Making Cream Puffs at home is SO simple! Cream Puffs might seem like a fancy dessert only fancy pastry chefs can make, but you can make them at home! No special equipment or skills required.
I love cream puffs. I am most familiar with the ones you buy frozen at the grocery store. They always seemed way too fancy and complicated to ever make from scratch.
Then one day, I heard someone say that they made some cream puffs at home. You MADE them?? Like, took ingredients and did things to them, and they turned into cream puffs? I couldn’t believe this! A quick google search confirmed that making cream puffs is crazy simple. I don’t even understand how such ordinary ingredients, prepared in such an un-fancy way, become these fluffy, pillowy, tender little clouds of heaven. But boy do they! And not only is the end result completely delicious and adorable, but you feel like the baking champion of the world.
Making Cream Puffs at Home
The cream puff dough (called a very fancy pate a choux), is very simple to mix up. As you add the eggs to the dough one at a time, the dough will seem to separate completely and feel like it will never come together again. Don’t fret! Get your shoulder work out on, and keep on a’stirring- it’ll get smooth again. Just in time to add the next egg. Once all eggs are incorporated, it’s time to transfer the dough to a piping bag or even a ziploc bag.
Pro tip: Place your bag inside of a tall cup, folding the edges over the rim of the cup. Then, scoop your dough into the bag-lined cup. So much easier than trying to wrangle the dough into a floppy bag!
If you have piping tips, fit your bag with a 5/8 inch plain tip. Or, just snip off the tip of your bag about 1/2 inch from the end. Easy peasy.
Create little swirls of dough, about 1.5 inches in diameter, onto your sheet pan. You can use a silpat liner or parchment paper, but I am lazy, and I just use cooking spray, and they turn out beautifully. It’s okay if some of your puffs are really wonky looking.
Dip your finger in some water, and smooth down the little peaks.
Nice little round puffs, ready for the oven! Brush on the egg wash, stick in the oven, and DON’T OPEN the oven until they are done! This can make them collapse!
Let your little puffs cool completely. Prepare the filling while you wait. I made a traditional pastry cream to fill my cream puffs. You can skip this and just fill with sweetened whipped cream, or sweetened whipped cream mixed with prepared pudding. The cream puff world is your oyster! If you don’t have a piping bag with a pointy tip, you can also slice your cream puffs in half and sandwich your cream between the halves. Delicious either way!
If you are filling with a piping bag, fill a piping bag with your filling of choice, then poke the tip into the side of your cream puff. Fill your cream puff and remove the bag. Feel very fancy.
You can serve them nekkid, or you can give them a quick dunk in some melted chocolate. Look how cute they are! The perfect treat for a baby or bridal shower. Or just for a Sunday afternoon, in my case.
Just look at those flaky layers of tender pastry! I seriously feel like such a rockstar after making these.
Creamy delicious filling inside a delicious pillow of dough, finished with a crisp layer of chocolate. I love these! I hope you’ll give them a try, so you can feel like the fanciest mofo in the kitchen!
Need more adorable and delicious bite sized dessert ideas? Try my Two Bite Brownies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles, or Key Lime Tea Cookies!
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Cream Puffs
- 1/2 c butter cut into pieces
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 c water
- 5 large eggs
- 1 c flour
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For Cream Puffs
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets with cooking spray, parchment paper, or silpat liners.
- Over medium-high heat, combine butter, salt, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring, until a thin film forms on the bottom of the pan. (The spoon dragged through should leave a line.)
- Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Allow to cool for 3 minutes. At eggs, one at a time. Stir very well after each addition. At first, the mixture will seem to separate and clump. Keep stirring! Once the mixture is smooth again, add the next egg and repeat until all 4 eggs are incorporated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg and 1 tbsp water.
- Fill a pastry bag or ziploc bag with dough. Cut off the tip about 1/2 inch up, or fit with a 5/8 inch plain tip. Pipe 1-1.5 inch rounds onto the pans. Dip your finger in water and smooth the pointed peaks down.
- Brush tops with egg wash.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Fill another pastry bag with prepared pastry cream, fitted with a small, sharp tip. Poke the tip into the side of the cream puff, and fill with pastry cream.
- Optional: Melt chocolate and dip tops of cream puffs into melted chocolate.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate for 1-2 days. You can also freeze for up to one month.
For Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, add milk and heat until bubbles form on the side of the pan; right before boiling.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 c sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch.
- As soon as the milk bubbles, very slowly drizzle the milk into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking constantly. Return the liquid to the saucepan.
- Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt. Pour into a bowl, and cover in plastic wrap; pressing the plastic wrap onto the surface of the pastry cream.
- When pastry cream is completely cool, combine the heavy whipping cream and 2 tbsp sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream.
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