This classic French pastry can be filled with pastry cream, whipped cream and even ice cream for a beautiful and delicious dessert presentation.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love cream puffs, and if you’ve never made them yourself before, this recipe for Classic Cream Puffs is a great place to start.
For the longest time I was intimidated by cream puffs. I thought they would be difficult and time consuming. When I finally gave it a go, I learned they’re actually quite quick and easy to make.
Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised. Cream puffs are now one of my favorite, quick desserts to whip up when I want to impress company, or just indulge in something a little fancy.
The dough is simply butter, water, flour, salt and eggs–all things you probably have on hand at this very moment.
The method is a bit different though. Instead of mixing everything in a mixer, you start by boiling the water and butter, then stirring in the flour. It seems totally weird, but it works!
In the final step, you transfer the dough to a mixer and add the eggs one at a time. I’m sure there’s some fascinating science behind the whole process, but the result is absolutely amazing!
Or course, the possibilities are pretty endless when it comes to fillings. I’ve included a recipe for a “cheater” pastry cream made with instant pudding, but don’t limit yourself to just that.
You can even make savory cream puffs, with fillings like egg salad, since there’s actually no sugar in the puff itself.
To say my family loves this dainty little French pastry is a huge understatement. Every time I make these Classic Cream Puffs they disappear within hours.
I hope you love making them and eating them as much as I do.
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Salt
- Flour
- Eggs
- Instant vanilla pudding
- Milk
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
Classic Cream Puffs
Ingredients
For the cream puffs
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4 eggs
For the filling
- 2 3.5 oz. packages instant vanilla pudding
- 2 cups heavy cream divided
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in the flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a stand mixer, and mix for a minute or two, until the dough is lukewarm and most of the steam has escaped. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Spoon or pipe tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until puffs are golden brown. Turn off the oven. When puffs are cool enough to handle, poke a hole in the bottom of each cream puff with a toothpick. Return the cream puffs to the oven, leaving the door slightly ajar, for another 20-30 minutes to dry the centers out completely.
- Allow shells to cool completely. Meanwhile, make the filling: combine the instant vanilla pudding, 1 cup of heavy cream, and the milk in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.
- Beat the remaining 1 cup of cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture.
- Split the cream puff shells in half and fill, or poke a hole in the bottom of the cream puff with a piping tip and pipe in a generous amount of filling. Serve within 1-2 hours of filling for best flavor and texture.
