This oldie but goodie Cream Puff recipe is my favorite and it never fails! It is the one my Mom used, so it is decades old! I’ve experimented with several newer cream puff recipes and to me, this one is the easiest and the best! And I’ve never had it fail!
It is a basic, classic French pastry recipe. Profiterole is the French word for cream puffs. The same pastry is used for eclairs.
Because I make cream puffs smaller, each one is only 117 calories or 3 Weight Watcher points. I drop the mixture by a heaping tablespoonful. If you eat one cream puff, with the filling but without the frosting, then one mini cream puff is only 66 calories or 2 Weight Watcher points. Sounds low calorie to me!
There are so many fillings to use in cream puffs and other pastries! There is this Custard Filling, Cream, Bavarian Cream, Whipped Cream, and Ricotta Filling to name a few popular ones. This Vanilla Custard Pastry Filling is my favorite for cream puffs and eclairs!
You can see how I make mini cream puffs in the slideshow below.
Enjoy!
Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Cream Puff Shells
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
Custard Pastry Filling
- 2 cups milk
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
Cream Puff Shells
- Preheat the oven to 450°.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, or grease the cookie sheets.
- In a medium saucepan, add in the water and butter and bring it to a boil.
- Add in the flour and salt, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. (For less vigorous stirring, you can sift in the flour.)
- Cool it slightly for 5 minutes.
- Add in 4 eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon after each egg until the mixture is blended and smooth.
- Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
- Bake at 450° for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 325° and bake an additional 25 minutes.
- Immediately remove the cream puff shells from the cookie sheet onto a wire rack to cool.
- With a sharp knife slit each cream puff almost in half.
- Fill the cream puff with a filling. I use a Custard Pastry Filling.
- Spread chocolate frosting on top of the cream puff or dust the tops with confectioner’s sugar.
- Store the cream puffs covered in the refrigerator.
Custard Pastry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, beat the egg and milk together with a wire whisk.
- Add the sugar, flour, and salt, mixing well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly so it won’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook until it is thick and just beginning to boil.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
- Transfer the filling to a bowl. Press plastic wrap over the top of the filling to prevent a skin from forming. Chill it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.