Cream Puffs

A yummy treat, no matter what the season!  These are beautiful, a bit decadent, and so delish.  This recipe comes from my sister-in-law, Heidi.  And I think it came from her mother-in-law.  Thanks for sharing! 

Cream Puffs

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Filling

2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

1 8-oz cool whip

Chocolate Drizzle

1/2 cup chocolate chips

3-4 Tbsp heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a saucepan, heat water and butter until butter is melted and the mixture comes to a rolling boil.  Add flour, and turn heat to low.  Stir mixture for 1 minute or until it forms a ball.  Remove from heat and wisk in 4 eggs all at once.  Wisk until combined, then stir with a wooden spoon until the dough shines--about 2 minutes.  

With a small spoon, scoop the dough and drop onto an ungreased cooking sheet--about 1 Tbsp of dough.  I space these just as I would do cookies, but I can fit about 15 on a baking sheet if I'm doing them small.  It makes about 28 small/medium cream puffs, or 14 larger cream puffs.  You can make them any size you'd like.

Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes for the small size and 30-40 minutes for the larger size.  Bake until they're puffed and golden.  IMPORTANT:  They will look done about 15 minutes before they're actually done.  They turn golden pretty quickly, but stay that way for a long time while the inside finishes cooking.  Don't take them out too early, but don't let them get too dark either.

Remove from oven and let them completely cool.  Slice off the tops and remove any extra filaments:

Fill with vanilla mixture.  Replace top and decorate with chocolate drizzle, or powdered sugar, or both!

For the filling, combine pudding with milk and wisk to combine.  Rule here is to use 1/2 the amount of milk the pudding recipe calls for.  Then wisk in the cool whip and refrigerate.  It will be thick, creamy, and lovely!

For the chocolate drizzle, melt the chips with the milk in a small saucepan or the microwave.  I spoon it into a ziploc bag and cut off the tip to drizzle.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.