Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

Choux Pastry requires simply 5 substances and is ideal for eclairs or cream puffs. At this time I’m sharing numerous ideas so yours seems each time! Recipe features a how-to video!

Close-up view of small buns made from choux pastry.

Simple Choux Pastry

Choux pastry has a popularity for being a bit fussy and temperamental, however I don’t assume it deserves these labels. As an alternative, I’d like to consider choux as a very approachable, ethereal French pastry that’s fast to make (definitely sooner than puff pastry or croissants) and extremely customizable.

Choux has a really gentle texture with a golden, crisp exterior. It doesn’t have a lot taste, because it’s meant to be full of pastry cream or different fillings and topped with one thing candy, like powdered sugar or ganache.

Chances are you’ll discover this recipe has some slight variations from the choux utilized in my cream puffs. I make the puffs a bit smaller in that recipe, and I’m assuming that in case you’re making that recipe you’ll comply with my directions for eradicating the puffs, poking a gap, returning to the oven, and many others.

It is a common recipe although, and never all recipes will necessitate that (many recipes merely lower the choux in half). Additionally, you’ll be able to nonetheless fill this similar to you’d in my cream puff recipe.

What You Want

You solely want 5 substances to make in the present day’s choux recipe! These embrace:

Overhead view of ingredients including eggs, butter, flour, water, and salt.

Eggs. It’s finest to make use of room temperature eggs. You possibly can whisk them up with a fork earlier than including them to the dough, in case you’d like (this makes incorporating them a bit simpler!).
Flour. Be sure you measure your flour correctly! I extremely advocate utilizing a kitchen scale for this, as it’s the most exact technique to measure. In case your flour is very lumpy, you might need to sift it earlier than including it.
Butter. Use unsalted butter (or don’t add salt, if utilizing salted butter) and lower it into tablespoon-sized items earlier than including it (this helps it soften sooner).
Water. This can bind every part collectively and create steam within the dough whereas it bakes, forcing the choux to rise and change into hole.
Salt. For taste, in fact! You possibly can all the time go away this out in case you use salted butter.

SAM’S TIP: Some individuals like to decorate up their choux with craquelin to make choux au craquelin. Craquelin is a candy dough that’s rolled skinny, lower into small circles, and positioned on high of the choux earlier than baking. As soon as within the oven, the craquelin melts onto the choux and creates a crackly, candy exterior. When you’d be taken with a recipe for this, let me know!

Keep in mind, that is simply an outline of the substances I used and why. For the total recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the submit!

Learn how to Make Choux Pastry

Collage of four photos showing choux pastry dough being prepared.

Carry the water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil over medium/excessive warmth.
Cut back the warmth and add the flour. Stir continually till the combination kinds a ball and begins to tug away from the perimeters of the pot. When you see any flour lumps whilst you’re stirring, use your spatula to mash them towards the aspect to interrupt them.
Take away from the warmth and proceed stirring to chill the combination barely. Do that for 1-2 minutes.
Add the eggs separately, stirring till the combination is easy and velvety earlier than including the subsequent. The photograph within the backside proper nook above reveals how your dough will take care of all eggs have been added, it is going to be velvety and easy.

SAM’S TIP: Your dough will appear like it doesn’t need to come collectively after you add every egg, it is going to be a bit separated. Don’t panic. Simply maintain stirring together with your spatula, and it’ll ultimately come collectively properly right into a easy batter.

Collage of four photos showing choux dough being piped onto a baking sheet and baked.

Switch the dough to a piping bag and pipe whichever form you want (mounds for cream puffs, longer shapes for eclairs, and many others.) onto parchment paper lined sheets. I element how giant and much aside I make mine right here within the recipe under.
Press down any peaks within the dough with damp fingers, then bake for 30-35 minutes at 400F.
As soon as the pastry appears to be like dry and light-weight golden brown, flip off the oven. You possibly can pierce the choux with a pointy knife at this level (do that within the middle or decrease middle on the aspect) after which return the choux to the oven with the door cracked. Let the choux sit within the oven this fashion for 10 extra minutes, this may assist guarantee it’s cooked throughout and that the inside gained’t be soggy and the pastry gained’t collapse.
Take away the choux from the oven and allow them to cool utterly on the baking sheet.

SAM’S TIP: You possibly can pipe or kind the choux into any form you’d like (like rectangular hot-dog form for eclairs), however simply know that the baking time will fluctuate relying on the dimensions. If you’re piping them like I did in these pictures, do your finest to pipe straight down (don’t swirl as in case you have been piping frosting on a cupcake) for the perfect form after baking.

Choux dough that's been piped onto a baking sheet before baking.

