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.
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Cream Puff Recipe:
Cream puffs are an iconic and well loved pastry that can be found in French bakeries, but they are surprisingly easy to master at home. They require simple, inexpensive ingredients, about 1 hour of your time and basic kitchen tools:
- 3 Qt Medium saucepan with a wooden spoon
- Electric Hand Mixer (or stand mixer with whisk attachment)
- Pastry Bag with 1/2″ Round Tip (without the tip, you can cut a 1/2″ diameter tip from a disposable pastry bag)
- Baking Sheet lined with Silpat or parchment paper
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
Can I Store the Cream Puffs Before Filling?
The shells can be made a day or 2 ahead. Let them cool to room temperature, cover lightly and store at room temperature. They tend to soften if made ahead.
To re-crisp the shell: bake uncovered in a preheated oven at 300˚F for about 5 minutes. Once cream puffs are filled, they are best enjoyed the same day or frozen.
Can I Freeze Cream Puffs?
When freezing filled cream puffs, be sure to fill the cream into the center of the cream puffs, or cut off tops and add just enough cream so it is completely covered and hidden with the lid. You want to have the cream contained.
To thaw frozen cream puffs: leave them for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or 30 minutes at room temperature then dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
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.
More French Desserts to Try:
The French are known for their incredible dessert and pastries. These French desserts are simple and will make you feel like a pro!
- Easy Almond Croissants – perfect for company!
- Apple Rose Tart – beautiful and delicious
- Cranberry Orange Scones and Strawberry Scones
- Raspberry Macarons with a raspberry cream filling
- Crepe Cake – the simplest layered cake
Watch How to Make Cream Puffs:
Homemade cream puffs are the ultimate treat. When you realize how easy they are to make, you’ll make them over and over! Have fun and let me know if you get creative and experiment with different fillings or toppings.
Cream Puffs Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Choux Pastry:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 4 eggs, (large), room temperature
Ingredients for Cream Filling and Garnish:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 28 raspberries, optional
- 1 Tbsp powdered sugar, to garnish
Instructions
How to Make Cream Puffs:
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper.
- In a Medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, 8 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring just to a boil over medium heat then remove from heat and stir in 1 cup flour all at once with a wooden spoon.
- One flour is incorporated, place back over medium heat stirring constantly for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes to release extra moisture and partially cook flour. A thin film will form on the bottom of the pan and dough will come together into a smooth ball.
- Transfer dough to a large mixing bowl and beat using an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute to cool mixture slightly. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, allowing to fully incorporate between additions. Beat another minute until dough is smooth and forms a thick ribbon when pulled up.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2" round tip. Pipe 28 puffs, each 1 1/2” diameter and 1/2” tall rounds. Keep them 1" apart and avoid making peaks* but if you do get peaks, wet finger tips lightly with water and smooth them out.
- Bake at 425˚F for 10 minutes in the center of the oven. Without opening oven, reduce temp to 325˚F and, bake 20-22 min longer or until golden brown on top. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
How to Make Whipped Cream:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups heavy cream, 4 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy with stiff peaks (2 min). Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip.
- Once cream puffs are completely cooled, fill them with cream. There are 2 ways to fill them: (#1) pipe the cream into the puffs by pushing the pastry tip into the side and piping until cream pushes back, or (#2) Cut off tops of puffs and pipe cream inside using a pastry bag, push a raspberry down into the center if desired, then cover with the tops. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
These look like so good!!!!!!!!!!! Haven’t tried them yet but still taste good!!! Yaaaas slay cream puff 😍
I’ve never cooked the ingredients I’ve always just threw everything in the mixer and mine come out good each time I LOVE this recipe!
This is my go-to recipe for cream puffs. I have made them a dozen times and the results are perfect every time. The recipe is easy to follow. These cream puffs get rave reviews every time!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Meagan!
Unfortunately this recipe didn’t work out. I’ve made choux pastry before, but wanted to try a new recipe and compare. My pastry was way too dry after 4 eggs, and I ended up adding two more to try and get it to the ribbon stage. I knew this might affect the cook time and sure enough, they were starting to burn on the bottom at 20 minutes. They quickly collapsed after removing. In the future I’ll go back to my recipe that uses weighted measurements instead of cups/tablespoons.
Hi Victoria, I’m sorry to hear that and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Needing 2 extra eggs likely means the liquid to dry ingredient proportions were off. Check out our post on how to measure ingredients. If a measuring cup is pushed into a flour bin, you can get up to 25% too much flour. For reference, 1 cup of flour is 120-125 grams. If you click ‘metric’ in the recipe card, you will see measurements in grams and ml as well.
total time was supposed to be 1 hour but it ended up being 2-3 hours for me! its on me ofc cause its my first time making these and i spent some time cleaning up and had to do two batches since my baking sheet was small. but other than that, these were fun to make since i learned how to pipe for the first time (first batch went rough but second was great!) and my family likes them though they say its a bit too sweet.
Been using this recipe for years. Always good but you need some wooden spoon game to bring it home
Hello Natasha
I have made these twice now. Followed the recipe to a T. So delicious. But why when cooling they flatten out ? What can i
Do to avoid this. Thank you for getting back to me.
Hi Anne! Are you piping them any larger? It’s very common that they collapse either because they are too large or they needed additional time to dry out in the oven.
Hi, Natasha!
I am making this this week and wondering if say I make the puff the night before, would it be okay to add cream in the am?
Hi Abi! Yes, you can bake the shells and add the cream filling later.
Made half of the recipe, and 8 big puffs haha, double the size of the described ones! The dough was a bit thicker than the recipe said, so I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t puff, but they did and became huge. Very satisfied with the texture, taste and look! Thank you for the recipe, easy to follow (:
Awesome! Happy to hear that it was a huge success!
What a success. Great video. This is a keeper. I filled with strawberries and whipped cream. Delicious.
Thank you, Julie! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi, my totally collapsed when the temp without open the oven. They look beautiful and then when t down So sad. Maybe instead of 10 should it be 12/13?
Hi Simona, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you make sure to continue baking per the instructions – bake at the higher temp for 10 minutes and then reduce the temp without opening the oven to 325˚F and, bake 20-22 min longer. Also, make sure your oven is fully preheated.
I was nervous to make something like this because I am not a baker. The recipe was easy to follow. The cream puffs were so good!! I made 28 for work and then my co workers had me make more for their event so it was the first time I was paid for my baking lol.
That’s wonderful, Justine! I’m so glad it was a hit!
These are delicious. Like a high end bakery.
Thank you for sharing. All your recipes are delicious 😊😊😊
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Laurie!
Love your recipes for past two years . Everything is good and tasty , plus you put in alerts to watch as we bake, thanks
Thank you, you made it look so easy that i tried it! i used a convection toaster oven. i wonder why some of mine collapsed after i reduced the temp in the toaster oven? if you have any suggestions, i’d really appreciate it.
Under-baking – causes collapse shortly after removing from oven.
Great tips and easy to follow. Turned out beautiful and delicious!
Thank you, glad to hear that!
Can I make the cream puffs larger when baking? Having them not so small! If so would I bake a little longer for each of the baking 2 steps (425 degrees and the 325 degree)?
Hi Sharon! I have not made a large version of these. Here is what one of my readers said, “I ended up making mine a little larger than 2”, but baked them for the recommended time for larger puffs. I should have given them a few minutes more as a couple of them collapsed, but that was my fault for not checking them first. Most of them turned out just right and even the ones that needed a couple extra minutes didn’t go to waste.”