Cream Puffs are a classic French dessert filled with sweet cream and dusted with powdered sugar. You haven’t enjoyed a cream puff until you’ve tried one freshly baked. The Choux pastry dough is easier than you think; just watch the video tutorial.

If you have made our Classic Eclairs, then you already know how to make these. The dough is the same and this cream puff recipe has an even easier filling.

from: natashaskitchen.com

What is Choux Pastry?
Choux Pastry (also known as Pâte à Choux) is a French pastry dough. It is pronounced “shoo pastry.” It sounds fancy but it is surprisingly easy to make and requires simple ingredients. Choux pastry is also used to make:

-Eclairs filled with custard and dipped in chocolate
-Profiteroles (like cream puffs but filled with ice cream, drizzled with chocolate ganache and frozen)
-Churros which are deep fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Why do Cream Puffs Deflate?
There are 2 reasons cream puffs can deflate and go flat:

Opening the oven early – the loss of heat hinders their ability to rise
Under-baking – causes collapse shortly after removing from oven
Note: If making larger 2″ wide cream puffs, you will get 18 cream puffs which need to be baked longer (10 min at 425˚F then 25 minutes at 325˚F).

To test for doneness: The color is the best indicator of color and they should be deeply golden. You can take 1 cream puff out at the recommended time and break it open, the center should be mostly hollowed out. If the dough inside seems very moist and spongy, continue baking another 2 minutes.