Troubleshooting Choux Pastry

Butter break up from the dough: This could occur from having your dough on the warmth too lengthy or from dealing with it an excessive amount of.
Dough is simply too runny or too thick: Choux dough that’s too runny means you might have over-measured your liquid substances (or didn’t prepare dinner the water out of the dough sufficient), otherwise you under-measured your flour. Consequently, dough that’s too thick is brought on by the other.
Choux pastry collapsed after baking: Both your dough was too runny (see above) or the choux was underbaked. If this is a matter you’ve confronted, it may also be additional safety to poke a gap in your choux over the last ten minutes within the oven, like I do with my cream puffs; this permits the steam to flee and the choux to dry out.
Choux doesn’t have a hole middle: Your dough was doubtless too thick from an excessive amount of flour or cooking out an excessive amount of of the water whereas it was on the range.
Choux pastry tastes eggy: That is regular, for essentially the most half! Choux pastry is usually eggs, so that you’re positively going to style them right here. When you’re actually tasting the eggs, then you might have added them within the whereas the dough is simply too heat.

Don’t let this part intimidate you! So long as you measure your substances correctly and comply with my directions, your choux ought to come out completely.

Overhead view of soft choux dough in a pot. — *How your choux ought to take care of all of the eggs have been added*

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

What are some frequent choux pastry fillings?

Pastry cream, whipped cream, ice cream (for profiteroles), lemon curd, custard, raspberry frosting, chocolate whipped cream, and even cheese (like my cheese puffs!) are all nice choices. Remember the choux pastry itself is just not candy in any respect, so you will get as inventive as you’d like with the filling/toppings.

You may also skip the filling altogether and simply sprinkle your choux pastry with pearl sugar earlier than baking to make chouquettes.

Is choux pastry the identical as puff pastry?

No! Puff pastry is a flaky, buttery pastry dough that has many folded layers. It additionally incorporates no egg, which is sort of totally different from egg-heavy choux pastry. Puff pastry is usually used for danish, turnovers, and palmiers.

Can choux pastry be made with gluten free flour?

It most likely might be performed, however I haven’t found out the appropriate components for making good choux with gluten free flour simply but. Throughout testing, we regularly had points with the dough changing into too thick, presumably from the thickening brokers in gluten free flour blends. Because of this, the choux didn’t rise as properly or have the basic hole middle. I’d have to check it extra (most likely with extra liquid/eggs) to get the gluten free recipe excellent.

If that is one thing you’d be taken with, let me know within the feedback!

Choux bun halves with rounded, airy interiors.

See that hole middle? That’s precisely how choux pastry ought to look!

Take pleasure in!

Let’s bake collectively! I’ll be strolling you thru all of the steps in my written recipe and video under! When you do this recipe, you should definitely tag me on Instagram, and you can even discover me on YouTube and Fb

My choux pastry recipe requires simply 5 substances and is ideal for eclairs or cream puffs. I am sharing numerous ideas so yours seems each time! Recipe features a how-to video!

Print
Pin
Fee

Course: pastry

Delicacies: French

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook dinner Time: 30 minutes

Whole Time: 50 minutes

Servings: 10 servings

Energy: 152kcal

Cook dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a big baking sheet or two smaller baking sheets with parchment paper. Put aside.
In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix water, butter, and salt over medium/excessive warmth. Carry to a rolling boil.

1 cup (236 ml) water, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon desk salt
Cut back warmth to medium/low and add flour, stirring constantly with a spatula or wood spoon till the combination kinds a ball that pulls away from the perimeters of the pot.

1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
Take away the combination from the warmth and stir for an additional minute or two to chill it down a bit (it’s going to nonetheless be scorching).
Add eggs, separately, stirring properly/till egg is integrated after every addition till the combination is easy and velvety. Combination will appear like it’s separating at first – simply maintain mixing.

4 giant eggs
Switch the combination to a piping bag (or a big Ziploc bag with one nook snipped) and pipe onto ready baking sheets by mounds about 2.5” (6cm) large by 1” (2.5cm) tall. Pipe straight down when piping, don’t swirl the pastry onto the baking sheet as in case you have been piping icing on a cupcake. House every mound at the very least 1 ½ inches aside (word: that is the dimensions I usually use for big cream puffs or profiteroles, be happy to make yours totally different measurement/form however regulate the pastry as bake time will fluctuate).
Calmly dampen your fingers with cool water and gently press down any peaks on the pastry mounds.
Bake in middle rack of 400F (200C) preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or till the cream puffs seem dry and light-weight golden brown. Flip off the oven and take away the pastry, pierce every with a pointy knife after which return to the oven. Let the pastry sit within the oven with the door cracked for an additional 10 minutes.
Take away from the oven and permit to chill utterly on the baking sheet earlier than utilizing as desired.

Diet

Dietary info is predicated on third-party calculations and ought to be thought of an estimate solely. Precise dietary content material will fluctuate based mostly upon manufacturers used, measuring strategies, cooking technique, portion sizes, and extra.