Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

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

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

Straightforward Choux Pastry

Choux pastry has a status for being a bit fussy and temperamental, however I don’t suppose it deserves these labels. As an alternative, I’d like to consider choux as a extremely approachable, ethereal French pastry that’s fast to make (actually 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 in the event you’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 lower the choux in half). Additionally, you may nonetheless fill this identical to you’ll in my cream puff recipe.

What You Want

You solely want 5 substances to make at the moment’s choux recipe! These embody:

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 the event you’d like (this makes incorporating them a bit simpler!).
Flour. Be sure to measure your flour correctly! I extremely advocate utilizing a kitchen scale for this, as it’s the most exact option to measure. In case your flour is very lumpy, it’s possible you’ll wish 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 may bind every little thing collectively and create steam within the dough whereas it bakes, forcing the choux to rise and turn out to be hole.
Salt. For taste, in fact! You possibly can all the time depart this out in the event you use salted butter.

SAM’S TIP: Some folks 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. For those who’d be fascinated with a recipe for this, let me know!

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

Methods 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.
Scale back the warmth and add the flour. Stir continuously till the combination kinds a ball and begins to tug away from the perimeters of the pot. For those who see any flour lumps when 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 following. The photograph within the backside proper nook above exhibits 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 seem like it doesn’t wish to come collectively after you add every egg, it will likely be a bit separated. Don’t panic. Simply preserve 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 beneath.
Press down any peaks within the dough with damp fingers, then bake for 30-35 minutes at 400F.
As soon as the pastry appears dry and lightweight 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 can assist guarantee it’s cooked all through and that the inside received’t be soggy and the pastry received’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 scale. If you’re piping them like I did in these images, do your finest to pipe straight down (don’t swirl as in the event 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 cut 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 can be further 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 generally eggs, so that you’re undoubtedly going to style them right here. For those who’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 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*

Ceaselessly 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. Bear in mind the choux pastry itself isn’t candy in any respect, so you may get as inventive 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 incorporates no egg, which is kind of completely different from egg-heavy choux pastry. Puff pastry is commonly used for danish, turnovers, and palmiers.

Can choux pastry be made with gluten free flour?

It most likely might be achieved, however I haven’t discovered the precise components for making excellent choux with gluten free flour simply but. Throughout testing, we regularly had points with the dough turning into too thick, probably 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 fascinated 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 beneath! For those who do this recipe, you should definitely tag me on Instagram, and you can even discover me on YouTube and Fb