Churro Cream Puffs
Churro Cream Puffs are a hit! They pair well with any Mexican cuisine especially, crockpot pork carnitas. The cream puffs are a huge crowd-pleaser, but it can be quite a lengthy recipe. I highly recommend making the pastry cream a day or two before completing the recipe. I made this entire recipe with my son, who was 2 1/2 years old. He helped me with all the steps besides dipping the puffs in honey and cinnamon sugar. That is because he doesn’t like his hands to be sticky. While these churro cream puffs are to die for, they are a more advanced level to make with your kiddo. There are quite a few steps in the process, and it does take a descent amount of time to complete the recipe. With that said, it is absolutely worth the hard work. This dessert is unique, packed with flavor, and is the perfect addition to any dinner party.
While these churro cream puffs are by far the best the day they are made, you can store them in air-tight containers in the fridge. I made a large batch of these and decided to store the contents individually and build them later. The day I wanted to finish eating them, I took the choux pastry, filled it with the pastry cream, and then topped it with the honey and cinnamon sugar. Chef’s Kiss; delicious!
Churro Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Cinnamon Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 5 Large egg yolks (room temperature)
- 3 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter (softened and cut into 4 pieces)
Choux Pastry
- 1 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Unsalted butter (cut into 8 pieces)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- 4 Large eggs (room temperature)
Topping
- 1 cup Honey
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp Ground cinnamon
Instructions
Pastry Cream (see note)
- *Combine cream, milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla bean paste, and salt in a medium saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
- *Stir frequently until the mixture comes to a simmer.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes while occasionally stirring.
- *While the mixture is cooling, whisk together egg yolks and 3 Tbsp of sugar in a medium heat-resistant bowl. Whisk until the sugar is beginning to dissolve (about 15-30 seconds)
- *Add cornstarch to the egg mixture and whisk until combined and slightly thickened.
- When the cream mixture has cooled, SLOWLY drizzle about 1/3 cup of the mixture onto the egg mixture while continuously whisking (to prevent the eggs from cooking). SLOWLY mix the remainder of your cream into the egg mixture while still whisking until the egg and cream mixture are completely combined.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stovetop over medium heat. Continue to whisk frequently until the mixture has thickened.
- Once the mixture has thickened, remove from heat and pour the mixture through a strainer to avoid a grainy texture in the pastry cream.
- *Whisk in your butter one piece at a time until the butter is completely combined.
- Place plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to avoid a film from forming. Allow the cream to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing it into the fridge to chill for 2-4 hours. I would suggest making the pastry cream a day in advance as to make the process easier.
Choux Pastry
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
- *Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
- *Once the mixture is boiling, add flour and turn down the heat to low. Continuously stir with a spatula until the mixture forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the pot. Remove from heat and stir for several minutes to cool down the mixture
- *Add eggs to the mixture one at a time, stirring very well after each egg is added until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- *Transfer the mixture to a piping bag (or a large Ziplock bag with the corner cut off) and pipe onto the prepared baking sheets. Your piped mounds should be about 2" wide and 1" tall. Space each mount about 2" apart. If your pastry has little mounds, you can gently press them down with your finger.
- Bake the Choux pastry in the oven at 400F for 35-40 minutes or until the cream puffs appear dry and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before piping with pastry cream.
- *To fill with cream, place pastry cream in a piping bag with a small tip. Insert a piping tip into each cream puff (at the bottom or side) and fill until the pastry cream is beginning to come out of the hole.
Topping
- *Combine cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl or plate
- *Dip the tops of each cream puff into a bowl of honey.
- *After the top of the cream puff is coated in honey, dip it directly into the cinnamon sugar to coat the top of the cream puff like a churro.
Notes
