To look at these little beauties, you wouldn’t think that you could whip up a batch in just over half an hour. Chouquettes (pronounced shoo-kets) are French pastry sugar puffs and can also be made into profiteroles (French cream puffs) if you’re feeling fancy.
It’s that magic pâte à choux dough recipe again, the very same one used to make savory Gougères. But instead of Gruyère cheese and black pepper, you’ll add a little sugar to the dough and a generous sprinkle of pearl sugar to the top.
How to Make Chouquettes
Making the dough is simple, you’ll bring most of the recipe ingredients to a boil then add the flour all at once and stir like crazy until it’s smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan. After the dough cools for a few minutes, you’ll whisk in the eggs one by one (As I mentioned in my gougère recipe, I have been known to impatiently add all of the eggs at once, which works, but assures a moment or two of panic. This time I behaved myself.)
I take a rustic approach to forming these, scooping them out in heaps with a spoon, but you can certainly pipe them onto the baking sheet if you want more uniform puffs.
Chouquettes bake into lightly brown little pastries that are crisp on the outside, creamy and tender on the inside with a sweet crackle in every bite from the pearl sugar. They’re wonderful snacks or party fare and perfect for an edible gift, wrap them up in a little paper sack as they do in Paris boulangeries.
Homemade Chouquettes (French Pastry Sugar Puffs)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- pinch fine salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 135 grams
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup pearl sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat water, milk, sugar, salt and butter in a saucepan until boiling. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously, until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat.
- Let dough cool for 3 minutes then whisk in eggs, one at a time, until shiny and smooth.
- Scoop a heaping teaspoon of dough (walnut-size) out and, with a second spoon scrape onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing the dough mounds evenly apart, giving them a little room to spread. (Or pipe dough onto baking sheet with a 1/2-inch round tip.)
- Sprinkle dough mounds generously with pearl sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. To ensure that the chouquettes do not deflate, turn the oven off and crack the door open for 5 minutes before removing them. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Mine did not turn out well. I burnt the bottoms of them and only out them in for 19 minutes, as soon as they came out of the oven they deflated. I’m so mad! I really wanted a easy dessert for my French class.
Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened, Bailey. I’m particularly puzzled by the burned bottoms as I call for a lower temperature than many chouquette recipes I’ve tried (I prefer them to be lightly golden vs. a deep golden). It makes me wonder if your oven temperature is off? It may be worth checking it with an oven thermometer. I’ve never had the chouquettes deflate, but the temperature shock of removing them straight from the oven to a cool room can cause that. Turning the oven off and opening the door a crack for 5 minutes before removing the chouquettes can help avoid this problem. It’s a note that I should have added to the recipe and will do so now.
Hi Marissa! Thank you for this delicious recipe. I just got those beauties out of the oven 10 minutes ago and they look and smell amazing. However, I divided the dough into two ( one half, followed your recipe. And the for the second half, I smothered it with cinnamon and some vanilla because why not lol)
It was just perfect. I just wanted to say thank you 🙂
Aww, Lea, you made my day! Thank you!
Where did you get your pearl sugar? I bought mine off amaZon but the sugar pearls are too big – especially compared to the ones I’ve seen used in our local French bakery.
The recipe is great! Have made these many times and they disappear within minutes! Thank you!
Hi Natasha! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the chouquettes! I bought pearl sugar at my local grocery store – it was this brand and variety.
These are yummy! I’m making them for our Girl Scout World Thinking Day party tomorrow. Gonna have to make a second batch since we’ve eaten some! Wondering if dipping them in strawberry sauce or chocolate sauce will make them more inticing to kids. Will give it a shot and let you know. Thanks for the super easy recipe! Linda
Hi Linda! I’m so glad that you’re enjoying the Chouquettes! Dipping them in strawberry or chocolate sauce sounds delicious to me!! 🙂
I made these tonight with my daughter and they were perfect when I removed them from the oven. They delayed though. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Any tips?
Hi Kirin! They deflated? I’m so sorry to hear that!! I haven’t had that happen. Perhaps they needed to cook a few minutes longer? Ovens vary so much that I’ve suggested a range of 20 to 25 minutes – do you remember how long yours baked?
Hello, I am making these for my son’s French class for tomorrow and I am ready to make these little beauties but realizedt hat I’m out of parchment paper so should I grease the bottom of the pan or will this make them flat?
Hi April! I think that greasing the pan will work just fine. Hope everyone loves them!
How long will these last once they are made?
My daughter has a French class party in Wednesday & we were planning on making a few days prior ( Sunday), will they still be fresh?
