The difference between a puffed cream puff and a flat one is the baking method (described below) and the freshest eggs possible. This is the easiest, most reliable cream puffs, zeppoli, profiterole, eclair shell recipe ever! Fill them with anything you like from sweetened whipped cream, pudding, mousse, pastry cream, ice cream, sandwich fillings (pulled pork, tuna salad, chicken salad…) or my personal favorite, ricotta cannoli filling! I get my cannoli filling from a local Italian bakery. Can’t beat it. Ready to make them? Let’s do it!

BEST CREAM PUFFS RECIPE EVER!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup water
½ cup butter (one stick=1/4 lb)
1 cup flour
4 fresh eggs at room temp

LET’S MAKE IT!

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and add the flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until batter forms a ball and a film forms on the bottom of pan. Remove from heat.

Using either a wooden spoon or mixer, stir eggs into flour mixture one at a time, completely incorporating each egg before the next addition. Batter should be stiff.

(Note: the fourth photo in the following collage is not as stiff as it should be, but it’s close and it worked.)

Scoop dough onto baking sheet using a 4 oz cookie dough scoop, shaped with two spoons or by using a piping bag. (These baking directions apply to a 4 oz cream puff shell, but the dough can be scooped into rounds for cream puffs or ovals for eclairs and size may vary according to your preference- but know that baking times will vary by size and shape, so adjust accordingly.)

Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F, reduce heat to 325° and bake for 10 minutes more. (This step is the key to deflation-proof cream puffs!)  Puffs should be golden brown when removed from oven. Cool on baking sheet before filling.

Once cool, the cream puffs can be cut in half to fill or filled by sticking the tip of a piping bag in through the puff.

Watch me and Julie the Garden Fairy as we made these Live on Facebook at this link!

These puffs didn’t rise due to a measuring error (don’t ask) but they worked beautifully with pulled pork and coleslaw. #yum