Choux pastry (pâte à choux)
Choux pastry is used for making profiteroles, eclairs and other small pastries.
544 K 3.7/5 (61 reviews)
1 hour 4 min.
Easy
400 g
8 IngredientsLast modified on: February 13th 2022
For 400 g, you will need:
- 1
60 ml milk - 2
60 ml water - 3
61.92 ml butter - 4
117 ml flour - 5
110 ml egg - 6
2.8 ml fine (or table) salt - 7
4 ml caster sugar - 8
100 ml craquelin (sweet cracker dough) (optional)
Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Cooking: 45 min.
All in all: 1 hour 4 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 3 min.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Pour 60 ml milk and 60 ml water into a pan, add 61.92 ml butter, 2.8 ml fine (or table) salt and 4 ml caster sugar.
Stage 3 - 7 min.
Heat on medium heat until butter is completely melted.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
Remove pan from heat, and 117 ml flour.
Stage 6 - 1 min.
Put pan on low heat, and stir dough for one minute to dry it.
Stage 7 - 2 min.
By hand
Pour the ball into a small bowl.
Stage 8 - 5 min.
Pour beaten eggs step by step...
Stage 9
...and whisk to mix.
Stage 10
Stage 11
Your handmade choux pastry is ready.
Stage 12
With a mixer
Pour the ball into the bowl of a mixer.
Stage 13
Start up at minimum speed.
Stage 14
Gently pour the eggs into the bowl of the mixer while it is moving, until completely incorporated.
Stage 15
Increase the speed of the mixer a little and continue beating for a minute or two to aerate the dough a little.
Stage 16
Your choux pastry mixer made is ready.
Stage 17 - 3 min.
Stage 18 - 5 min.
Make choux with the forcing bag, in shape and size of your choice, here small round choux.
Don't forget that dough will rise and spread during cooking, so choux must not be too close together.
Don't forget that dough will rise and spread during cooking, so choux must not be too close together.
Stage 19
If you're not easy with forcing bag, you may have unwanted small peaks on top of choux
Stage 20
In this case, flat the peak using a teaspoon soaked in milk...
Stage 21
...to get a well rounded top.
Stage 22
Other solution, use craquelin (sweet cracker dough) which give a real professional look.
Stage 23 - 30 min.
Cooking
Put in the oven for about 30 minutes.
Remove choux from the oven as soon as they are browned.
Note: Don't open the oven door during cooking, because the drop in temperature will make your choux collapse.
Leave to cool on a wire rack
Remarks
According to whether the choux pastry will be used for a sweet or savoury recipe, you can double the quantity of sugar or salt to accentuate the taste. For example: you want to make sweet cream puffs, make this recipe with 2 g salt and 5 g sugar, for salted cream puffs (with bechamel sauce for example) use 2 g sugar and 5 g salt.
Keeping: Choux pastry cooked: several hours.
Source: Home made, but after Gaston Lenôtre.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 30 RDI=10 % | 150 RDI=10 % | 110 RDI=20 % | 1,440 RDI=70 % | 6,010 RDI: 70 % |
| Per 100 g | 7 RDI=3 % | 40 RDI=4 % | 30 RDI=4 % | 390 RDI=20 % | 1,620 RDI: 20 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 400 g : 0.90 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 9
Gougères
Gougères are small cheese choux pastries, sometimes (like here) with bits of ham.
249 K 13.8 60 min.
Chouquettes
Chouquettes are small choux puffs with sugar crystals on the top. They are usually eaten plain, but can also be filled with a variety of things: cream, fruit, chocolate... whatever you like.
230 K4.8 1 hour 25 min.
Puits d'amour
This delicious little cake's charming French name means "well of love". It is made up of layers of puff and choux pastry, assembled with a light caramel and filled with vanilla confectioner's custard.
128 K4.4 1 hour 45 min.
Saint Honoré cake
The Saint Honoré cake is a famous example of French patisserie. It consists of a puff pastry base surrounded by a ring of caramel-coated choux puffs and topped with whipped cream (Chantilly). It is a bit tricky to make, but this recipe gives you all the hints you need.
132 K4.7 2 hours 55 min.
Profiteroles
Small choux pastry puffs, filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a rich smooth chocolate sauce.
318 K 14.5 1 hour 35 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Egg
Like these other recipes: Grapefruit moelleux, Pistachio tiramisu, Oatmeal and apple cookies, Eggs en Cocotte à la Française, Mustard baps, ... See them all 237
Flour
Like these other recipes: Plum and hazelnut crumble, Bechamel sauce, Half-cooked chocolate cake with raspberry coulis, Corsican tarts, Old style brioche, ... See them all 203
Milk
Like these other recipes: Pan-baked hash brown (Hash-brown casserole), Chocolate sauce, Mouna, Bonnevaux apple tart, Kugelhof for Nanou, ... See them all 60
Water
Like these other recipes: Soup Cornouaillaise, Minestrone, Clementine cake, Creamy risotto with diced vegetables and flax seeds, Poitevin twist, ... See them all 136
Other recipes you may also like
Calissons
Calissons are a sweet from Provence - Aix-en-Provence is famous for them - made with almonds and candied fruit, covered with royal icing. This is a slightly simplified version, which is every bit as good. February 12th 2012149 K 53.3 1 hour 30 min.
Comtoise tart for Seàn
This tart has all the flavour of the Franche-Comté: the puff-pastry base is covered with diced Morteau sausage and fried potatoes. This is topped with cancoillotte cheese - totally delicious! March 10th 202186 K4.2 1 hour 50 min.
Leek and artichoke tart à la piémontaise
This is a quiche-style tart with a Piedmont-inspired twist: the filling is made with eggs, mascarpone (lighter than the usual cream) and Parmesan. The tart still has a moist texture to balance the puff-pastry crust, with the flavour of leeks and purple artichokes. December 7th 201659 K5 1 hour 25 min.
Breton coleslaw
Coleslaw with a French twist from Brittany, using finely sliced raw cauliflower instead of cabbage. January 8th 202046 K 20 min.
Nanou's chocolate cake
A moist melting cake, very very chocolaty... June 22th 2013289 K4.6 1 hour 45 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-09-07)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 8 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.