Classic Cream Puffs

By charlotteh371

Ingredients

• For the Cream Puff Dough (Pâte à Choux)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (for dusting)
• For the Cream Filling
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream (well chilled)
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a 3- to 4-quart pan, combine butter, water, and sugar. Over high heat, bring to a boil and then add the flour all at once and stir quickly until the dough comes together, forming a ball. Remove the pan from the heat and stir until flour is incorporated and mixture is smooth. Let cool about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer, and add eggs one at a time, mixing in between each addition until dough is smooth. Be careful not to mix more than necessary.
Scoop the dough into a pastry bag or gallon size Ziploc bag. Cut off 1/2 inch of the corner and attach a large piping tip if you have one. Pipe 24 mounds of dough (about 1 inch around) onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
Bake for 25 minutes, and then use a wooden skewer to poke a couple of holes in the sides of each puff. This will allow the steam to escape so the cream puff can properly dry out and bake on the inside. Bake 5-8 more minutes. They should be golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped.
Transfer the puffs to a cooling rack and cool completely before filling with cream. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

For the Cream Filling
Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the cream on low speed until slightly thickened, and then gradually increase the speed to high. Whisk until stiff peaks form, and then spoon the cream into a pastry bag or Zip-loc bag and attach a filling tip. If you do not have a filling tip, you can cut off the top of each cream puff and spoon the filling into each cream puff.