These Homemade Cream Puffs are a made with a choux pastry dough that bakes up into hollow shells. The cream puff shells are filled with a homemade vanilla custard filling and frosted with a chocolate glaze or dusted with powdered sugar.
Whether you want an elegant ending to a special meal, or you just want something super delicious on your dessert plate, these Homemade Cream Puffs will fit the bill!
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Homemade Bakery Style Dessert
My mom made a homemade cream puff recipe on a regular basis when I was a child and it was something all of us kids would look forward to. While it might seem like a daunting task, it really isn't that hard to make something bakery worthy.
🥘 Ingredients
For the Choux Pastry:
Water
Flour
Unsalted butter
Salt
Eggs
For the pastry cream:
Milk
Egg yolks
Sugar
Cornstarch, this is the thickening agent and is a very important part of this recipe.
Vanilla extract, I recommend a good quality pure vanilla extract when making pastry cream.
Unsalted butter
🔪 Instructions
Step 1:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 2:
- In a medium saucepan combine water, butter and salt and bring to a rolling boil.
- Add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously.
- Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture forms a ball.
- Remove from heat. Set aside and cool for 10 minutes. The dough will still be warm.
Step 3:
- Add eggs, one at a time, into the warm dough, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition until the dough is smooth.
- Transfer the dough using a large cookie scoop onto prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Turn off the oven and leave the cream puffs in the oven until cool.
- Remove the top of the cream puff and fill with pastry cream. Serve as desired.
🍽 Equipment
Parchment Paper: I always use this to line my cookie sheet for any baking I do.
Large Rimless Baking Sheet: There needs to be room between the cream puffs to allow the air to circulate, especially when they are done baking. This is my favorite baking sheet and I've had it for well over 20 years now.
Large Cookie Scoop: I use cookie scoops all the time and not just for cookies. I use this large scoop whenever I make this cream puff recipe. It gives the perfect amount and a perfectly round cream puff shell.
💭 Choux Pastry Tips
Making a choux dough is not hard. However, you do need to follow the directions as written or you could end up with a cream puff shell that doesn't puff up. Below are some tips on making the best most puffed up cream puff shell.
- Allow the choux dough to cool 10 minutes before adding the eggs. Adding it sooner can cause the eggs to scramble from the heat of the dough.
- I like to quickly whisk the egg prior to adding to the choux so it is already blended.
- Add the eggs into the choux dough one at a time and beat into the dough until completely incorporated.
- Make sure the oven temperature is accurate. A hot oven is needed to make the shells puff.
- Once the cream puff shells have finished baking, turn the heat off but leave the shells in the oven. This will help them to dry out more and be firmer.
- Make sure the cream puff shell has completely cooled before filling with the pastry cream.
💭 Pastry Cream Tips
Pastry Cream should be thick. It is similar to pudding, only thicker and holds up on its own better. Pastry cream is often used in pie recipes as it can be sliced into and hold it's shape.
- Temper the egg yolks by quickly whisking 1 cup of the hot cream filling into the egg yolks. Once the egg yolks and pastry cream are creamy and smooth, whisk it into the remainder of the hot filling.
- Flour can be substituted for cornstarch. However, when substituting flour, it needs to be doubled. In this instance you would need ⅔ cup of flour. I highly recommend sticking to cornstarch for the thickening agent.
- Save the egg whites for future use. They can be frozen for future use so they don't spoil. I like to make these Cinnamon Roasted Nuts whenever I have some extra egg whites hanging around.
Variations
- Fill the cream puff shell with your favorite flavor ice cream.
- Use a teaspoon to measure the cream puffs to make them miniature. Fill with sweetened heavy whipped cream and dust with a combination of powdered sugar and cinnamon. These can also be frozen for a frozen treat.
- Add fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries on top of the pastry cream filled cream puffs
- Go savory and fill with a chicken salad recipe.
More Dessert Recipes
Blueberry Tart with Almond Cream Filling
*If you made this recipe for Homemade Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pastry Cream, please give it a star rating*
📖 Recipe
Cream Puffs Recipe
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Ingredients
For the cream puff (choux pastry)
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup butter
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter sliced thin
Instructions
To make the Cream Puff Shells
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium saucepan combine water, butter and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir over medium high heat until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Set aside and cool for 10 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition, until the dough is smooth.
- Transfer the dough by heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Transfer cream puffs to a wire rack and let cool completely.
To make the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- In a medium sized heavy bottom saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in the milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of the milk mixture. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk mixture in saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
- Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
- Pour pudding into a bowl. Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Chill.
Notes
Choux Pastry tips
Making a choux dough is not hard. However, you do need to follow the directions as written or you could end up with a cream puff shell that doesn't puff up. Below are some tips on making the best most puffed up cream puff shell.- Allow the choux dough to cool 10 minutes before adding the eggs. Adding it sooner can cause the eggs to scramble from the heat of the dough.
- Beat the eggs into the choux dough one at a time until completely incorporated.
- Make sure the oven temperature is accurate. A hot oven is needed to make the shells puff
- Once the cream puff shells have finished baking, turn the heat off but leave the shells in the oven. This will help them to dry out more and be firmer.
- Make sure the cream puff shell has completely cooled before filling with the pastry cream.
Vanilla Pastry Cream tips and substitutions
Vanilla Pastry Cream should be thick. It is similar to pudding, only thicker and holds up on its own better. Pastry cream is often used in pie recipes as it can be sliced into and hold it's shape.- Temper the egg yolks by quickly whisking 1 cup of the hot cream filling into the egg yolks. Once the egg yolks and pastry cream are creamy and smooth, whisk it into the remainder of the hot filling.
- Flour can be substituted for cornstarch. However, when substituting flour, it needs to be doubled. In this instance you would need ⅔ cup of flour. I highly recommend sticking to cornstarch for the thickening agent.
- Save the egg whites for future use. They can be frozen for future use so they don't spoil. I like to make these Cinnamon Roasted Nuts whenever I have some extra egg whites hanging around.
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