Cream Puffs Recipe
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Learn how to make this easy cream puffs recipe in your own home with this step by step photo tutorial! Cream puffs are an easy French dessert you can whip up. It’s easier than you think!
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According to the dictionary, a friend is defined as: a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of affection- probably attained from making cream puffs with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Ok maybe that’s not the exact definition but it’s how I would write the definition if I was allowed to.
Perhaps an even better friend, not only makes you cream puffs but shows you step by step on how to make them.
Are Cream Puffs And Profiteroles The Same Thing?
Not going to lie I always used these two interchangeably. But there’s actually a difference! Profiteroles are basically cream puffs frozen cousin.
So fill a cream puff with ice-cream and freeze them and voila! You have a profiterole.
To Make This Cream Puffs Recipe You Will Need
- Medium-sized saucepan- This batter gets made all in a saucepan over the stovetop so it’s best to have a decent saucepan to make these in. My favorite is Cuisinart– it’s quality and less than $20 which you just can’t beat.
- You will need a piping bag for this fit with a plain circle tip (I used Ateco Plain Size #808) batter or an ice-cream scoop – Either will work just fine! For this tutorial I used my Ateco plastic piping bags because I can quick throw them away!
- Silicone Baking Mat (or parchment paper)
- Pastry Brush- You need this to brush each puff with an egg wash and smooth the tops down. I love my silicon brush for ease of cleaning!
- Cookie sheet- My favorite is this Chicago Metallic aluminum cookie sheet!
What Are The Ingredients For Choux Pastry?
It’s simple dough made from:
- flour
- water
- butter
- eggs
- sugar
- salt
There is no leavening agents involved here. So go put that baking soda and baking powder back in the cupboard. You won’t need it this time. Nope, no yeast either.
So what makes these little pastries puff up? Well when the liquid in the dough evaporates in the oven, it causes the pastries to puff up.
The pastry dough is a thick enough batter that you can pipe it into shapes.
But this pate a choux pastry you can use not just to make eclairs, but cream puffs (profiteroles), a croquembouche (basically a giant cream puff tower), gougeres (cheesy cream puffs).
How Do I Make Cream Puffs?
Making cream puffs is similar to making chocolate eclairs. Really the big difference is the shape! You will start by making a choux pastry.
STEP ONE:
Cut your butter into tablespoons or small chunks and add to a saucepan with 1 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon sugar and bring to a simmer over high heat. Bonus: No need to stir during this!
STEP TWO:
Turn down the heat to a medium and add your flour all at once! With a wooden spoon, stir for 3 minutes or until it forms a cohesive mass that pulls away from the sides of the pan. The flour should leave this film on the sides of the pan.
STEP Three:
Remove from the heat and either in a stand mixer or with that trusty wooden spoon you want to stir this for about a minute (mine took a couple extra) until it’s slightly cooled (about 121ºF).
STEP FIVE:
Beat in your eggs 1 at a time until you have added 4. Keep in mind, 4 is the recommended number but keep an eye on the consistency as the number of eggs depends on the type of flour used. For me, it was exactly 4 eggs.
How Do I Check The Consistency Of Cream Puff Batter?
To determine if the consistency of the batter is correct and you have added enough eggs, look for one of these three things.
Batter Consistency Check #1: You have added enough eggs when you drag a spoon through the mixture and the groove left behind slowly folds in on itself as shown in the second picture.
Batter Consistency Check #2: Pull the wooden spoon up out of the dough. The dough should droop off the spoon and not stick straight out.
Batter Consistency Check #3: If using a stand mixer, the dough should pull away from the paddle attachment in a thick rope and form a V.
STEP SIX:
Transfer the cooled mixture to a piping fit with a plain circle tip (I used Ateco Plain Size #808) or use an 2-inch icecream scoop
STEP SEVEN:
On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat, pipe out your cream puffs. Aim for about 1 1/2 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide.
When piping, hold the piping bag about 3/4-inch above the cookie sheet and start piping. As the round takes shape lift the bag up to about 1 1/2-inch above the cookie sheet to allow the round to widen. You will fit about 6 on one cookie sheet.
STEP EIGHT:
Brush the tops of each puff with an egg wash, gently smoothing the surface with the pastry brush at the same time.
STEP NINE:
Time to bake them! These will bake in a two-step process meaning you will bake them at 20 minutes at 400°F pre-heated oven, then reduce the temperature and bake for an additional 20 minutes at 300F. Then allow them to cool on a cake rack.
Step Ten:
Now time to fill, eat and enjoy!
I filled mine with a simple stabilized whipped cream and fresh strawberries. But you could also fill them with a easy vanilla pastry cream and top with chocolate ganache. I included those recipes as well in case you want to go that route.
If you decide to go with whipped cream, I topped mine with a little bit of powdered sugar as well.
Tips For Making Cream Puffs:
- You will be making the cream puff in a saucepan so make sure to choose a heavy duty saucepan that is large enough.
- When you add the flour, you want to add it all at once then stir with a wooden spoon until it leaves a film onto the walls of the saucepan.
- Use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of the batter before adding the eggs. You want the temperature below 121°F.
- The number of eggs can vary when making cream puffs. So check if you have added enough by dragging your wooden spoon through the batter, it should leave a path that folds in on itself. Or pick up the spoon the batter should fall off the spoon and form a “V”.
- When piping, aim for about 1 1/2 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide.
