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This Homemade cream puff recipe is better than the bakery. You won’t believe how simple and easy these elegant little pastries are to make!
Cream puffs are the perfect bite-sized desserts for showers, parties, and get-togethers. For more bite-sized treats, try Sheet Cake Bites, Mini Lemon Drop Cakes, or Cheesecake Cupcakes!
We Love This Dessert!
I LOVE homemade cream puffs! They’ve been a favorite since I was young, and I’m so happy to know how to make them at home.
Even though they seem hard, they’re actually quite easy. And trust me when I say these are just as delicious as any cream puff you would find in a bakery.
Why we love this Cream Puff recipe:
- Easy. The pâte à choux (the pastry part) comes together very quickly and easily.
- Delicious. They bake up into wonderful puffy little pieces of heaven.
- The filling! I’m already drooling thinking about the cream filling!
Cream PUff, Eclair, and Profiterole
All are made using choux pastry. The differences are the shape and fillings:
- Cream puff: round, typically filled with pastry cream and topped with powdered sugar.
- Eclair: oblong, filled with pastry cream, and topped with chocolate.
- Profiteroles: round, filled with ice cream.
Ingredients
- water
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar
- salt
- all-purpose flour
- large eggs
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
How to make cream puffs
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- DOUGH. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, butter, granulated sugar, and salt and bring to a simmer. Once a simmer is reached, remove from the heat and stir in flour all at once until the mixture forms a ball. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with a wooden spoon between each addition. Mix until the dough is smooth and shiny.
- SHAPE. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip (or a resealable plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner). Pipe small (1–1½-inch) rounds of dough onto the prepared baking pan, spacing about 1 inch apart (make sure they are the same size so they bake the same time). Use your finger to press down the little peaks at the top of the dough, so the puffs are smooth.
- We don’t recommend an egg wash for this recipe.
- BAKE. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for 15 minutes more. The puffs are done when they are lightly golden brown and the insides are hollow. Let the puffs cool completely.
Cream Puff Filling Recipe
- WHIP. While the puffs cool, in a bowl beat cream with a hand mixer, or by hand using a wire whisk, until firm peaks form. Beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time until the whipped cream is as sweet as you prefer.
- FILL. When puffs are cool, split each cream puff in half using a serrated knife.
- Place a scoop of whipped cream onto the bottom half of each puff. Top with the other half and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Recipe Tips
- Hollow out the puff when it is still warm. Cut in half with a knife, then use a fork to carefully remove the center leaving a crisp hollow shell.
- Deflated cream puffs. Cream puffs deflate for all sorts of reasons. Here are a few common ones to avoid.
- Not piercing the puff as soon as it is out of the oven. Pierce with a fork or knife to allow the steam to escape.
- Not blending the ingredients properly. For example, add one egg at a time then mix after each.
- The oven temperature is too low or the oven was opened too many times during the cooking process.
- Filling. Change up the filling based on what you like (a vanilla pudding would work), but we like a sweet whipped cream – and it’s easy to make!
Storing Cream Puffs
- Make ahead of time. Store the pastry dough or baked choux shell. Store the baked choux shell (unfilled) at room temperature for 1-2 days. Filled puffs are best served right away, but can be made a couple hours ahead of time and refrigerated.
- STORE in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Freezing
- Freeze the shell. Bake according to directions, hollow and cool. Flash freeze then carefully place in a freezer-safe airtight firm container for 2-3 months.
- Thaw for 5-10 minutes and fill with cream. To revive their crispness place in the oven for 350°F for only 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully. Cool and fill.
- Freeze the dough. Pipe, or scoop, dough onto a baking sheet and place directly into the freezer. Flash freeze and place in a freezer-safe airtight container for about 2 months.
- Bake directly from the freezer (add about 5 minutes to the bake time) or allow the dough to thaw and then bake.
- Freeze the filled puffs. Flash freeze and then place cream puffs in an airtight freezer-safe container for 2-3 months. Thaw a
- Filled puffs that have been frozen will not have a crispy texture and cannot be reheated or the cream will melt out.
For More Bakery-Style Treats:
Cream Puff Recipe
This homemade cream puff recipe is better than the bakery. You won't believe how simple and easy these elegant little pastries are to make!
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar, or more or less to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, granulated sugar, and salt and bring to a simmer. (Be sure the sugar and salt dissolve before the mixture begins to simmer).
- Once a simmer is reached, remove from the heat and stir in flour, all at once, until the mixture forms a ball. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well by hand or with a hand mixer between each addition. Mix until the dough is smooth and shiny.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip (or a resealable plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner). Be sure there are no bubbles in the piping bag and that the piping tip is in contact with the dough at all times to eliminate rippling.
- Pipe small (1–1½-inch) rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Use your finger to press down the little peaks at the top of the dough, so the puffs are smooth. (Tip: Make sure all the cream puffs are the same size, so they all cook at the same rate.)
- Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for 15 minutes more. The puffs are done when lightly browned and the insides are hollow. Pull out of the oven and use a toothpick or thin skewer to poke a hole in each shell. Let the puffs cool completely.
Filling
- While the puffs cool, beat cream with a hand mixer or wire whisk, until firm peaks form. Beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time until the whipped cream is as sweet as you prefer.
- When the puffs are cool, split each cream puff in half using a serrated knife.
- Place a scoop of whipped cream onto the bottom half of each puff. Top with the other half and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Video
Notes
Recipe tip. For a fluffy cream puff, add and mix the ingredients as instructed and keep a consistent oven temperature. High humidity in the air can also affect the dough.
Prep ahead of time. Store the unbaked pastry dough in an airtight container or pastry bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Baked shells can be stored, unfilled, in an airtight container at room temperature for 1–2 days, or in the freezer for 2-3 months. To revive their crispness place in the oven for 350°F for only 5-8 minutes (watch carefully), cool, and fill.
Make ahead. Filled puffs are best served right away, but can be made a couple of hours ahead of time and refrigerated.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1puff, Calories: 112kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 55mg, Sodium: 31mg, Potassium: 31mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 321IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 15mg, Iron: 0.5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adapted from Ambrosia Baking
I am just getting ready to pop these bad boys in the oven- they are so easy to make! One question, and I hope I didn’t miss something obvious…. How many should a batch yield? I know it doesn’t really matter if one is bigger than the other or is it possible to have a cream puff too big?! Just curious about how many I should expect to have based on the size shown in your picture! Thanks.
I have been making these for years the cream is delicious but they are also great with the pudding of your choice.
I made these 3 times tonight and they are way toooo runny….what am i doing wrong ???….H E L P
Add more of the water, butter, salt , and sugar mixture to the runny batch, it will make it thicker again
so, these are awesome as cream puffs, but my mom’s restaurant used to stuff them with homemade chicken salad. they were our most popular catering food!
I love cream puffs but I have never been brave enough to try them but these look delicious and totally doable. Thanks for sharing
These look so delicious. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for having your link parties. Blessings to you, Jo-Ann
Delicious!
Yum!! Did I say yum??? Those look fantastic!
I’ve been making cream puffs for years also with whip cream, pudding and here’s another alternative. Take 2 cans of drained white crab meat, add about 1 heaping T of chopped green onions, a dab of mayonnaise and 8oz of softened cream cheese. Mix altogether and then stuff your cream puffs and you’ll have yummy appetizers that people just gobble up. Non filled cream Puffs also freeze well.
Anything that comes from Charles & Tracey Drake and this Recipe Book Is Wonderful and 5 star Ratings from Me ! ! I Use to Manage and Cater Large Parties 50-1000 +over night ! ! !