I love making choux pastry. This classic French pastry dough is used in some of the most elegant desserts out there—think éclairs, profiteroles, and cream puffs! I must have made thousands of them in my time working as a pastry chef and at home.
I still remember the first time I tried making it—I was a little worried at first, but after a bit of practice, I soon realized it was quite easy.
So now I want to show everyone how easy it is to make your very own homemade choux pastry. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from preparing the dough to baking it to perfection.
I’ve also included some tips and tricks to help perfect your technique.
What is Choux Pastry?
Choux pastry, or pâte à choux, is a light, airy dough that puffs up beautifully in the oven to create hollow shells. Instead of using yeast or baking powder, it relies on steam to rise, giving it that crisp outside and soft, airy inside.
The dough is made with basic ingredients like flour, water, butter, and eggs. What makes it special is the way it’s cooked—starting on the stove to form the dough and then baking in the oven to puff up.
Best of all, knowing how to make choux pastry opens the door to making a huge range of pastries—from sweet chocolate Eclairs to luxuriously eggy savory pastries.
Choux Pastry Ingredients
Here’s my simple choux pastry recipe ingredients:
- Whole Milk: Here we use milk for a nice browned crust. Water can also be used though you won’t get the same nice color development.
- Large Eggs: Crucial so the pastry shells hold their final shape. Use room temperature eggs for the best results.
- Butter: For rich and crispy pastry. Use unsalted butter so you can better control the salt content of the pastry.
- All-Purpose Flour: Choux pastry can be made with different wheat flour types depending on how light or heavy you want them. I’ve chosen standard all-purpose flour here—it’s a good mid-ground and most people already have it.
- Salt: A little salt is super important. If you forget the salt, your pastry will come out bland.
- Sugar: Most choux pastry recipes are desserts, so a little sugar in the pastry is a good idea. Omit the sugar for savory recipes.
Expert tip: Put eggs in a bowl of warm water to quickly bring them to room temperature after taking them out of the fridge.
How to Make Perfect Choux Pastry
Here’s the simple instructions for making choux pastry. For a printable recipe, keep scrolling.
- Combine ingredients: In a medium saucepan, mix the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring everything to a strong boil.
- Add flour: Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the flour all at once. Stir until it forms a dough ball.
- Check texture: The dough should stop sticking to the pan but still cling a bit to your spoon.
- Cook dough: Put the pan back on low heat and keep stirring and mashing for about a minute to fully cook the flour.
- Add eggs: Transfer the dough to a large bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in thoroughly until glossy and smooth.
Your choux pastry dough mixture should be smooth and shiny. It should be thick enough to stick to the spatula, but soft enough to not hold peaks when lifted with a spatula. If it’s not soft enough, add another egg. If it’s too thin, add a little flour.
Expert Tip: I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. You’ll know when the dough is done when you lift up the paddle or a spatula of dough and it breaks in a “V” form at the bottom.
You’ve now got your dough that you can use for a variety of recipes. Probably the most popular recipe is Chocolate Eclairs, so I’ll give you a quick guide:
How to Make Chocolate Eclairs
- Transfer Dough: Scoop the choux dough into a piping bag and pipe 4-inch lines onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between each. For more information about using a piping bag, see my piping bag guide.
- Bake Pastries: Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake for another 25 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Don’t open the oven door—they might collapse!
- Release Steam: Take them out of the oven and immediately poke two small holes in the bottom with a skewer or knife. This lets the stream escape so they don’t get soggy. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Expert tip: Use cool, wet fingers to smooth out any bumps or peaks on the dough. If you want, brush them lightly with an egg wash for a deeper color.
One fully cooled, top the éclairs with melted chocolate and pipe your pastry cream inside.
Most Common Issues with Choux Pastry
- Fails to rise: Double-check your oven temperature—it’s probably not hot enough to get that nice puff.
- Collapses after baking: This usually happens if you underbake or forget to poke holes to release steam right after baking.
- Turns out too dense: Usually due to overmixing the dough or not adding enough egg to the mixture.
- Too dark color: If you’re using milk, don’t let it cook too long, or it’ll turn too brown. Keep it pale golden for the perfect dough.
How To Store Choux Pastry
Choux dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days in an airtight container—just beat it slightly before piping.
Baked, unfilled choux pastry shells stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for one day or up to one month in the freezer. Always fill them shortly before serving so they stay nice and crispy.
Choux Pastry
Equipment
- small saucepan
- large mixing bowl
- Electric mixer with paddle attachment
- Piping bag fitted with a star or round tip
Ingredients
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Fit a large piping bag with a large star or round tip. I use #1M open star tip for eclairs or #1A round tip for cream puffs.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter on medium-high heat, then add water, milk, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil. When it is boiling, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once, and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, about a minute.
- Return the saucepan to medium heat and stir constantly for about a minute. The dough should pull away from the pot easily and not stick. Remove from heat and scrape the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer.
- Turn the mixer on at medium speed. While the mixer is running, add the eggs, one at a time. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowls as needed.The dough will look wet and chunky while mixing but will turn into a thicker, smooth mixture. To check if the dough is done, lift up the paddle of the mixer or lift up some dough with a spatula. If the dough sticks to the paddle and breaks forming a "V" shape underneath, it is ready to pipe.
- Fill your piping bag with the choux dough. Twist to close.For Eclairs: Pipe thick lines of dough 4 inches long onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each. When you get the end of each line, let off the pressure on the piping bag and lift up. For Cream Puffs: Holding your piping bag vertically, pipe large mounds onto the baking sheet. Keep the piping bag low, squeeze until the diameter of the cream puffs reaches about 2 inches wide. Slowly let off pressure as you lift up.
- Dip your index finger in cold water and lightly tap it on top of any pointy edges to smooth out the surface.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and continue baking until puffed and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Once golden, remove from the oven and immediately poke two holes in the bottom using a skewer to release steam. The shells should feel light and hollow. Let the pastry shells cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
Notes
Before You Go…
Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you’ve tried my choux pastry recipe.
If you’re looking for some more easy dessert recipes, try these:
