Cream Puffs are a classic French dessert of light and delicate pastry shells filled with pastry cream, topped with chocolate ganache, maraschino cherries, and dusted with powdered sugar. Making cream puffs at home is easier than you think with Choux pastry dough and simple pastry cream filling.
My grandmother’s cream puff recipe has the most delicious and easy to make pastry filling. Old-fashioned cream puffs are one of our favorite holiday desserts! This recipe has been in our family for over 75-years! (Easy to follow directions below!)
Cream puffs which are an iconic French pastry readily found at French bakeries can easily be replicated at home in about an hour. The choux pastry dough is easy to make with a few simple and expensive ingredients.
Ready to create something truly amazing for the holidays? And our holidays would not be complete without this amazing holiday dessert! And don’t forget my grandmother’s Holiday punch. That’s a must!
My grandma was very skilled in the kitchen with home cooked meals and baking! This cream puff recipe starts with my grandmother’s recipe for choux pastry and filled with simple pastry cream. Choux pastry or pâté à choux is easy to make!
Why this recipe works
- Easy to make dessert. Takes only minutes combine the ingredients!
- Made with simple ingredients, readily available in your local grocery store.
- Make ahead of time – Make the cream puffs and filling the night before to save time!
- Perfect homemade dessert – This cream puff recipe is the perfect holiday dessert or any occasion.
What you’ll need
- Water
- All-purpose flour – It’s always a great idea to use a quality brand of flour, such as King Arthur Flour or Bob’s Red Mill.
- Eggs – Used as a leavening agent help the pastries rise.
- Vanilla instant pudding – Used for the pasty filling folded together with the whipping cream. Instant pudding sets in the refrigerator, while stovetop pudding needs to be cooked over heat to help it set.
- Whole milk – Added to the instant pudding.
- Almond extract – Adds a wonderful flavor to the pudding. Grandma insisted on it!
- Heavy whipping cream – Whipped up to stiff peaks and folded with the chilled instant pudding mixture.
How to make Choux Pastry for Cream Puffs
With just 5-ingredients, you’ll have choux pastry- water, butter (or shortening), salt, flour and eggs. It’s so simple to make this French pastry dough!
(Full directions and ingredients in the recipe below!)
- Bring water to a boil – In a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil.
- Add salt & butter – Add the salt and butter or shortening.
- Add flour – Add the flour, stirring until the mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Incorporate eggs – Add the eggs, one at a time using an electric hand mixer.
How to make Cream Puff Filling
My grandmother created this egg-less version of pastry cream, so it is easier to transport during hot summer months!
Step 1: Combine one package of instant vanilla pudding, almond extract and milk.
Step 2: Let the pudding set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 2: Fold together set pudding with the whipped heavy cream.
Recipe FAQs
Prepare the cream puffs the night before your picnic. Place them on a half sheet pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Dust them with powdered sugar right before serving.
Besides the shape. The main difference between a cream puff, which is round, and an éclair, which is oval, is that cream puffs often have a whipped cream filling and just dusted with powdered sugar instead of chocolate. Eclairs often have a custard filling and have a frosted chocolate topping.
More Dessert Recipes
- Apple Hand Pies
- Blackberry Cobbler
- Peach Cobbler
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Lemon Bundt Cake
- Lemon Loaf Cake
- Chewy Brownies
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Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup vegetable shortening or butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs room temperature
Pastry Cream
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package Instant vanilla pudding (instant pudding mix)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
Chocolate Ganache
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- maraschino cherries (drain the maraschino cherries)
- mint leaf candies cut into pieces with kitchen shears
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Choux Pastry
- In a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil. Add the shortening or butter, and salt. Let the water return to a full boil and then remove from the heat.
- Add the flour, stirring until the mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pan.
- Using an electric hand mixer on high speed, add the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well between additions. The mixture will be very smooth and silky looking. Allow cream puff batter to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Using two large tablespoon drop the batter in about 8 to 9 scoops on the prepared baking pan. (or use a cookie scoop or pastry bag to pipe cream puffs onto sheet pan.)
- Bake for 15 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set pan on a baking rack to cool.
Pastry Cream
- In a large bowl add the vanilla pudding, milk, and almond extract; blend together with a whisk. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator to set. Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- When ready to fill cream puffs, add the heavy cream to a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer to whip to stiff peaks. Fold the pudding mixture and whipped cream together using a spatula.
Chocolate Ganache
- Create a double boiler by bringing a medium pot of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the simmering water, adding the chocolate chips, butter, heavy cream, and corn syrup to the bowl.
- Stir mixture together with a spatula until the chocolate is melted and combined.
- As soon as this mixture starts to melt, turn the heat off and stir until smooth.
Cream Puffs
- Once cream puffs are cooled, fill them with pastry filling.
- Slice the tops off the cream puffs using a sharp knife. If needed, remove and discard some of the pastry with your fingers. Use two spoons to scoop the filling into each cream puff.
- Either spoon pastry cream filling with a large spoon or pipe it inside of cream puffs using a pastry bag.
- Cover pastry cream with cream puffs tops.
- Drizzle warm chocolate over top of the pastry filled cream puffs. Decorated with drained maraschino cherries and mint leaf candies. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Prepare Cream Puffs ahead of time
- If making ahead of time, place cream puffs on a half sheet pan, top with chocolate ganache and maraschino cherries, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- DUST with powdered sugar right before serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Andrea Thomoson says
delicious, they look amazing.
Barb says
Made these yesterday for Easter. My first time making cream puffs. They were a huge hit. My 9 y/o grandson told me they were the best cream puffs ever.
Jessica Robinson says
Hey Barb!
I’m so happy to hear that you all enjoyed them. My grandmother would be thrilled!
Jann Shaffer says
When I take them out of oven they also go flat! I want them to be round and look good. I have nothing but time so I will try again! After adding your eggs one at a time, what is the batter suppose to look like? Loose?
Jessica Robinson says
Thanks for reaching out! Sorry to hear you had issues with the cream puffs recipe.
Your cream puff batter will be fairly thick and smooth. My grandmother used to say it was super important to have the batter cooled prior to putting on sheet pans. In fact, in the winter time, I just put the entire saucepan with lid outside to cool before baking.
She scooped her cream puff batter onto the sheet pans. But you can do that with a cookie scoop, use two spoons or use a disposable pastry bag, even a large Ziploc bag with the very corner cut off will do, to pipe the batter onto the sheet pan.
Let me know if you need more help. There’s a video of making them on Facebook. Though I really need to make a more detailed one with the batter.