Homemade Cream Puffs Recipe
Published February 2, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This delicious cream puffs recipe is loaded with sweetened vanilla cream and finished with powdered sugar for an incredibly decadent dessert. You will not believe how easy these are to make and how tasty they are.
Who doesn’t like a sweet treat with coffee or something sugary after a meal? You must try my Apple Pie or Berry Crisp to try out more delicious dessert recipes.
Cream Puffs
Cream Puffs are hollow puff choux pastry dough that is baked until browned and filled with a sweetened cream filling. They are commonly garnished with powdered sugar and eaten chilled or at room temperature. These are essentially larger profiteroles.
These desserts are centuries old and can have some variation in the filling. The sweetened cream can also have things like chocolate or mashed berries folded in. Also, you can keep the cream puffs warm before slicing and quickly adding in the filling before serving.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Dough – You will need choux pastry dough for these cream puffs.
- Filling – You can use whipped cream or Bavarian cream.
- Topping – It’s classic to dust with powdered sugar once they’re finished.
How to Make Cream Puffs
Make the choux pastry dough.
Transfer the dough to a piping back with a 1A or similar baking tip.
Squeeze about 4 tablespoons of the dough while slowly lifting it onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven on a middle rack at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes or until browned and firm on the outside. Set the cream puffs aside to cool to room temperature.
Slice the cream puffs in half, leaving a thinner bottom and a bigger top piece.
Place the bottom slices back on a sheet tray with parchment paper and add 1/3 to ½ cup of cream filling. You can use a scooper or a piping bag with a 357-baking tip or a similar decorative dip.
Place the top slices onto the filling of the cream puffs. In addition, you can add the cream puffs to the refrigerator and serve chilled. Garnish with powdered sugar. You can eat these immediately, or you can freeze them all and eat frozen.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make the cream puffs up to 2 days ahead of time as long as they are separated from the cream filling.
How to Store: Keep the cream puffs separate from the cream filling in the refrigerator and cover it for up to 5 days. These will freeze well-covered for up to 3 months. It’s best to eat them frozen once you freeze them.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Other filling options are flavored whipped cream with fresh berries, pastry cream, crème diplomat, crème mousseline, and Italian custard; the possibilities are endless.
- You should be able to get about 9 to 12 cream puffs per baking sheet.
- You can also drizzle a little honey over the top.
More Dessert Recipes
Cream Puffs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 choux pastry dough recipe
- 1 Bavarian cream recipe
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make the choux pastry dough.
- Transfer the dough to a piping back with a 1A or similar baking tip.
- Squeeze about 4 tablespoons of the dough while slowly lifting up onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in the oven on a middle rack at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes or until browned and firm outside.
- Set the cream puffs aside to cool to room temperature.
- Slice the cream puffs in half, leaving a thinner bottom and a bigger top piece.
- Place the bottom slices on a sheet tray with parchment paper and add 1/3 to ½ cup of cream filling. You can use a scooper or a piping bag with a 357-baking tip or a similar decorative dip.
- Place the top slices onto the filling of the cream puffs. In addition, you can add the cream puffs to the refrigerator and serve chilled.
- Garnish with powdered sugar.
- You can eat these immediately, or you can freeze them all and eat frozen.
These are delicious and so quick and easy to make! However, I did have a small issue with the gelatin that was recommended in the whipped cream recipe. It solidified after I added it to my whipped cream. I don’t know what I did wrong. So I just scooped it out and used a pinch of meringue powder to stabilize it instead.