Okay...so mine came out fine but not perfect. I followed David Lebovitz's recipe, but my batter came out runny, so I added flour until I could form smooshy balls of dough. They did puff up a little, but they should be even puffier. Maybe my eggs were too big. Anyway, I love cream puffs and thought I should try this cookie because they aren't overly sweet and I'd never had them before. Love them! They kind of remind me of pop-overs that are morphing into cream puffs. Very easy too. I didn't make them with the traditional large crystal sugar, but people make them with mini chocolate chips, so I did that instead.
Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz.
Chouquettes
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 1 cup flour
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
1) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2) Heat the water, salt, sugar, & butter in a small saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat & dump all flour in at once. Stir rapidly until the mixture is smooth & pulls away from the sides of the pan.
3) Allow dough to cool for 2 min. Then briskly beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth & shiny.
4) With two spoons, scoop up a mound of dough with one spoon roughly the size of an unshelled walnut, and scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet.
5) Place dough balls evenly-spaced apart on the baking sheet. Brush the top of each ball with some of the egg glaze then press a generous amount of sugar crystals or mini chocolate chips over the top & sides of each mound
6) Bake for 35 minutes or until puffed and well-browned (My 3 batches took 34ish, 30, and 25 minutes each).
Note from David Lebovitz: "The cream puffs are best eaten the same day they’re made. Once cooled, they can be frozen in a zip-top freezer bag for up to one month. Defrost at room temperature, then warm briefly on a baking sheet in a moderate oven, until crisp"
