• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Foodle Club

  • Recipe Index
  • All Recipes (date order)
  • Convert grams to cups
  • How to guides
  • Collections
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • All Recipes (date order)
  • Convert grams to cups
  • How to guides
  • Collections
  • About
  • Mobile Menu

    • Facebook
  • ×
    • A dish of meatballs in curried onion sauce on a table next to a bowl of peas and a dish of rice.
      South African-style curried meatballs - oven-baked in rich gravy
    • A cream scone cut in half, spread with butter and topped with strawberry compote.
      Strawberry cream scones - no butter needed
    • A collage of 9 of the recipies featured in this dinner pie collection.
      23 Dinner pie recipes - easy to make, delicious to eat
    • A slice of baked yoghurt cheesecake on a plate, topped with blueberry compote.
      Easy baked yoghurt cheesecake with blueberry compote
    • A white dinner plate with minced beef hash, baked beans and a side of green salad.
      Easy minced beef hash - old-fashioned comfort food
    • A collage of varrious pasta dishes.
      24 pasta recipes with a twist - quick suppers and simple salads
    • A slilver cake dish filled with choc chip meringue cookies.
      Crispy choc chip nut meringue cookies
    • A crispy pork hock on a pile of mashed potatoes, surrounded with gravy on a white plate.
      Crispy oven-baked pork hocks with red wine gravy
    • A forkful of risotto alla Milanese being lifted from a serving dish.
      Simple risotto alla Milanese - made without wine
    • A blue serving dish with beef osso buco garnished with parsley.
      Rich and tender boneless beef shin osso buco
    • A slice of sticky toffee pudding traybake with toffee sauce glaze on a glass serving platter.
      Easy sticky toffee pudding traybake with toffee sauce glaze
    • A cheesy potato and onion slice being dipped into a bowl of tomato ketchup.
      Cheesy potato and onion slices
    Home » Recipes » Cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes

    Homemade cream puffs with a light and crispy choux pastry

    Published: Jul 3, 2019 · Modified: May 30, 2024 by VJ · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments

    Jump to recipe

    I can't think of anything more tempting than these homemade Cream Puffs. Light-as-a-feather choux pastry, filled with whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar. Forget about diets - sink your teeth into one of these - you've earned it!

    3 cream puffs filled with cream on a plate.
    Jump to:
    • Homemade Cream puffs with choux pastry
    • My first attempt at choux pastry
    • Ingredients for Homemade Cream Puffs
    • How to make Homemade Cream Puffs
    • Save for later
    • Related recipes
    • 📋The recipe

    Homemade Cream puffs with choux pastry

    If you've ever wanted to make choux pastry but were put off by the thought of how difficult it must be, I'm here to tell you right now that you are mistaken. Choux pastry is one of the easiest and most rewarding pastries to make.

    Once you have mastered the art of making choux pastry, there is so much you can do with it - cream puffs, eclairs, profiteroles.

    My first attempt at choux pastry

    Many years ago I was throwing a party for about 30 people, and racking my brains for a dessert that was quick to prepare and easy to serve. I'd never made choux pastry before, but I'd just seen a TV program where they made a pile of profiteroles stacked up on a plate. It looked pretty impressive and I thought that would make a good centrepiece for my table.

    I found a recipe for choux pastry, dug out my Kenwood Chef and whipped up a batch of dough. I was a bit dubious because the batter was quite runny, but to my surprise, they turned out really well.

    The first buns were a bit large because I'd spooned too much mixture onto the baking tray so I made another batch and had another go. By the time I'd got through the third batch of batter, I had enough homemade choux buns to build a pile of profiteroles the size of Mount Everest.

    I made a thick custard to fill them with and drizzled them with melted chocolate. They looked and tasted amazing. I got so many compliments ... 'Wow, did you REALLY make these yourself?' ... and requests for the recipe ... 'You have to tell me how you made these' ... it was unbelievable.

    Here's a fabulous example of a croquembouche, which is a tower of choux cream puffs piled on top of each other. Mine looked nowhere near as impressive, but it tasted good - so that was all that mattered.

