A tasty classic pastry this Cream Puff Recipe has minimal ingredients, is a perfect brunch or dessert recipe and is full of flavor. One treat you won’t want to pass up.
I love Cream Puffs, when I had my first cream puff from a bakery as a kid I fell in love even with all the filling on my face.
These are really simple once you get the hang of making them, they have very minimal ingredients and the choux pastry dough can be used for a lot of different recipes.
Cream Puffs can be made in so many different ways and with so many different fillings, I love just your basic recipe which I’m providing here today.
I love with these you can make them as little or as large as you’d like so you can really determine the amount you want to make based off of one recipe.
We like the bigger ones, but we have made mini in the past and the kids love them because sometimes they can’t seem to finish a larger one!
Other times we do a mix of large and small, it all depends on what or who we are baking these for. But this is one of the most made pastry recipes that we make.
I love making them all year long, but for the holidays they are fun too. They are usually a Christmas day type of recipe for us and Christmas eve is saved for all of the cookies!
Some of our other favorite desserts that we have on our site include: Kringla, Struffoli and Churros!
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Minimal ingredients are required to make this treat.
- You can make any size that you’d like.
- The filling can be changed to your liking.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Whole milk
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Salt
All-purpose flour
Eggs
Heavy cream
Vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE A CREAM PUFF RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, butter, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Add the flour to the boiling mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the paste starts to look dry and no longer clings to the pan or spoon. About 2 to 3 minutes, do not overmix.
- Transfer the choux pastry dough to a large bowl or stand mixer and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stirring every couple of minutes to help it cool down.
- Using a paddle attachment or hand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time on medium-high speed until combined. Make sure the paste is completely smooth after mixing in each egg before adding the next. The choux pastry dough is ready when it sticks up without sagging on the end of a spoon.
- Use choux pastry immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours (no longer).
- Transfer the choux pastry dough to a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2A piping tip or similar and pipe onto the prepared baking sheet in mounds about 2-inches wide and 1-inch high, leaving about 2 inches of space between each one. Do not move the piping tip up as you pipe, just let the dough puff up around it. Sprinkle the mounds and the baking sheet with water, this helps the choux pastry dough to puff up while baking.
- Bake on a lower rack for 10 minutes. REDUCE HEAT TO 350°F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Transfer to a wire rack and poke a hole in the side of each puff with a cake tester, toothpick, or paring knife to release heat and prevent the insides from getting soggy while they cool.
- To make the filling, add heavy cream and vanilla to a chilled mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until bubbles form. Slowly add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat at medium-high speed until thick and creamy.
- Add whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a large tip of your choice.
- Slice the cream puffs in half top and bottom and pipe the cream onto the bottom and then place the top back on the whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
WHAT IS CHOUX PASTRY DOUGH?
Choux is more of a rich pastry dough when baked is crispy on the outside but light and airy on the inside. It is used to make many different desserts.
Some desserts include Cream Puffs, Eclairs, Profiteroles, Churros, Beignets and more!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CREAM PUFF RECIPE AND A PROFITEROLE?
There is a lot of speculation on the different between these two, some use cream puff and profiterole interchangeably as the same thing.
What I have known is that they do use the same dough but a Profiterole is smaller and usually filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate or other things.
WHAT ELSE CAN I FILL MY CREAM PUFF RECIPE WITH?
Traditional Cream Puffs are filled with a pastry cream, but we usually make whipped cream with ours as it is easier.
You can fill these with various flavors of whipped cream depending on the occasion and flavor you’d like such chocolate, lemon, raspberry and more.
There are heavier fillings you can use like a cheesecake type of filling as well but we like to go for more of the lighter options as we see that is what a Cream Puff Recipe really is.
HOW TO STORE:
As always these are best eaten the day that they are made, but you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
The shells of the cream puffs can be frozen, to do this let them cool fully and then place in a freezer container. They should keep for up to 2 months.
To defrost you can either defrost on the countertop or the refrigerator. Once defrosted make your filling and enjoy.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Baked puffs can be stored in an airtight container after cooling for up to 1 day before adding whipped cream.
- You can easily double this recipe to make a large batch.
- To make Profiteroles, simply use a small piping tip for the choux pastry and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees (no baking at 400 degrees).
- You can also top these with chocolate if desired.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
If you want a classic dessert that everyone is bound to love, then you absolutely need to make my Cream Puff Recipe!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this CREAM PUFF RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Cream Puff Recipe
Ingredients
Choux Pastry Dough:
- ½ cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 4 large eggs room temperature
Whipped Cream:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Topping:
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, butter, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Add the flour to the boiling mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the paste starts to look dry and no longer clings to the pan or spoon. About 2 to 3 minutes, do not overmix.
- Transfer the choux pastry dough to a large bowl or stand mixer and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stirring every couple of minutes to help it cool down.
- Using a paddle attachment or hand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time on medium-high speed until combined. Make sure the paste is completely smooth after mixing in each egg before adding the next. The choux pastry dough is ready when it sticks up without sagging on the end of a spoon.
- Use choux pastry immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours (no longer).
- Transfer the choux pastry dough to a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2A piping tip or similar and pipe onto the prepared baking sheet in mounds about 2-inches wide and 1-inch high, leaving about 2 inches of space between each one. Do not move the piping tip up as you pipe, just let the dough puff up around it. Sprinkle the mounds and the baking sheet with water, this helps the choux pastry dough to puff up while baking.
- Bake on a lower rack for 10 minutes. REDUCE HEAT TO 350°F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Transfer to a wire rack and poke a hole in the side of each puff with a cake tester, toothpick, or paring knife to release heat and prevent the insides from getting soggy while they cool.
- To make the filling, add heavy cream and vanilla to a chilled mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until bubbles form. Slowly add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat at medium-high speed until thick and creamy.
- Add whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a large tip of your choice.
- Slice the cream puffs in half top and bottom and pipe the cream onto the bottom and then place the top back on the whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Baked puffs can be stored in an airtight container after cooling for up to 1 day before adding whipped cream.
- You can easily double this recipe to make a large batch.
- To make Profiteroles, simply use a small piping tip for the choux pastry and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees (no baking at 400 degrees).
- You can also top these with chocolate if desired.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Brenda
I have been making Choux pastry dough for lots of years and the recipe is basically the same just slightly different measurements. I, too, fell in love with cream puffs (and eclairs) as soon as I tasted them at a very young age. Several decades ago, choux pastry puffs (without sugar added) were a staple for appetizer trays. You simply cut a slice from the top of the puff and remove quite a bit of the center. I love to fill them with shrimp, crab, chicken or egg salad and garnish with fresh herbs. Make them large and fill with that delightful chicken salad that features fruit and nuts (apples or grapes and your choice of almonds, pecans or walnuts). Once you get started, you will find all kinds of things come to mind. Hope that helps you conjure up some new recipes!