Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

Choux Pastry requires simply 5 components and is ideal for eclairs or cream puffs. In the present day 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.

Table of Contents

Straightforward Choux Pastry

Choux pastry has a fame 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 extremely approachable, ethereal French pastry that’s fast to make (actually 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 crammed with pastry cream or different fillings and topped with one thing candy, like powdered sugar or ganache.

It’s possible 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 for those who’re making that recipe you’ll comply with my directions for eradicating the puffs, poking a gap, returning to the oven, and so forth.

This can be 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 similar to you’d in my cream puff recipe.

What You Want

You solely want 5 components to make at present’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’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 you measure your flour correctly! I extremely suggest utilizing a kitchen scale for this, as it’s the most exact strategy to measure. In case your flour is particularly lumpy, you could 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 all the pieces 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’ll be able to all the time depart this out for those who 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 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. When you’d be concerned with a recipe for this, let me know!

Keep in mind, that is simply an summary of the components I used and why. For the complete recipe please scroll all the way down to the underside of the put up!

The way 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.
Scale back the warmth and add the flour. Stir always till the combination varieties a ball and begins to tug away from the edges of the pot. When you see any flour lumps when you’re stirring, use your spatula to mash them towards the facet 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 one after the other, stirring till the combination is clean and velvety earlier than including the following. 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 clean.

SAM’S TIP: Your dough will appear to be it doesn’t need 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 clean 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 so forth.) 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 seems to be 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 heart or decrease heart on the facet) 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 all through 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’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 dimensions. If you’re piping them like I did in these photographs, do your finest to pipe straight down (don’t swirl as for those who have been piping frosting on a cupcake) for one of the best 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 will 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 will 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 last ten minutes within the oven, like I do with my cream puffs; this enables the steam to flee and the choux to dry out.
Choux doesn’t have a hole heart: Your dough was seemingly 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 probably the most half! Choux pastry is usually eggs, so that you’re undoubtedly going to style them right here. When you’re actually tasting the eggs, then you will 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 components 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*

Incessantly 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. Take into accout 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 can too 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 comprises no egg, which is sort of totally 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 in all probability will be performed, however I haven’t discovered the precise method for making excellent choux with gluten free flour simply but. Throughout testing, we frequently had points with the dough turning into too thick, presumably from the thickening brokers in gluten free flour blends. In consequence, the choux didn’t rise as properly or have the basic hole heart. I’d have to check it extra (in all probability with extra liquid/eggs) to get the gluten free recipe good.

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

Choux bun halves with rounded, airy interiors.

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

Get pleasure from!

Let’s bake collectively! I’ll be strolling you thru all of the steps in my written recipe and video under! When you do that recipe, you’ll want to tag me on Instagram, and you can too discover me on YouTube and Facebook