    Since then I've made choux pastry many times, and today I'd like to share this recipe for cream puffs with you. Crispy and light choux pastry, filled with whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar. Yum!

    A cream puff filled with cream on a plate.

    Ingredients for Homemade Cream Puffs

    Whenever I read a recipe I like to look at the ingredients to see whether I have everything I need. To make it easy for you - I've listed the ingredients below. You can get the complete list of ingredients and instructions for making cream puffs in the printable recipe card at the end of this post

    You don't need too many ingredients for this recipe, and you probably have most, if not all, in your pantry already.

    • Butter - it has to be butter, not margarine
    • Water - I know you don't need to buy this, I've just included it in the list of ingredients for completeness.
    • Milk
    • White Sugar
    • Plain Flour (or all-purpose flour). Don't use self-raising flour. You don't need any leavening agents in choux pastry.
    • Eggs
    • Salt - this is optional but it does add to the flavour of the choux pastry
    • Double Cream or whipping cream. Don't think you can buy single cream and get away with it. Single cream won't thicken, even if you whip it all day.

    How to make Homemade Cream Puffs

    The choux pastry for Cream puffs is made with a mixture of milk and water, butter and eggs, with a small amount of sugar for sweetness. There is no raising agent. The high water content of the pastry causes steam to form during baking, which in turn causes the pastry shell to expand during cooking.

    Collage of 4 images showing steps for making choux pastry.

    Melt the butter in the liquid

    • Place the butter, sugar, salt, milk and water into a saucepan (image 1 above).
    • Bring to the boil and stir until the butter has melted.
    • Remove from the heat.

    Add the flour

    • Tip in the sifted flour all at once and beat vigorously over low heat until it comes together in a ball (image 2 above).
    • Leave the mixture on low heat and continue to mix for about 2 minutes to allow the flour to cook.

    Mix in the eggs

    • Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. This step is important because you don't want the hot mixture scrambling your eggs as you mix them in.
    • Once the mixture is cool, add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. The mixture will turn lumpy after each addition (image 3 above). This is perfectly normal. Just continue mixing until the mixture is smooth before adding the next egg.
    • You could use a mixer to do this and save yourself a lot of hard work. I have a Kenwood Chef that blitzes this together in no time, or you could use a hand mixer. If you are feeling energetic, use a wooden spoon!
    • Once all the eggs are beaten in you should have a smooth glossy batter, which should hold its shape if you run the mixing spoon through it (image 4 above).

    Bake

    Two images, one showing cream puffs in the oven and the other showing the finished product.
    • Line a baking tray with baking parchment and brush lightly with water. This water will create extra steam in the oven which will assist in the rising process.
    • Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the baking sheet.
    • Depending on how large you want the buns to be you could use either a teaspoon or a tablespoon.
    • Alternatively, you could use a piping bag to pipe the shapes.

    Tip - If you pipe long shapes with a piping bag, you could make eclairs - which you fill with cream and cover in melted chocolate

    • In the first image above, I used a tablespoon to drop the mixture onto the baking sheet.
    • Keep them quite far apart because they will spread as they expand during cooking.
    • Place the baking tray in the oven. Bake at 200C / 400F for 20 minutes. This will allow the buns to rise and expand.
    • After 20 minutes turn the heat down to 350F/180C and allow them to continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes. This lower cooking time allows the outside to crisp and hold its shape, and gives the inside of the choux time to finish cooking.

    Don't open the oven door for the first 20 minutes or you will allow the important steam to escape and the buns will not rise properly

    • Once they are done, remove them from the oven, prick the side of each puff with a toothpick and place them on a cooling rack. This allows any steam to escape and prevents the buns from becoming soggy and collapsing.
    • You could also allow the buns to cool down in the switched-off oven, with the door open. Doing this lets the outside of the buns dry and harden slightly, which helps them hold their shape.

    The aim is to get the buns looking like this -

    A very puffy cream puff before it is filled.

    Fill and serve

    • When the buns are cool, split them and fill them with whipped cream. Then dust the top with icing sugar and enjoy.

    If you'd like to be notified of new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? To say thank you, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.

