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This cream puffs recipe makes light, crisp choux pastry shells filled with rich vanilla pastry cream and finished with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Cream puffs are one of those desserts that look much harder to make than they actually are. The shells are made from pâte à choux, a classic French pastry dough that’s cooked briefly on the stovetop before the eggs are added. In the oven, the dough puffs dramatically, creating the hollow centers that make cream puffs perfect for filling.
There are two ways to fill them: you can pipe the pastry cream through a small hole in each puff or slice the puffs in half and spoon or pipe the filling inside. I’ve included instructions for both methods below. Piping is a little tidier, with the cream neatly tucked inside, while slicing them open gives you that beautiful bakery-style look. If you go the sandwich route, you’ll want to make 1½ times the pastry cream so the puffs look generously filled.
“It was a very easy recipe to follow…The choux was a great vessel for the richness of the custard, and the dusting of powdered sugar was a nice added sweetness I loved.”
What You’ll Need To Make Cream Puffs
- For the Vanilla Pastry Cream: You’ll need whole milk, vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, butter, and rum. The egg yolks give the custard richness, while cornstarch thickens it. Vanilla bean paste gives you those pretty vanilla bean specks. The rum is optional and adds wonderful depth of flavor.
- For the Choux Pastry: You’ll need water, whole milk, butter, sugar, salt, flour, and eggs. The ingredients are simple; the key to light, hollow shells is in the technique, which I’ll walk you through below.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: For a simple finishing dusting just before serving.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make cream Puffs
Make the pastry cream: Heat the milk until steaming, then stir in the vanilla. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until smooth and pale. Slowly whisk in some of the warm milk to temper the yolks, which gently warms them so they don’t scramble.
Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and pudding-like. Whisk in the butter and rum, if using, then cover and chill until cold.
Make the choux pastry: Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil, then add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer the dough to the mixer and let it cool briefly before adding the eggs one at a time. The finished dough should be smooth, thick, and pipeable.
Pipe, bake, and dry: Pipe the dough into mounds and smooth any pointed tips with a wet finger so they don’t burn. Bake until golden and well risen, without opening the oven until near the end.
If you’ll be piping in the filling, poke a small hole in each puff to let the steam escape and help keep the insides dry and crisp. Turn off the oven, crack the door, and leave the puffs inside to dry completely, which helps them stay crisp and hold their shape.
Assemble the cream puffs: Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth. Pipe it into the shells through the holes, or slice the puffs in half and spoon or pipe the cream onto the bottoms before replacing the tops. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
Make-Ahead & Storage: The pastry cream and shells can be prepared ahead of time. See the recipe card below for detailed make-ahead, storage, and freezing instructions.
Want to switch up the filling? Try chocolate pastry cream, whipped cream, or even ice cream to turn the cream puffs into profiteroles.
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Cream Puffs
Ingredients
For the Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch (1.25-mm) cubes
- 1 tablespoon rum (optional)
For the Choux Pastry
- ¾ cup water
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 4 large eggs
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions
For the Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until steaming (do not boil). Stir in the vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until smooth and pale.
- Slowly pour about ½ cup of the warm milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs.
- Pour the tempered mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened to a pudding-like consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and rum (if using) until fully incorporated.
- Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate until chilled, 2 to 3 hours.
For the Choux Pastry
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the butter is fully melted. Reduce the heat to low, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then beat on low speed for about 30 seconds to release steam.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Once all the eggs are incorporated, continue mixing for 1 minute more, until the dough is smooth, thick, and pipeable.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip (at this point, you can hold the dough at room temperature for up to 2 hours). Pipe 1¾-inch mounds (they should be about 1 inch tall) onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1½ inches apart. Wet your finger and gently press down any pointed tips (don’t skip this step or they will burn).
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, without opening the oven until near the end of the baking time, until the puffs are golden and well-risen.
- If you're planning to pipe in the filling, remove the puffs from the oven and immediately use a paring knife or skewer to poke a ¼-inch hole in the bottom or side of each one—this helps release steam and keeps the insides light and crisp. Return them to the baking sheet and place them back in the oven.Turn the oven off, crack the door open slightly, and let the puffs sit inside for 30 minutes to dry out. (If you plan to slice the puffs in half instead of piping, skip the hole-poking step—just leave them in the oven with the heat off.)
To Assemble the Cream Puffs
- Before filling the cream puffs, whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth to restore its creamy texture.
- You can fill the cream puffs using one of two methods: by piping the filling into a hole or by slicing them in half and adding the filling.For piped filling: If you poked a hole in each pastry, transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Insert the tip into the hole at the bottom or side of each puff and gently pipe until filled.For sliced filling: Use a serrated knife to cut each puff in half horizontally. Pipe or spoon the pastry cream onto the bottom half, then place the top half back on.
- Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
Good afternoon Jennifer, can I ask what size tip you used to pipe the dough for the cream puffs? I’ve always used my scoop, but love the consistency of yours. I received your first cookbook, from one of your neighbors (Colleen Y). Been following your site ever since. Thank you for all your love & hard work you put into your recipes.
Hi Lisa, I use a ½-inch round tip to pipe the dough. And so glad you have and enjoy one of the cookbooks – thank you for the kind words! 😊
Typical crazy Maryland weather kept me indoors and I was craving something sweet and sophisticated. I haven’t made a choux dough since 2009, so I was up for a challenge. It was a very easy recipe to follow, I added a splash more of homemade vanilla in bourbon extract to the custard recipe and yum was it delicious. The choux was a great vessel for the richness of the custard, and the dusting of powdered sugar was a nice added sweetness I loved. The only notable adjustment I made was I cut down the baking time by about 5 minutes because by then my choux were already a beautiful golden brown. I made these today with my very curious 4.5 year old, and we had alot of fun. Thanks Jenn!