Cream puffs are such a special treat, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to make them at home! This recipe produces a light and crispy shell filled with fluffy pastry cream. If there’s any recipe that I enjoy making over and over again, it’s this one.
Why is this recipe healthy?
Cream puffs are actually great for a balanced diet because of how easily you can control the portion size. In the photo, I made mine bite-sized, which make the perfect small snack. Cream puffs are also very light, making them relatively low in calories. It’s surprising how easily these small treats can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.
Cream Puffs
This recipe includes an airy pastry shell and a light pastry cream. Watching the pastries expand in the oven is such a satisfying process. Cream puffs are definitely one of the most fun recipes to make on my site.
Ingredients
Pastry Cream Filling
- 1 cup milk 200 g
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 70 g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract 6 g
- 2 tbsp cornstarch 20 g
- 1 cup heavy cream 213 g
Choux Pastry Shell
- 1/4 cup butter 52 g
- 3/4 cup water 180 g
- 1 tsp granulated sugar 4 g
- 1/4 tsp salt 1 g
- 1 cup flour 100 g
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
Pastry Cream Filling
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the milk to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, and cornstarch until the ingredients are combined.
- Pour the milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Cook the pastry cream over medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the pastry cream chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Choux Pastry Shell
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 405º F.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together the butter, water, sugar, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the flour and beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes over the heat. Remove the dough from the heat and place it in a mixing bowl. Beat the dough for 3 more minutes.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the pastry to a piping bag with a 1/2-inch round tip.
- Pipe the pastry into small circles of your desired size onto the prepared baking sheet. Gently smooth ou the tips of the pastry with wetted fingers. Brush the cream puffs with the beaten egg.
- Bake the puffs at 405º for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300º without opening the oven and bake the puffs for 20 more minutes. Turn the oven off and let the pastry dry in the oven for 30 more minutes.
- Remove the puffs from the oven and let them cool. Poke a hole in the bottom of each puff using a 1/4-inch tip of a piping bag.
- In a mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the chilled pastry cream until everything is combined. Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag with a 1/4-inch piping tip.
- Pipe the cream into the puffs until they are filled and feel heavy. Let the cream puffs chill until ready to serve.
Notes
- If you don't want to make the cream fluffy, skip the part with the heavy cream. Instead, double the pastry cream recipe and pipe it into the shells.
- Do NOT open the oven while the puffs bake. If the oven is opened, steam could escape and the puffs will deflate and not inflate again.
- The baking process is complicated because it is the best way to guarantee that the puffs do not deflate.
- If you do not have a piping tip for the cream, simply cut the puffs in half and fill them with cream that way.
