Easy Cream Puffs (Classic German Windbeutel Version)
Serves 8
20 mins prep
25 mins cook
15 mins Cooling Time
60 mins total
These easy cream puffs are perfectly fluffy and filled with homemade vanilla whipped cream. This is the cream puff recipe for how they're commonly eaten in Germany, where they are called Windbeutel (translating to 'wind bags'). They're so much better than the store-bought, frozen version!
Cream Puff Dough (Pate A Choux / Brandteig)
Whipped Cream Filling
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Make The Dough
Preheat your oven to 220℃/425℉ on the standard/conventional setting (or 200℃/390℉ convection setting).
Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until boiling.
oz butter
fl oz water
tsp sugar
pinch salt
Add the flour using a wooden spoon and stir rapidly until the water is soaked up.
oz all-purpose flour
Using the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, press the dough down onto the bottom of the pan and turn it over using the spoon/spatula. Continue for a couple of minutes or until you see white marks on the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the dough to the bowl of your standmixer (or a large steel or glass bowl if using a handheld mixer) and allow to cool for 3 minutes.
Using a handheld mixer (and standard beaters) or a standmixer (and the whisk attachment), add in one egg at a time until combined. I start at medium speed, then turn to the highest speed setting until the egg is worked in completely. The dough may become a bit grainy. Just keep going and it will smooth out after a minute or two.
eggs
Scrape the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star decorating tip. Pipe dough into 8 little piles onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Leave plenty of room between each puff, as they will expand in size. I pipe them on in a circular motion. Any spiky tops can be patted down with a wet finger, so they don't burn.
Bake for about 25 minutes and DO NOT PEAK. If you peak, you risk your Windbeutel collapsing. Remove from oven once finished baking and allow to cool completely before cutting in half and filling. You can also fill them using a filling tip without cutting them in half.
Make The Whipped Cream Filling
Combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks start to form.
fl oz heavy whipping cream
tbsp powdered sugar
tsp pure vanilla extract
Fill the cream puffs either by cutting the cream puffs in half and piping on the whipped cream (I use the same large star-shaped decorating tip) or by leaving the cream puffs whole and using a filling tip.
Dust with powdered sugar (optional) for a bakery-like finish.
