Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

puffs (choux pastry) filled with whipped cream on a platter.

5 from 4 votes

Choux Pastry (Pâte à Choux)

Made with 6 simple pantry ingredients, this delicate light and airy homemade Choux Pastry is quite easy to make in just a few simple steps! With a perfectly crisp golden brown shell and creamy hollow inside, it’s the perfect base for favorites like cream puffs, eclairs, churros, and savory treats too!

Prep Time25

Cook Time40

Total Time1 5

Course: Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Keyword: choux, choux pastry, Pâte à Choux

Servings:

Calories: 72kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Equipment

KitchenAid Hand Mixer

Ingredients

½ cup water
½ cup milk
½ cup butter unsalted
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs beaten
1 large egg beaten, for brushing pastries

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush it with water.
In a medium saucepan, combine water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Turn off the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until the dough forms into a smooth ball and pulls away from the pan. Turn the heat back on to low and cook the dough for another 2 minutes while stirring.
Transfer the dough to the bowl of your mixer and let it cool.
Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously with the wooden spoon until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. The mixture should be smooth and glossy.
Transfer the choux dough to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip that's 1 to 2 cm wide (869 star tip). For eclairs pipe 3-inch long pieces or small choux balls onto the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the dough with the beaten egg before transfer to the oven. Flatten the tips that were made with the piping bag with the tip of your finger.
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed up.
Remove the pastries from the oven and pierce each one with a small knife or toothpick to allow steam to escape. Let them cool completely on a wire rack. Then once they're completely cool you can serve the baked choux pastries as is or fill them with whipped cream, vanilla custard, jam, or whatever you like!

Notes

Recipe makes about 24 choux buns (cream puffs).
Baked choux pastries freeze well. To crisp them back up, bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 300°F preheated oven.
Measure ingredients accurately: Choux pastry requires precise measurements to achieve the right consistency and texture. Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, especially the flour, to ensure accuracy.
Use a heavy-bottomed pan: When making choux pastry, use a heavy-bottomed saucepan to prevent the dough from burning or sticking to the pan.
Smash any lumps of flour. When you mix the flour into the water and butter it’s important to make sure that there are no remaining lumps of flour left in the dough.
Add the eggs correctly. The flour mixture must cool off before you add the eggs or they will begin to cook. And each egg must be fully mixed into the dough one at a time to reach the right consistency.
Test the dough for consistency: The dough should be smooth, glossy, and thick enough to pipe, but not too thick that it doesn’t pipe easily. Test the consistency of the dough by lifting the wooden spoon from the pan – the dough should fall slowly in a thick ribbon.
Don’t open the oven door: During the first 10-15 minutes of baking, avoid opening the oven door as this can cause the pastries to collapse or lose their shape.
Rotate the pans. For the most uniform baking, don’t forget to rotate the pan halfway through baking after you lower the oven temperature.

Nutrition