Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

Choux Pastry requires simply 5 components and is ideal for eclairs or cream puffs. Right now I’m sharing a lot of ideas so yours seems each time! Recipe features a how-to video!

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

Table of Contents

Simple Choux Pastry

Choux pastry has a status for being a bit fussy and temperamental, however I don’t suppose it deserves these labels. As a substitute, 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 mild texture with a golden, crisp exterior. It doesn’t have a lot taste, because it’s meant to be crammed with pastry cream or different fillings and topped with one thing candy, like powdered sugar or ganache.

You might 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 for those who’re making that recipe you’ll observe my directions for eradicating the puffs, poking a gap, returning to the oven, and many others.

It is a normal recipe although, and never all recipes will necessitate that (many recipes merely reduce 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 components to make right this moment’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’ll be able to whisk them up with a fork earlier than including them to the dough, for those who’d like (this makes incorporating them a bit simpler!).
Flour. Be sure to measure your flour correctly! I extremely suggest utilizing a kitchen scale for this, as it’s the most exact solution to measure. In case your flour is very lumpy, you could wish to sift it earlier than including it.
Butter. Use unsalted butter (or don’t add salt, if utilizing salted butter) and reduce it into tablespoon-sized items earlier than including it (this helps it soften sooner).
Water. This can bind every thing collectively and create steam within the dough whereas it bakes, forcing the choux to rise and develop into hole.
Salt. For taste, after all! You’ll be able to all the time go away this out for those who 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, reduce into small circles, and positioned on prime of the choux earlier than baking. As soon as within the oven, the craquelin melts onto the choux and creates a crackly, candy exterior. In case you’d be all in favour of a recipe for this, let me know!

Bear in mind, that is simply an outline of the components I used and why. For the complete recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the publish!

Tips on how to Make Choux Pastry

Collage of four photos showing choux pastry dough being prepared.

Convey the water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil over medium/excessive warmth.
Cut back the warmth and add the flour. Stir always till the combination varieties a ball and begins to drag away from the edges of the pot. In case you see any flour lumps whilst you’re stirring, use your spatula to mash them in opposition to 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 will likely be velvety and easy.

SAM’S TIP: Your dough will appear like it doesn’t wish to come collectively after you add every egg, it will likely be a bit separated. Don’t panic. Simply hold 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 massive and much aside I make mine right here within the recipe beneath.
Press down any peaks within the dough with damp fingers, then bake for 30-35 minutes at 400F.
As soon as the pastry seems dry and light-weight golden brown, flip off the oven. You’ll be able to 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, it will assist guarantee it’s cooked all over 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 fully on the baking sheet.

SAM’S TIP: You’ll be able to pipe or type 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 scale. In case you are piping them like I did in these photographs, do your finest to pipe straight down (don’t swirl as for those who had 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 cut up from the dough: This may occur from having your dough on the warmth too lengthy or from dealing with it an excessive amount of.
Dough is just too runny or too thick: Choux dough that’s too runny means you could have over-measured your liquid components (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 attributable to the alternative.
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 will also be further safety to poke a gap in your choux over the past 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 generally eggs, so that you’re undoubtedly going to style them right here. In case you’re actually tasting the eggs, then you could have added them within the whereas the dough is just too heat.

Don’t let this part intimidate you! So long as you measure your components correctly and observe 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*

Often Requested Questions

What are some widespread 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. Be mindful the choux pastry itself shouldn’t be candy in any respect, so you may get as artistic as you’d like with the filling/toppings.

You may as well 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 accommodates no egg, which is kind 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 could be completed, however I haven’t found out the best formulation for making good choux with gluten free flour simply but. Throughout testing, we regularly had points with the dough turning into too thick, presumably from the thickening brokers in gluten free flour blends. Consequently, 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 all in favour of, 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 beneath! In case you do this recipe, be sure you tag me on Instagram, and you can even discover me on YouTube and Facebook

Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

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

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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. Convey 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 repeatedly with a spatula or wood spoon till the combination varieties a ball that pulls away from the edges 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’ll 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 hold mixing.

4 massive 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) vast by 1” (2.5cm) tall. Pipe straight down when piping, don’t swirl the pastry onto the baking sheet as for those who had been piping icing on a cupcake. Area every mound a minimum of 1 ½ inches aside (be aware: that is the scale I usually use for giant cream puffs or profiteroles, be happy to make yours totally different dimension/form however keep watch over 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 fully on the baking sheet earlier than utilizing as desired.

Vitamin

Dietary data relies on third-party calculations and must 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.