National Cream Puff Day

Well, today January 2nd is National Cream Puff Day.

I have never made cream puffs before and was a little nervous about giving them a try. But I accepted the challenge and was quite surprised, they really are not that difficult to make. I used a recipe I found in my Taste of Home cookbook and they were not only very tasty but looked perfect too.
My huband and my boys enjoyed them very much. My daughter (Delaney) is not feeling well, so I saved her one to try tomorrow. I thought they were pretty good, but seemed to be missing something. So I will be making this recipe again and I will be trying to figure out that missing ingredient. My best friend (Tammy) maybe on to something when she asked if I was going to drizzle them with chocolate.
So here is the recipe and some pictures too...

State Fair Cream Puffs by Ruth Jungbluth (The Taste of Home Cookbook)


1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk (I only use whole milk when baking)
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten (I just whisk with a fork)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, bring water, butter and salt to a boil over medium heat. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. (You need to stir it quickly until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball).
Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Drop by 1/4 cupfuls (I used a large cookie scoop) 3 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet (I used my Pampered Chef stone so I did not have to grease the baking sheet). Combine milk and egg yolk; brush over puffs. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown (mine took the entire 35 minutes). Immediately remove to wire racks. Immediately cut a slit in each for the steam to escape; cool.
In a chilled large mixing bowl (I chilled my bowl and beater for 1 hour), beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until almost stiff (I beat mine until it was stiff as I wanted my cream to stand up more).
Split cream puffs; discard soft dough from inside (I did not do this. I just left them the way they were). Fill the cream puffs just before serving. Dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.

This is a picture of my cream puffs waiting to be filled.
So stay tuned for me to try these again with some chocolate next time!
And if you give these a try let me know how you liked them!