I’m trying to write something witty and interesting about cream puffs while the picture above stares at me in all its heavenly, drippy chocolate glory. I mean, what can I say that can’t be expressed through these photos?
I think I may just have to let this one speak for itself.
Okay, wait. I’ll try to come up with something…. Let’s see here.
Cream puffs are easy. I mean, seriously easy, and I wouldn’t lie to you about that. My weight to the doctor, yes, sometimes, but I don’t lie about food.
See, these little guys were very simple. I didn’t let the dough rise, or time anything to a tee, or perfectly pipe the dough through a pastry bag. I just tossed some flour into melted butter and water, mixed four eggs into that, added a little salt and plopped a dozen little mounds of pâte à choux (light pastry dough) onto a baking sheet. Done and done.
After the dough baked and the puffs cooled, that’s when the fun began…
This was my first time making cream puffs, but that didn’t keep me from ravishing them with all different fillings and toppings….
My first victim was sliced open and stuffed with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. And for my second snack, I used what I had on hand and made a little sandwich out of deli turkey, sliced pepperjack cheese, and cilantro pesto. Yum!
OK, enough talk and more drooling. But, let me just say this: You can do these! Try ’em out one lazy day, and fill and top these little puffs with anything you want. All it takes are four simple ingredients you probably already have, and a creative mind.
As cute, tasty bites for a brunch, lunch or dinner party, these little puffs will never fail to impress guests who you can bet will ask for the recipe. No need to roll up your sleeves, folks – you can whip up these cream puffs for any occasion with grace and ease.
And, of course, if you come up with delicious filling ideas, please feel free to share!
I’ll be in Boston until next Wednesday (my birthday!), when I’ll have another yummy recipe ready for you. In the meantime, happy cooking and baking!
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Easy Cream Puffs
Yield: Makes 12 cream puffs
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray and set aside.
Put the water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir well until the flour is completely mixed in.
Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Scrape the dough into a large bowl.
With a wooden spoon, beat in the eggs one at a time until all four eggs are well-incorporated.
Spoon the dough into 12 rounded mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Dip your finger into a little water and smooth out the edges to make sure that no small bits burn. Bake for 40 minutes, and let cool for 30 minutes before filling.
Once the cream puffs have cooled, fill with your favorite filling, or garnish with desired toppings.
Enjoy!
Adapted from Laura In The Kitchen
I love cream puffs…but never made them because I assumed they would just be too hard :) Guess I was wrong….!!!
What delicious looking cream puffs. I like the idea of the savory ones.
Oh!! I have also baked these lots of times!!! Arent they just sooo fantastic and light you can almost have them all for yourself?!! hahahaha
They really look gorgeous and easy to try.
Delightful! You are making it sound like even I can do it…I will try to be brave and convince myself :)
These are gorgeous…
I love every single one of your pictures. And that first one does look heavenly. Cream puffs never looked so good…
These look amazing.
This is one of my favorite desserts! I love the variation for a savory option. They look delicious and I will have to try them really soon!
These look just lovely!
Yum! I love cream puffs.. they always remind me of my mom because she used to make them for parties. I’ve never tried them with something savory though! Great idea!
PUFFS!!! :-) These beauties are just wonderful for any time! I love the one with the savoury filling the most!
I remember being so skeptic when I started baking. It was a co worker that encouraged me to start with cream puffs since it is easy to make. Since then I have added it on my list of comfort foods.
These are all so pretty! I can’t wait to try this one. I am pretty sure that my family will like this.
These cream puffs are dazzling. I would need to try the sweet sauces & the savory ones too. The photo with that chocolate sauce is fantastic :) Missed you this weekend in SF….xo
Beautifully done. I really want to try my hand at making cream puffs too, but so far I’ve been a little intimidated.
*kisses* HH
Those gorgeous photos need no words…they speak for themselves. Gorgeous!
I know, you can make them a little bigger and fill them with clam chowder or a creamy cheesy potato soup.
Your cream puff recipes sounds really good. I love how they puff up so beautifully. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
YUM! I love the idea to do something Savory inside the Cream Puffs! :)
My husband is going to love this! Your cream puffs look like professional too, so I am excited you say it is easy, thanks!
I’ve never made cream puffs before but you make it look and sound so easy. They look sooooooo good, especially with all that chocolate sauce. Happy Birthday and enjoy Boston!
Your cream puffs turned out perfect and I luv what you did with it making a savory tasty-bite with that cilantro pest (yum!). Mmm these are little meals perfect with a glass of wine! Elegant for holiday servings.
Both the savory and sweet look amazing.
I’ve never had savoury cream puffs before but they look like a great started for a meal. Thanks for the neat idea!
You are right, you didn’t have to say anything, you had me at the picture. And then when I realized there was a yummy scoop of ice cream hidden inside, oh my! I didn’t realize these were so easy to make…entertaining Friday night, I may have to try these…of course I’ll have to do a test run first right? ;)
Oh yummmmm! You’re right, this is right up my alley! I’ve wanted to try making some with ice cream for a while now, but I had never thought of a savory application. Looks amazing!
You’ve convinced me! I love eating cream puffs (who doesn’t?) But I’ve always been too intimidated to make them on my own. How silly of me…they look so easy, and I can trust your opinion on the process completely! And my do they photograph well! I’m drooling! Thanks for sharing, love!
I don’t know why, but I’ve never thought of doing savory fillings in cream puffs. Great idea!!
I LOVE profiteroles…ate the best ones ever at Balthazar in NY this past June. Who knew they were easy to make at home. Saving…these puffs will be great for entertaining this fall/holiday season!! What part of Texas are you moving to?
Thanks, Deborah! Because cream puffs don’t have a distinctive sweet or salty flavor, you can fill them with pretty much anything!