    Save for later

    Why not save this recipe for cream puffs to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

    Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

    Related recipes

    If you enjoyed these cream puffs you may also like these other creamy desserts:

    • A banoffee pie decorated with chocolate curls. There are bananas in the background.
      Easy banoffee pie
    • A slice of honeycomb caramel tart on a green-rimmed plate.
      No-bake honeycomb caramel tart
    • A chocolate-coated raspberry cream horn on a plate.
      Raspberry cream horns with dark chocolate
    • A slice of lemon meringue pie on a plate.
      Easy Lemon Meringue Pie - with a cookie crumb crust

    There are many other similar recipes on my cakes, biscuits and dessert recipes page.

    📋The recipe

    3 cream puffs filled with cream on a plate.

    Homemade Cream Puffs

    I can't think of anything more tempting than these homemade Cream Puffs. Light-as-a-feather choux pastry, filled with whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar. Forget about diets - sink your teeth into one of these - you've earned it!
    Recipe by: Veronica
    Baking
    Any
    Calories 150
    Prep 30 minutes minutes
    Cook 35 minutes minutes
    Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
    Servings: 18 small buns
    Print Comment Bookmark Saved!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 6 votes

    (Click the stars to rate this recipe)

    Equipment

    • Kenwood chef or
    • Hand mixer or
    • Wooden spoon
    • Saucepan
    • Baking sheet

    Ingredients

    • 4½ ounce (125g) Butter (cubed)
    • ½ cup Water
    • ½ cup Milk
    • 2 teaspoons White Sugar
    • 1 cup (140g) Plain Flour
    • 4 large Eggs (beaten)
    • ½ teaspoon Salt
    • 1 cup Double Cream (whipped until stiff)

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C
    • Place the butter, milk, water, sugar and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir to ensure the butter has completely melted
    • Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once.
    • Return to a low heat and mix vigorously until the mixtures comes together into a ball and the flour is completely combined.
    • Allow to cool.
    • Add the beaten egg a little at a time, mixing well after each addition to incorporate all the egg.
    • Line a baking tray with baking parchment and brush .lightly with water. Shake off any excess water.
    • Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray. Leave about 4 cm between each one to allow for expansion during baking.
    • Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes
    • Now reduce the heat to 350°F / 180°C and allow to bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until well risen and golden.
    • Remove from the oven and prick each one with a toothpick to release any steam.
    • Allow to cool on a wire rack and then fill with whipped cream. Dust with icing sugar.

    Notes

    It is important to allow the mixture to cool before adding the eggs, otherwise the heat from the mixture will cause the eggs to scramble.
    The mixture will become lumpy when you first add the egg.  This is perfectly normal.  Just continue beating until it is all incorporated and comes together as a smooth paste.
    Adding water to the baking tray causes more steam within the oven which assists in the rising process.
    The size of the spoon will determine how many puffs you get from the recipe.  The larger the spoon, the fewer buns you will get.  If you are making very small buns (using a teaspoon) you will need to shorten the cooking time to take this into account.  The timing given for this recipe is based on using a tablespoon to size the buns.
    You could use a piping bag instead of a spoon to place the mixture on the baking tray.
    The mixture will expand on cooking so make sure you leave enough room between the buns to accommodate this.
    You need to cook the buns at a higher temperature initially to allow them to rise.  Once risen you then reduce the heat and allow them to cook more slowly until they are done.
    Pricking the buns with a toothpick will release any excess steam  and prevent the buns from going soggy and collapsing.
     

    Nutrition

    Calories - 150kcal | Carbohydrates - 7.6g | Protein - 2.8g | Fat - 12.2g | Saturated Fat - 7.3g | Cholesterol - 76mg | Sodium - 130mg | Potassium - 40mg | Fiber - 0.2g | Sugar - 0.9g | Calcium - 27mg | Iron - 1mg

    I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

    Unless otherwise stated, a cup is the standard US cup containing 240 ml. In all my recipes this cup is assumed to hold 140g of flour. For help converting other ingredients between cups, grams, ounces and other measures, see my recipe conversion calculator.
    All my recipes are developed and tested at sea-level. For tips on adjusting recipes for high altitudes see my post on baking at high altitudes.
    Tried this recipe?If you made this recipe I'd love it if you could leave me a comment and let me know how it went!
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

    If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

    If you'd like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.

