Easy 20 Minute Cream Puff Recipe - Sizzling Eats (2024)

FAQs

Is milk or water better for cream puffs? ›

I have done it both ways and milk gives a flavor boost and helps with that nice golden brown color. Water is the classic though and there is nothing wrong with water or milk&water combination.

There are a few reasons your cream puffs might collapse or not puff up properly in the oven. The first is that you may not have cooked out the moisture enough. Make sure you give it a full 2 minutes on the stove. The second is that there is no way for the steam to escape when the puffs are baked.

There are multiple reasons why cream puffs may deflate. The first cause is undercooking. When preparing dough on the stovetop, be sure to keep cooking and stirring until a film forms on the bottom of the saucepan. Another cause of flat cream puffs is lowering the temperature during baking.

Yes they do. They can stay out for about 4 hours but then need to be refrigerated. How long will the cream puffs be good for? We usually recommend consuming the cream puffs the same or next day, after 2 days they will start to become soggy, especially if your refrigerator has a lot of humidity in it.

If your cream puffs are moist inside after baking, this is because they did not bake long enough. In addition, the puffs need to dry out on the inside after baking.

Poking holes in the baked puffs allows steam to escape and creates an opening for easy filling. Returning puffs to a turned-off oven after they've baked helps keep them crisp.

I've written the recipe using plain (all-purpose) flour as it's the most accessible flour globally and one that most will have in their pantry. That said, choux pastry can also be made with bread or cake flour. Bread flour has a higher protein and gluten content, resulting in a sturdier pastry shell.

Once your choux have puffed and have become golden brown, they are ready to use!

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

Gluten-Free Pate a Choux pastry

Thekitchn.com has a great explanation to help us all understand exactly what pate a choux pastry is: “Pâte à choux, or choux paste, is a paste made of flour, water, butter, and eggs — it's slightly thicker than a batter, but not quite as thick as a dough.

How do you keep cream puffs puffy? ›

After they have finished baking, turn your oven off and take the puffs out of the oven. Give them a poke or a little slit with a sharp paring knife. Return them to the oven (turned off) and crack the oven door with a wooden spoon. Let the puffs sit there and bask in their beauty for about 15 to 30 minutes.

If your batter ended up being too runny, possibly you have added a little too much eggs. To fix this, cook a paste using roughly half the choux recipe (water, milk, flour, butter similar to how you started).

Can they be made ahead of time? Yes, you can make these cream puffs 2-3 days in advance. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also make the pastry cream a day or two ahead of time; just be sure to keep it cold in the fridge in an airtight container.

Storing the puffs at room temperature is suitable only when they will be consumed within a few hours. Puffs should be kept on a baking sheet and covered with a piece of plastic wrap to protect them from dust and other contaminants.

Cream puff needs a higher fat content and more eggs compared to popovers. This makes the batter of the cream puff thicker, while popovers have a thinner batter. They are both similar when it comes to their leavener, which is steam. The steam produces spaces in the cream puff and popovers.

Essential Choux Ingredients

The Liquid: You can use water or milk, or a combination of the two. Water allows you to bake either hotter or longer (or both) without as much risk of the choux over-browning, while milk, thanks to its extra proteins and sugars, leads to a more rapidly browned crust.

Milk brings a softness to the crust, but if you prefer a dough that is harder and crispier then replace the milk with water. If the dough is slightly wet at the end when gathering it into a ball, just sprinkle a little bit of flour on your bench and roll the dough in the flour before kneading the dough.

Eggs. Eggs are a leavening agent and the yolks add fat for a tender and light texture. The yolks also act as an emulsifier for a smooth and even texture in the finished product. Egg proteins add to the structure of the cream puff.