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–+ servings
Top of chouqettes on a white wooden board.

Best Easy Chouquettes (French Sugar Puffs)

These easy and delicious chouquettes are small French pastries made with airy Choux pastry, and coated with crunchy pearl sugar.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 50 chouquettes
Calories 54 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4.23 oz Milk
  • 4.23 oz Water
  • ½ cup Butter unsalted
  • 1 tablespoon Granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 8.4 oz Eggs
  • 5.07 oz Flour
  • 1 cup Pearl sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a saucepan, add the milk, sugar, water, salt, and butter, and mix with a wooden spoon to ensure the butter melts evenly. Let the mixture come to a boil, and then turn off the heat.
  • Add the flour to the mixture and quickly mix the flour with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Turn on the heat to medium and cook the dough for 1-3 minutes.
  • You will know when the dough is ready when a thin skin forms at the bottom of the pan and you can hear the sizzling sound of the butter in the dough.
  • Transfer the dough into a large mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the guitar attachment, mix the dough on medium speed to cool it for 1-2 minutes.
  • Whisk the eggs in a small mixing bowl, and gradually add them to the dough, a little bit at a time. You may not need to add all the eggs, it depends on how much moisture is left in the dough you cooked.
  • Keep adding the eggs until you get a glossy and pipeable consistency. You can test the dough by running your finger in the middle of the bowl with the dough and it should take 3 seconds for the dough to close down.

How to pipe chouquettes?

  • To pipe chouquettes correctly, use a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.
  • Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet and pipe small mounds of dough about 1 inch in diameter, leaving some space between each one to allow for expansion during baking.
  • Sprinkle the chouquettes generously with the pearl sugar.
  • Bake them in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 25 minutes (in the center of the oven) or until the puffs have puffed up and have a golden brown color. Do not open the oven door before 25 minutes pass.
  • Lower the temperature to 160c (320f) and bake for another 15-20 minutes to make sure you dry out the puffs as much as possible to prevent them from deflating.
  • Note: the exact baking time may vary depending on how strong your oven is.
  • Remove the puffs from the oven allow them to cool completely and serve immediately when they are fresh and crispy. You can also fill them with your favorite filling like pastry cream, whipped chocolate ganache, whipped cream, etc.

Notes

  • Make sure you pipe the puffs to be the same size to make them bake evenly.
  • When you are adding the flour to the dough, add it in one setting to prevent lumps from forming in the dough.
  • After you cook the dough, cool it until it's not too warm by mixing the dough with an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer to prevent the eggs from cooking. Do not overmix the dough so the oil doesn’t separate from the dough.
  • Bake them for longer than you think!
  • When you are adding the eggs to the mixture, mix them with a fork and add them gradually until you get the right consistency. You don’t want to get a runny dough, so this step is important.
  • If your dough turns out too runny, don’t throw it away! Make ½ of the dough batter without adding the eggs and gently mix it with the runny dough until you get the right consistency.
  • If you added all the eggs and your dough is still too tough, add small sips of milk until you get the right texture.
  • 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 54kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 1gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 46mgPotassium: 14mgFiber: 0.1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 86IUCalcium: 7mgIron: 0.2mg
Keyword Chouquette, Chouquettes, French Sugar Puffs
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