Light and Crisp Cream Puffs
These homemade cream puffs are light, crisp and beautifully hollow inside, ready to fill with whipped cream, vanilla pudding, pastry cream or ice cream. They look bakery-style, but the simple choux pastry dough is much easier to make than you might expect.
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- wire cooling rack
- Piping bag with a large round tip or a tablespoon
- Small sharp knife for opening the cooled cream puffs
- Fine-mesh sieve for dusting with powdered sugar
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup unsalted butter cut into pieces
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs large sized and room temperature
- Powdered sugar optional
Instructions
Prepare the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat the water and butter.
- Place the water, butter, salt and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is completely melted.
Add the flour.
- Add all the flour at once. Stir quickly and firmly with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.
Cook the dough briefly.
- Continue stirring over low heat for another 1 to 2 minutes. The dough should form a smooth ball, and a light coating may appear on the bottom of the pan.
Cool slightly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the dough cool for about 10 minutes. It should still feel warm but should no longer be very hot.
Mix in the eggs.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough may look separated at first, but keep mixing until it becomes smooth and glossy before adding the next egg.
Shape the cream puffs.
- Spoon or pipe 12 evenly sized mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each one. Smooth any pointed tops with a damp fingertip.
Bake.
- Bake at 400°F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cream puffs are well risen, firm and golden brown. Do not open the oven during the first 25 minutes because the sudden loss of heat can cause them to collapse.
Release the steam.
- Remove the cream puffs from the oven and make a small opening in the side of each one. This allows the hot steam to escape and helps keep the shells crisp.
Cool completely.
- Transfer the cream puffs to a wire rack. Once cool, cut off the tops and remove any soft strands of dough from inside.
Fill and serve.
- Fill each cream puff with chilled vanilla pastry cream. Replace the tops and dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
- This method keeps the dependable 400°F baking temperature and 30-to-35-minute cooking time, while giving you completely rewritten directions for your own recipe page.
For light, crisp and beautifully hollow homemade cream puffs, avoid opening the oven during the first 25 minutes of baking. The trapped steam is what helps the choux pastry rise, and opening the door too early can cause the shells to collapse.
Notes
- Bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a full boil before adding the flour. The butter should be completely melted so the cream puff dough cooks evenly.
- Add the flour all at once and stir firmly until the dough forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.
- Cook the dough for another 1 to 2 minutes after it comes together. This removes a little excess moisture and helps the homemade cream puffs rise properly.
- Let the dough cool for about 10 minutes before adding the eggs. It should still be warm, but not hot enough to cook them.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. The dough can look separated at first. Keep stirring—it becomes smooth and glossy again.
- The finished choux pastry dough should be thick, soft and slightly glossy. It should slowly fall from the spoon rather than pour like batter.
- Shape the cream puffs as evenly as possible so they finish baking at about the same time. They may still look a little rustic, which is completely normal.
- Bake the cream puffs at 400°F for 30 to 35 minutes. Avoid opening the oven during the first 25 minutes because the sudden loss of heat can cause them to collapse.
- The shells should be firm and golden brown before removing them from the oven. Pale cream puffs may still be damp inside and can sink while cooling.
- Make a small opening in each warm cream puff to release trapped steam. This helps keep the shells light and crisp.
- Cool the shells completely on a wire rack before adding any filling.
- Fill the cooled cream puffs with sweetened whipped cream, vanilla pastry cream, prepared pudding or ice cream.
- Add whipped cream, pudding or pastry cream shortly before serving for the crispest texture.
- For ice cream cream puffs, fill the cooled shells, replace the tops and freeze until firm.
- Dust the finished cream puffs with powdered sugar just before serving. Powdered sugar can disappear if added too early, especially after refrigeration.
- Unfilled cream puff shells can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat briefly at 300°F to restore some crispness.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cream puffCalories: 128kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 72mgPotassium: 34mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 0.4gVitamin A: 316IUCalcium: 13mgIron: 1mg
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