These Mini Cream Puffs are a classic dessert, in a smaller (and cuter!) form. Fill them with creamy-dreamy vanilla pastry cream for the most delightful sweet treat. Everybody loves this mini dessert recipe!
Cream puffs are a classic dessert that never fails to deliver sweet enjoyment – and this recipe for Mini Cream Puffs, with a silky-smooth vanilla pastry cream, is an absolute delight! I remember Mom making cream puffs when I was a kid. The dessert always felt fanciful – all magically puffed up and golden, and hollowed out in the center, ready to be filled with a big spoonful of freshly whipped and sweetened cream. I liken this recipe to the magic of baking Popovers…oh, how fun it is to create fun, delicious things!
Why These Cream Puffs Are Totally Swoon-Worthy
I love that my mom was, and still is, such a great baker and cook. And I’m so glad that she introduced me to cream puffs! Here’s what makes them such a treat:
- Airy and delicate and mini. These cream puffs feature a delicate pastry shell that’s filled with a light and creamy-dreamy filling. And their smaller size makes them so much fun, almost 1-bite poppable. When it comes to mini dessert ideas, this one is at the top of the list. Perfect for dessert buffets!
- Simple ingredients. The ingredients list includes only fridge and pantry staples. Add some fresh berries or a simple berry sauce, and you’re set!
- A fun baking project. If you enjoy baking, and like to try your hand at new techniques and experiences, put this cream puffs recipe on your list. It’s a treat to make!
- Perfect for any season. These mini desserts are great any time of year – spring, summer, fall, or winter. Just play around with seasonal flavors by including a simple fresh sauce or adding warm spices to the pastry cream. Scroll down to the section “Serving Suggestions” where I share some of my ideas on this.
What You’ll Need
First gather up your ingredients. Scroll down to the printable recipe card to find the exact ingredient quantities and full recipe instructions.
Mini Cream Puffs:
- Water – The water creates steam as the little puffs bake up, giving them their airy texture.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter.
- Sugar – This recipe calls for white, granulated sugar.
- Salt – A touch of sea salt adds contrasting balance to the sweet.
- Flour – All-purpose flour gives structure to the cream puffs.
- Eggs – The protein from the eggs also gives the cream puffs structure, and they lend rich flavor.
- Egg wash – You’ll need a whole egg and a pinch of sea salt for a lovely glow.
Vanilla Pastry Cream:
- Cornstarch – This thickens the mixture.
- Milk – Whole milk offers just the right consistency.
- Egg + egg yolks – Pastry cream is similar to a custard, so eggs are a key player.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar, same as you use for the puffs.
- Butter – Unsalted butter makes the pastry cream supremely rich and decadent.
- Vanilla extract – Or vanilla bean paste, if you like.
How to Make Mini Cream Puffs
Time to roll up your sleeves and make some homemade cream puffs! Here’s what you’ll need to do.
Make the Pastry Shells:
- Start the choux pastry. Bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the mixture starts to boil, take it off the heat and sift in the flour. Stir, then return to the heat and cook while stirring, until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the pan. Transfer dough to a mixing bowl and stir for a minute or two.
- Add the eggs. One at a time, add the eggs to the dough. Mix in the first egg and once it’s incorporated and the dough looks like mashed potatoes, mix in the next.
- Pipe. Add the dough to a pastry bag and pipe it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, forming 1-inch tall mounds that are 1½ to 2 inches in diameter.
- Brush with egg wash. Beat the egg and salt in a small bowl, then brush this onto the mini cream puffs.
- Bake. Bake at 425ºF for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the pastry is puffy and golden brown. Then, lower the temperature to 350ºF and bake until the cream puffs are dry, about 18 to 20 more minutes. Cool them on a wire rack.
Make the Cream:
- Start the pastry cream. Whisk the cornstarch into ¼ cup of milk, then beat in the egg and yolks.
- Heat the milk and sugar. Combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring just to a boil while whisking constantly.
- Finish the cream. Whisk a third of the milk mixture into the cornstarch mixture, adding it very slowly. With the saucepan over medium heat, slowly pour the egg mixture into the pan, whisking constantly. Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla.
- Chill. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and press plastic wrap right onto the top. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate to chill.
- Fill the puffs. Slice the top third off of each puff. Pipe or spoon the cream inside, then replace the top. (Alternatively, you can pierce the side of each cream puff with a sharp knife tip to make a small incision, then fit a smaller pastry tip inside the incision to fill the center of the puff.)
- Serve. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
Tips for Perfect Puffs
If you’ve never worked with choux pastry (a delicate pastry dough that rises by steam action in the oven) or pastry cream before, be sure to read through these helpful pointers:
- Work slowly when adding eggs. When adding the eggs to the milk and the dough, it’s important to do so slowly. Working too quickly can scramble the eggs, which will ruin the dough.
- Don’t overmix the dough. For cream puffs that bake up with maximum airy puffiness, only mix the dough until it’s smooth and glossy.
- Eliminate any peaks. When piping the cream puffs, use a wet fingertip to smooth down any peaks on top left behind from the piping bag.
