Homemade Choux Pastry for Cream Puffs and Éclairs
Homemade choux pastry with water, milk, butter, flour, and eggs: light and hollow inside. The base for cream puffs, éclairs, profiteroles, and savory gougères.
Want choux pastry that puffs up in the oven and stays hollow inside, ready to be filled with cream or whipped cream? Then follow this recipe: it’s the French base for cream puffs, éclairs, and profiteroles, simpler than it looks.
Choux pastry is a unique base preparation: it’s “cooked” twice, first on the stove and then in the oven, and it’s this double step that gives it the characteristic hollow inside, perfect for filling.
It has at least three real advantages: it uses the simplest ingredients, it’s the base of countless desserts (and savory bites), and the buns can be frozen baked and filled whenever you need them.
The most important tip involves two steps: dry the dough well over the heat until it pulls away from the sides, and add the eggs one at a time, judging the last by eye. The dough is ready when it’s smooth, glossy, and falls from the spoon in a ribbon. And never open the oven while baking, or the buns will deflate.
Once you’ve mastered the base, you can fill it a thousand ways: pastry cream, whipped cream, ganache or, in savory form, cheese.
Ready? Let’s make choux pastry.
To make this recipe
A small selection of handy tools to keep within reach. Some links may be affiliate links.
Pastry whisk
Useful for whipping egg whites to stiff peaks and for gently folding the mixture without deflating it.
Steps
- Put the water, milk, cubed butter, salt, and sugar into a pot. Bring to a boil until the butter is completely melted.
- Take off the heat, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously until you have a smooth, even mixture.
- Return to the heat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the dough pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pot.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and let it cool slightly. Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next, until the dough is smooth, glossy, and falls from the spoon in a ribbon.
- Pipe the buns onto a tray and bake in a static oven at 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes, then at 180°C (350°F) for another 15 minutes, without ever opening the oven.
Helpful tips
Dry the dough well over the heat: that's the step that lets the buns puff up and stay hollow.
Add the eggs gradually: judge the last egg by eye, the dough should be glossy and fall in a ribbon.
Never open the oven during baking: the buns would deflate immediately.
It's the base of cream puffs, éclairs, profiteroles and, in savory form, cheese gougères.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 180 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 16.0 g
- Sugars
- 1.0 g
- Protein
- 5.0 g
- Fat
- 11.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 6.0 g
- Fiber
- 1.0 g
- Sodium
- 120 mg
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