- When piping, hold the piping bag about 3/4-inch above the cookie sheet
Can You Make Cream Puffs In Advance?
Absolutely. The choux pastry can be made two days ahead of time. Just simply keep covered until ready to use.
You can store them in refrigerator for up to 3 days. Just simply store them in the an airtight container. Be sure to store them unfilled, as they will go soft quickly once filled.
You can also freeze them, filled or unfilled, for several weeks. You can thaw in the refrigerator for about an hour, or at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Why Did My Cream Puffs Deflate?
Ugh there is nothing worse then when you go to all that effort and your baking adventure takes a wrong turn. According to Fat Daddio’s there could be several reasons why your cream puffs deflated. You may have:
- did not pierce the bottoms. You need to let the steam escape otherwise it will cause them to become all soggy.
- boiled the sugar, butter, and water for too long. You caused too much of the water in the recipe to boil off. If there’s too little water in your choux, there won’t be enough steam to help the puffs inflate
- opened the oven during the baking process, or set the temperature too low. This is always one of my oven 101 rules! No peeking! Again, steam is crucial to the rising process and letting it out or losing heat in the baking process can have a negative effect on the puff of your final pastry.
- removing the pastry from the oven too soon. If the choux pastry isn’t firm when you remove it from the oven, it will cave in on itself. You want your puffs to look golden brown before you even open your oven.
How Do You Keep Cream Puffs From Getting Soggy?
If you store them properly or freeze them then you should be all set. But if your cream puffs do get soggy, then you crisp up the shells again before you fill and serve them.
To re-crisp your cream puffs, simply heat them in a 300oF oven for 5-8 minutes.
Just be sure to let them cool before filling!
If you liked this step by step photo tutorial on how to make cream puffs, let me know and leave me a comment! And be sure to subscribe to never miss a new recipe or baking tutorial and I will send you my 10 baking secrets to save time in the kitchen.
Until next time, happy baking!
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
For the cream puff dough
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter sliced
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour sifted
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 egg white plus more as needed
Whipped Cream and Strawberries
- 1 cup (240 ml) whipping cream
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- sliced strawberries optional
- powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Combine the water, salt, butter, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat. There’s no need to stir.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture forms a cohesive mass and pulls away from the sides of the pans, leaving a film of flour on the sides of pan.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl or a stand mixer and beat it with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment for about 1 minute or until slightly cooled.
- Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, until you’ve added 4. Check the consistency of the batter by pulling a wooden spoon through it. When the groove it makes slowly in on itself, you’ve added enough eggs. Another way to check is to see if the batter droops from the spoon when it is held sideways. If so it is ready. Add more egg whites as needed until the batter passes away the groove test. While the dough is best used right away, it will keep for several hours in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip and fill it with the dough. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. If using paper, pipe a small amount of dough underneath the paper in the four corners to hold it down.
- Make 2 rows of 3 each cream puffs each. Start by holding the pastry bag about 3/4-inch above the sheet pan and squeezing. If the pastry bag tip is too close, the cream puffs won’t be thick enough; if it’s too far away, they won’t be wide enough. As the round of pastry takes shape, lift the pastry bag until it is about 1 1/2 inches above the sheet pan. The mounds of dough should be about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches high in the center. Brush with an egg wash, lightly smoothing the surface with the brush at the same time. Bake the cream puffs for about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Turn down the oven to 300F and continue baking for 20 minutes more. Let cool for at least 20 minutes on a cake rack.
- Prepare the whipped cream by placing the heavy cream into a bowl of a stand mixer. Combine with the sugar and vanilla extract and whip to soft peaks. Use a serrated knife, cut each cream puff open horizontally. Pipe the whipped cream or scoop with an icecream scoop the whipped cream into the middle and top with sliced strawberries. Top with additional powdered sugar if you choose and I think you should!
Video
Notes
- Nutrition facts do not include strawberries or additional powdered sugar.
- You will be making the cream puff in a saucepan so make sure to choose a heavy duty saucepan that is large enough
- When you add the flour, you want to add it all at once then stir with a wooden spoon until it leaves a film onto the walls of the saucepan.
- Use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of the batter before adding the eggs. You want the temperature below 121°F.
- The number of eggs can vary when making cream puffs. So check if you have added enough by dragging your wooden spoon through the batter, it should leave a path that folds in on itself. Or pick up the spoon the batter should fall off the spoon and form a “V”.
- When piping, aim for about 1 1/2 inches high and 3 1/2 inches wide.
- When piping, hold the piping bag about 3/4-inch above the cookie sheet and start piping. As the round takes shape lift the bag up to about 1 1/2-inch above the cookie sheet to allow the round to widen. You will fit about 6 on one cookie sheet.
I’m confused about the mention of piercing the bottom to let steam out ( fat daddios trouble shooting) I did not find this recommendation in your recipe directions. In fact you state not to lose water when boiling with sugar…… Please correct this for me. I appreciate you so much.
Hi Kathy, my apologies I’ll make sure to add that to the directions. But yes I poke the bottoms of the puffs after baking to help steam escape so they don’t become soggy.
You didn’t tell us how much butter we need.
Sorry, I found the recipe place, for some reason I didn’t find it the first time through.
No worries Bronte! 🙂 Let me know how they turn out!
I’m definitely going to be making your cream puffs this month. How many cream puffs does the recipe make? Thanks for your help.
This makes about 24 (but will depend on how large you are making them!)