, one at a time, and let each egg mix thoroughly into the dough. Mix for another minute to let the mixture mix well and be smooth.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a round piping tip and pipe the puffs 1 inch apart.
Bake in a 218c (425f) preheated oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180c (350f) for another 30 minutes. The puffs should look golden brown.
Check for doneness by cutting one puff in half. If the inside of the pastry is very moist and spongy, bake for another 2-3 minutes. It is important that the interior of the puffs is not moist. This way they will not deflate.
Let them cool completely before filling them.
Into a big mixing bowl, add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
We like cutting the pastry in half, but you can fill it by inserting a hole in the bottom of each puff and filling them with a pastry bag.
Fill the puffs with whipped cream or pastry cream from this recipe. And top with extra chocolate or powder sugar if required!
Expert Tips
- Make sure you pipe the puffs to be the same size to make them bake evenly.
- Let these cool completely before you add the filling so the filling will not melt.
- Avoid opening the oven door when baking them, and make sure that your oven is properly reheated. The heat makes these rise and puffs nicely.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Before making this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Faq's
These will last for up to 3 days stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
There are a few reasons for that, first reason is that you opened your oven early. This stops the puffs from rising and developing a pocket.
The second reason is that you underbaked these. This happened to me before. The color of these should be golden brown and not light brown.
Cream puffs are not made with a leavening agent, instead, it relies on a high moisture content to create steam and puff during baking.
This is why it's extremely important to preheat the oven and not open the oven before the puffs are golden brown.
Storing
Store these in the fridge in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out.
Freezing
You can freeze these for up to 2 months sealed in a freezer-friendly airtight container. Ensure that you fill the puffs with whipped cream or pastry cream until it's completely filled.
To thaw, place them in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for an hour.
Make ahead instructions
The shells can be made a day or two ahead of time. Make them according to the instructions and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Take into consideration that they will be softer and not crispy.
To make these crispy again, bake them in a 150c (300f) preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Let them cool completely before adding the filling.
Substitutions
Salted butter- if you dont have unsalted butter, you can use salted butter, but skip the salt in the recipe.
Milk- the traditional way to make these is with water, but milk can work as well!
Variations
Filling- you can fill these with your favorite filling like chocolate whipped cream, whipped ganache, pastry cream, pumpkin whipped cream, cream cheese frosting, etc.
Topping- we topped our cream puffs with melted chocolate, but you can top them with powdered sugar.
More classic desserts
Chocolate cake- This decadent chocolate cake is made by making two simple cake layers with the easiest and most chocolaty chocolate frosting.
Vanilla cake- This 8 inch vanilla cake is made with 3 layers of tender, fluffy, and moist vanilla cake layers, topped and filled with a decadent vanilla buttercream that makes the perfect cake.
Fudgy brownies- These chewy and fudgy brownies are loaded with chocolate chunks, melted chocolate, and cocoa powder, have a crinkly top, taste a million times better than boxed brownies, and take under an hour to make.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Cream Puffs
Ingredients
- 1 cup Water
- 115 g Butter
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Granulated sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Flour
Whipped cream
- 4 tablespoon Powder sugar
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 218c (425f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan, add the butter, sugar, water, and salt, over medium heat, mix with a wooden spoon until the butter is melted and the mixture is well mixed. Bring to a boil.
- Add the flour and turn the heat to medium low and stir constantly until you dont see lumps of flour visible and the mixture is well combined. Keep stirring for 1-2 minutes to release extra moisture from the dough.
- The dough will come together into a ball and a thin film will form in the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer for about 2 minutes to cool down the dough.
- Add 4 eggs, one at a time, and let each egg mix thoroughly into the dough. Mix for another minute to let the mixture mix well and be smooth.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a round piping tip and pipe the puffs 1 inch apart.
- Bake in a 218c (425f) preheated oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180c (350f) for another 30 minutes. The puffs should look golden brown.
- Check for doneness by cutting one puff in half. If the inside of the pastry is very moist and spongy, bake for another 2-3 minutes. It is important that the interior of the puffs is not moist. This way they will not deflate.
- Let them cool completely before filling them.
Make the whipped cream
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and powder sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- We like cutting the pastry in half, but you can fill it by inserting a hole in the bottom of each puff and fill them with a pastry bag.
- Fill the puffs with whipped cream or pastry cream from this recipe. And top with extra chocolate or powder sugar if required!
Notes
- Make sure you pipe the puffs to be the same size to make them bake evenly.
- Let these cool completely before you add the filling so the filling will not melt.
- Avoid opening the oven door when baking them, and make sure that your oven is properly reheated. The heat makes these rise and puffs nicely.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Before making this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
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