    More Cake, biscuit and dessert recipes

    • A slice of strawberry mascarpone cake on a blue patterned plate with a cake fork.
      Mascarpone strawberry cake (no butter)
    • A glass serving dish filled with fruity Eton mess.
      Fruity Eton mess with microwave meringue
    • A slice of raspberry meringue pie on a blue-patterned plate.
      Raspberry Meringue Pie
    • A slice of strawberry custard pancake cake on white plate with a large strawberry on the side.
      Strawberry custard pancake cake
    151 shares
    • Share on Facebook85
    • Tweet

    About VJ

    Before I started my food blog I was an IT Consultant. Now that I've swapped an office for a kitchen I have a lot more time to spend on things that interest me such as trying out new recipes. Most of my cooking is based around quick and easy meals, mostly made from scratch, using everyday pantry ingredients.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 6 votes (2 ratings without comment)

      Did you make this recipe? Let me know! Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Rachel

      December 11, 2024 at 5:01 am

      5 stars
      I have never made cream puffs before and this recipe was so easy to follow and my cream puffs turned are wonderful.
      Thank you so much for the recipes
      I look forward to making many more of your recipes

      Reply
      • VJ

        December 11, 2024 at 7:40 am

        That's great to hear Rachael. I hope you enjoy my other recipes too! Thank you for taking the trouble to comment - it makes my day!

        Reply
    2. Jayne

      January 19, 2023 at 7:39 am

      Hi VJ, love your recipes this will be my first attempt at Choux pastry and I wondered if it will work if I half the ingredients?

      Reply
      • VJ

        January 19, 2023 at 9:56 am

        Hi Jayne - thank you - so please you like my recipes. I haven't actually made this pastry with half the ingredients, but I've just had a look at the recipe and I can't see why it wouldn't work. It'd love to know how they turn out 🙂

        Reply
        • Jayne

          February 08, 2023 at 6:48 am

          5 stars
          Hi VJ I halved the recipe and it made 6 good sized choux buns. I was very happy with how they turned out. They held their shape and I was surprised by how much flavour they had before putting anything in or on them. I do think I could have baked them for a shorter time at the high temperature and a longer time at the lower temperature but that is down to my oven and not your recipe. Overall this was a great recipe for my first attempt at choux pastry, so thank you. I would encourage others to try it as they were really good.

          Reply
          • VJ

            February 08, 2023 at 10:30 am

            5 stars
            Thanks for letting me know. I'm glad they turned out well for you!

            Reply
    3. Mel storey

      May 02, 2020 at 3:48 pm

      5 stars
      These cream puffs are delicious , they are quick to make , I put lemon curd in mine topped with whipped vanilla cream , they are light & fluffy and devoured by the whole family

      Reply
      • VJ

        May 02, 2020 at 4:07 pm

        Thanks for the comment Mel. I'm so please you enjoyed them 🙂

        Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    A picture of Veronica in the garden in front of a pink-flowering shrub.

    Hi, I'm Veronica! Welcome to my little kitchen. Step inside and browse my collection of recipes collected over the years.

    More about me →

    Readers favourites

    These are my most viewed recipes:

    • Sliced silverside on a plate with carrots and potatoes.
      Slow-cooker beef silverside
    • Slices of oven-baked gammon on a serving dish.
      Easy oven-baked gammon
    • Overhead shot of a white serving bowl filled with beef and kidney stew. There is a large wooden spoon at the side of the bowl.
      Slow-cooker beef and kidney stew
    • A slice of bacon and egg pie on a plate
      Proper bacon and egg pie
    • A pile of crusty German bread rolls.
      Crusty German bread rolls (Brotchen)
    • A dish of twice-cooked pork belly garnished with sesame seeds and spring onions.
      Twice cooked pork belly - with a sticky glaze

    Footer

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Subscribe

    • Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free recipe ebook.

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2025 www.foodleclub.com

    Copyright © 2025 Foodleclub.com

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.