| Level: | Advanced |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 5 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 4 dozen bite-size cream puffs |
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (for sweet)
- 1 teaspoon salt (for savory)
- 5 3/4 ounces flour
- 1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Boil water, butter, and salt or sugar. Add flour and remove from heat. Work mixture together and return to heat. Continue working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. Transfer mixture into bowl of a standing mixer and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes. With mixer on stir or lowest speed add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe immediately into golfball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 205 |
| Total Fat | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 16 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 0 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 164 mg |
| Sodium | 229 mg |
Reviews
I used your baking time with my family’s recipe your baking time made my family’s recipe not as dense. Love the trick about piercing them with a knife. Never learned that trick in Culinary school.
Thank you Alton for not only being an excellent chef but being a top-notch instructor. I made savory with a cream cheese – ham filling. All gone!
Finally a pate choux that worked! We failed several times over with a Thomas Keller Bouchon recipe (always runny and flat for eclairs), but this time I used bread flour (not AP), cooked 30 minutes in a Wolf Steam oven on auto steam bake and they are gorgeous! Thank you Alton!!!
Great! Just wondering if I can crisp up already cooled cream puffs in the oven. My dad is obsessed with crispness and I’m trying to figure out how to increase the crunch factor.
Hi Alton. The best. Thank you
Great recipe! Works every time! Just need to remember when returning the dough to the heat after adding the flour, to keep it on the heat (stirring regularly) until you see a very thin film of dough on the bottom of the pot. Then take it off the heat to cool before putting it into the mixer bowl. This will guarantee that the eggs absorbs completely and the final dough isn’t too wet. Thanks Alton!
First time making these and mine turned out perfect! I used 4 eggs and 1 egg white (slightly over 1 cup). I also folded in chives, rosemary and Gruyere cheese for a savory version. I baked mine for 15 mines at 425 and then lowered down to 350 for 10 minutes. They puffed up great, and the color looks beautiful. Now I just need to figure out what t fill them with…probably something with cream cheese.
These were SO good. My oven isn’t perfectly calibrated though, so I did extend the baking time at the higher temperature by 2-3 minutes. I would suggest baking them at the higher temp until they are firm to the touch and golden brown and THEN turning down the oven.
For fillings I used a basic vanilla pudding (yes, the kind from a box. Normally I would go all out and make my own, but it’s totally not necessary here. 100% delicious) and I also did some with whipped cream (I usually just chuck in some cream into my mixture, beat on medium until frothy and slightly thickened, add 1 tsp vanilla and 2-3 tbsp powdered sugar depending on how much cream there is. Whip on high until it forms stiff peaks. And you really do want them very stiff for this application). Topped half with chocolate ganache and left half plain. I froze a couple of the plain whipped cream ones, and let me tell you… It might sound gross, but there is nothing more delicious than a frozen, whipped cream-filled cream puff. Ahh so delicious!!!
By the way, if you opt for the cream puff shape rather than eclair like I did, consider just piping out bell-shaped puffs instead of the fancy swirl. I like the swirl, but a few separated a bit and formed two separate chambers that I had to fill. Not a real issue but slightly annoying.
By the way, please don’t spend money on a piping tip if you don’t have one. I just throw the batter into a zip lock bag (gallon is best but I used quart because that’s what I had!) and snip off the appropriate amount. I did find a tip eventually and used it to help get the filling in, but even then, you can totally just cut those suckers 3/4 of the way through, add the filling with the zip lock bag method or just a spoon, and tip the top back on. Think of Nearly Headless Nick for inspiration here :).
This recipe tasted very eggy.
Hopefully this helps anyone doing pate a choux. Depending on how you pipe it, what size you make it, how much you cooked it, the atmosphere, etc. Your bake time is going to be different. Always bake them at the high temperature until they are golden and firm…however long that takes, THEN, and only then, turn it down to dry them out. Something this simple doesn’t have to be a disaster if only you know what to look for.