- Strain out any lumps. If you notice any lumps in the pastry cream, you can pour it through a fine sieve. Use a rubber spatula to push it through, into a bowl.
Serving Suggestions
We most often enjoy these mini cream puffs with fresh berries or a fresh berry sauce spooned over the vanilla pastry cream. But a lightly sweetened whipped cream filling is also fun and fabulous (instead of the vanilla pastry cream) – like my mom serves cream puffs.
You can change up the flavors according to the season. Here are some ideas for you:
- Spring & summer: Include my super easy Rhubarb Sauce for a delightful spring mini dessert. Add some strawberries if you like! And there’s nothing like a fresh Strawberry Sauce, Raspberry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce, made with the sweetest summertime fruits.
- Fall & winter: I like to add some warm spices to the pastry cream or whipped cream, like Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice, or a simple sprinkle of cinnamon. You can also make tender Sauteed Apples and add that to your puffs – I recommend dicing the apples small for this application.
If you’re a chocolate fan, this Hot Fudge Sauce is fabulous. Or drizzle some salted caramel over the tops. You can also dip the tops into Chocolate Ganache.
How to Store
Mini cream puffs are best enjoyed fresh. If you’re making them for a party, I recommend filling them just before serving for maximum freshness.
- To store unfilled shells: Cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature or freeze for up to 1 month. I like to add a paper towel to the bottom of the container to absorb any moisture. You can bake at 300ºF for a few minutes to recrisp the exteriors, if desired.
- To store filled cream puffs: Refrigerate in an airtight container and eat within 24 hours.
More Mini and Bite-Sized Desserts
Mini Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pastry Cream
A classic dessert, in mini form. Everybody loves this beautiful, sweet treat!
Print
Ingredients
Mini Cream Puffs
- ¾ cup water
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 pinch sea salt
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk, divided
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mini Cream Puffs: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt, and set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat and sift in flour. Stir to combine. Return saucepan to heat and cook while stirring constantly until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the saucepan. Transfer dough to a bowl and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to cool it slightly.
- Add 1 of the eggs to the dough in the bowl. As you mix, the dough will break into pieces and appear loose and shiny. As the egg becomes incorporated, the dough will become coarse looking, like mashed potatoes. When this happens, add another egg and repeat the process until you have incorporated all four of the eggs.
- Transfer dough to pastry bag. Pipe dough into mounds that are 1½'' to 2'' in diameter, and about 1'' high. Space the mounds 1½'' apart on prepared baking sheets. Dip your finger in water, then gently press down on any peaks that form during piping, to give the cream puffs rounded tops.
- Egg Wash: In a small bowl, lightly beat egg with salt until evenly combined. Brush egg wash over the tops of the cream puffs.
- Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cream puffs are well inflated and beautifully golden. Be sure to keep oven door closed until cream puffs are golden brown. Opening the door before they are golden may cause them to deflate.
- Now lower oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking cream puffs until they are dry, about 18-20 minutes more. Transfer cream puffs to a wire rack to cool.
- Vanilla Pastry Cream: In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of the milk. Then beat in the whole egg, then the yolks, one at a time.
- In a saucepan, combine the remaining ¾ cup of milk and sugar, and bring just to a boil, whisking constantly.
- While constantly whisking the egg/cornstarch mixture, very slowly pour ⅓ of the boiling milk into it, to temper the eggs. Then return the saucepan of remaining milk to medium heat. Pour the hot egg mixture into saucepan in a very thin stream, whisking all the while, so the eggs don't scramble. Whisk constantly until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.
- Pour pastry cream into a bowl and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface so it does not form a skin. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled.
- To fill the cream puffs: This can be done a few different ways. To fill like my photos show, cut off the top ⅓ of the cream puff with a serrated knife. Add vanilla pastry cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip and pipe the cream into the bottom portion of the cream puff. (To skip the pastry tip, just snip off the tip of a filled disposable pastry bag.)
- OR use a spoon to add the pastry cream to the cream puff.
- OR pierce the side of each cream puff with a sharp knife tip, making a small incision just big enough to fit a smaller pastry tip inside. Pipe the vanilla pastry cream into the cream puff's center, then press gently on the cream puff to close the incision.
- Sprinkle filled cream puffs with powdered sugar and serve with fresh berries or a fresh fruit sauce, such as Strawberry Sauce, Raspberry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce. Rhubarb Sauce is also a spring/summer favorite. Or try my easy Hot Fudge Sauce.
Notes
Adapted slightly from the SprinkleBakes cookbook by Heather Baird, of Sprinkle Bakes – shared with permission from Heather Baird.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 98kcal Carbohydrates: 8g Protein: 3g Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 73mg Sodium: 84mg Sugar: 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
This post was originally published in 2012, then updated in 2025.
These are beautiful! I love when desserts are both beautiful and delicious!
these are the cuttest little things, ever! scary, seems pretty easy to just pop these right into your mouth, one right after the other!
It is a bit scary, I completely agree. We had also just finished up a batch of fresh raspberry blackberry jam, so those little cream puffs made perfect little jam scoops! :)