Hi Connie! I recommend making them, letting them cool completely and then freezing them. When you reheat them, they’ll taste 95% as good as when they first came out of the oven! To reheat: preheat oven to 350ºF then turn oven off. Arrange frozen chouquettes on a baking sheet and, after you turn oven off, place in oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until warm.
will this recipe work with gluten free flour?
Hi there. That’s a great question, but It’s not something I’ve tried. To try it, I’d use a gluten free flour intended specifically for baking like this one.
Thank you, just made these for French food day for my son’s class. How do I turn this recipe into cream puffs?
Hi Heather! How fun! To turn them into cream puffs: cut them in half side to side and, if you like, pull out any soft dough. (I usually just leave it in.) For a quick option, fill the middle with whipped cream and you can dust a bit of powdered sugar over the top (optional). You can also fill them with a pastry cream like this one. Enjoy!
I must say this recipe is so delicious, thanks for sharing the gem. my husband and my kids they really loved it and I’m so happy that this is such an amazing breakfast snack thank you.
That’s wonderful, Supriya! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know!
Super duper easy! What’s the best way to store these for enjoying this week?
Hi Robyn! They freeze beautifully! To reheat: preheat oven to 350ºF then turn oven off. Arrange frozen chouquettes on a baking sheet and, after you turn oven off, place in oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until warm. Serve.
Do the butter and eggs need to be at room temp before adding them?
Hi Izzy, you’ll melt the butter, so no worries about temperature. On the eggs, I typically take them out of the refrigerator before I begin so they’ve warmed a bit, but I haven’t specifically brought them to room temp.
I made these today and while tasty, they burned on the bottom after 20 minutes of bake time and fell flat almost immediately on being removed from the oven. Help! I thought I followed this to a tee!
Hi Kris…Oh no! I’m so sorry that happened! I haven’t had them burn before or fall flat. The only thing that comes to mind is that your oven temperature could be off? If you have a separate thermometer, you might try testing it.
We made these tonight for my daughter’s high school French class. They were fairly easy to make, though a challenge to drop on the cookie sheet. My only complaint is they smell and taste like eggs. I suppose that is how they are supposed to taste?
Hi Carol, yes at 4 eggs to a cup of flour, eggs are the star. They always remind me of almost a custard flavor which I love!
Hello!
Thank you so much for the recipe. You save the French Cuisine Day at the school of my son and daughter.
Great thanks from Bulgaria /South-Eastern Europe/!
You are so very welcome! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
These truly are lovely. They look just like the ones I remember seeing in paris!
Thank you so much, Jessie! xo
These look divine! My 10 year old daughter is always looking for French dessert recipes. I look forward to making these with her. Did I happen to miss the mention of how many eggs should be used? Thank you for sharing this gem!
Best,
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa! Well that’s kind of an important detail I left out, isn’t it? 😉 Thank you so much for catching that! It’s 4 eggs. I love that you and your daughter are going to make these together, totally made my day.
I don’t make these nearly often enough! You’re right, they couldn’t be easier to make and they are so yummy. I love the use of pearl sugar here, so pretty!
Thank you, Faith! xo
I love these guys, especially savory ones with CHEESE! These however are most tempting and that crunchy exterior sugar addition is wonderful. Just beauties!
aww, thanks so much Kevin!
These are so pretty! I love chouquettes, and just adore pate a choux in general. Fabulous job, my dear! P.S. great use of the basket! 😉
Thank you so much, Beeta! Love my copper basket…xoxo
You can really make these in half an hour? That encourages me because I always steer clear of things like this, thinking they’ll take ages and be a total disaster.
The hubs LOVES profiteroles, so I’m sure he’d love these too.
ALWAYS ENJOY your European recipes, Marissa!
You’ve got to try this some time, Helen! I promise that it’s a snap (of course you don’t have to admit this to your hubs. 😉 )
So don’t judge me, but the worst part of culinary school for me was that dayum pâte à choux dough . Seriously, I could NOT get it right. Everything else in culinary school was a breeze for me, but that dang dough eluded me. I’m thinking you need to come over and make these beautiful puffs for me, because I want a few baskets of these fluffy beauties!! They look just perfect, Marissa! Cheers! <3
What!? Cheyanne, you are such a talented cook, I can’t imagine you’d have trouble with almost any recipe. If you lived anywhere near by, I’d be hopping in my car so we could whip up a batch at your place. 😉 Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! xo
These look absolutely delightful Marissa! I have some of that pearl sugar and am always trying to think of ways to use it.
I know what you mean, a little goes a long way! 🙂
Less is More!
So all I will say is YUM!
Maybe I should repeat myself -YUM!
Well said, my friend! 🙂