Chocolate Choux Buns (Chocolate Cream Puffs) (2024)

These triple Chocolate Choux Buns make the most delicious and indulgent little pastries, ever! The airy chocolate choux pastry buns are covered with a crispy layer of chocolate craquelin and filled with a luscious chocolate pastry cream. It's a chocolate heaven!

Why we love this recipe

There is nothing that I love more than a good Choux. The delicate, light and airy buns. The creamy fillings. They are just always perfection! This chocolate choux au craquelin recipe is probably one of the most decadent choux I've ever made. They are simply perfect for any chocolate lover!

To add a deep, rich chocolate flavour to the regular choux buns, we are flavouring the classic choux pastry with cocoa powder like for these Mini Chocolate Éclairs and making a chocolate craquelin topping.

Adding a thin layer of crackling cookie on top of the cream puffs not only helps them bake into aperfect round shape, it also creates a delicious crispy shell that brings some well-needed texture contrast.

Finish the desserts with a creamy Chocolate Crème Pâtissière (chocolate pastry cream) and you've got yourself a completely irresistible little treat!

If choux pastry (pâte à choux) intimidates you, this well detailed step-by-step recipe will provide you with all the information you need to successfully make chocolate cream puffs at home!

Ingredient Notes

Scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities

Chocolate Crème Pâtissière:

• Milk: use Whole Milk / Full Cream only. Fat reduced or light milk won't give you the same flavour or texture.

• Eggs: Egg Yolks only, at room temperature. You can keep the leftover egg whites to make Financiers for example.

• Cornstarch: used to thicken the cream. You can substitute it with plain or all-purpose flour (or another type of starch powder) but I personally always choose cornstarch for the lightness it provides to the cream.

• Chocolate: I used 70% baking chocolate (or couverture chocolate if you have some), but you can use a slightly less intense chocolate if you are after a sweeter taste. Do not use chocolate chips or eating chocolate; it will not melt properly and give your pastry cream a grainy texture.

Cocoa Craquelin Cookie:

• Butter: make sure the unsalted butter is very soft but not melted. If too cold, you won't manage to mix it with the dry ingredients.

• Dry ingredients: a classic craquelin is simply made from the same quantity of butter, flour and brown sugar. We are decreasing the flour quantity slightly here and replacing it with unsweetened cocoa powder to make a chocolate craquelin. Make sure the flour and cocoa are sifted.

Chocolate Choux Pastry:

• Liquid: I always make Choux Pastry with water only (instead of milk or a traditional mix of water + milk). This is a personal preference that creates choux with a crispier texture. You can substitute the water for milk (or do 50/50) for a softer texture (but richer taste) if preferred.

• Dry ingredients: a mix of plain / all-purpose flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. Make sure the two are well mixed together and sifted before adding it to the liquid ingredients to avoid creating lumps.

• Eggs: large eggs, at room temperature. They are the most crucial ingredient in choux pastry. The exact quantity of eggs required always vary based on different factors such as the brand of flour used or how much you cooked the dough ("panade") on the stove.

How to make Chocolate Choux step-by-step

1. Make Chocolate Pastry Cream

• Photo 1: Place the milk in a small saucepan, turn on low heat and bring to a simmer. You can add some vanilla to the milk if you want.

• Photo 2: In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a medium heat-proof bowl until just combined.

• Photo 3: Mix in the cornstarch until smooth.

• Photo 4: Slowly pour the warm milk over the egg mixture while constantly whisking. Once all added, mix well until you get a smooth mixture.

This step allows to temper the egg yolks. Slowly bringing up their temperature will help avoid overcooking them on the stove later.

• Photo 5: Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and turn on low heat.

• Photo 6: Gently cook on low heat for about 5 minutes (more or less depending on the exact temperature of the stove) or until the custard has thickened. Make sure the cream doesn't boil - it should only ever just simmer.

Ideally, the pastry cream needs to reach 82 to 84 degrees celsius (around 180 degrees Fahrenheit) to be properly cooked.

It is very important to cook the cream on low heat to avoid overcooking the eggs which would scramble them and create a lumpy pastry cream.

• Photo 7: Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate or couverture chocolate callets / pistols.

• Photo 8: Stir with a spatula until the chocolate has completely melted. You can use an immersion blender to mix the chocolate in and get a super smooth texture (but don't over-mix or it will turn too liquid).

• Pour the chocolate creme patissiere into a clean bowl or shallow pan (like a brownie pan), top with plastic wrap touching it surface and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Prepare the Craquelin Cookie

• Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl and set aside.

• Photo 9: Place the very soft butter in a small bowl (or the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Add the brown sugar and sift in the flour and cocoa powder.

• Photo 10: Using a spatula, work the dough by mixing and pressing the ingredients together until you get an hom*ogeneous thick paste.

• Photo 11: place the paste between two sheets of baking paper (parchment paper) or silicone mats. Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry into a very thin layer that is about about 2mm (1/16-inch) thick.

• Photo 12: place on a flat baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes or until it is completely hard. Craquelin can also be kept frozen for weeks if made in advance.

3. Make the Chocolate Pâte à Choux

The first step in making choux pastry is to prepare a mixture called a "panade" that we mix and cook on the stove.

• Photo 13: Place the water, sugar, pinch of salt and butter in a medium size saucepan. Turn on medium low heat and bring to a simmer. In the meantime, sift together the flour and cocoa powder.

• Photo 14: Away from the heat, drop in the sifted flour and cocoa powder at once. Using a stiff heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon, vigorously stir until the mixture turns into a thick paste called a "panade".

• Photo 15: Return on the stove and cook for 2 minutes on medium low heat while constantly mixing and pressing the dough against the side and bottom of the saucepan to dry it out. You should see a thin skin form at the bottom of the pan.

• Transfer the mixture into a large clean bowl (or bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes to allow for the mixture to cool. It shouldn't feel hot to the touch anymore.

• In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until the whites and yolks are well combined.

• Photo 16: Pour a little bit of the whisked egg into the "panade", about 1 to 2 tablespoons at the time. Using a stiff spatula (or with the stand mixer on medium speed), mix the egg into the dough until fully combined. It will seem to split at first but will come together after some strong mixing.

• Continue to add the eggs a little bit at a time, mixing well between each addition, until you get the desired consistency of choux pastry.

4. Assemble and bake the Chocolate Cream Puffs

• Photo 17: When almost all of the eggs have been added, stop to check the consistency and assess whether or not it needs more egg. The dough should be smooth, shiny and slightly fluid. If you pick up some of the mixture with a spatula and lift it up, it should create a "V" shape when it falls back down.

You might need more or less egg than the quantity recommended here. It is very important to stop adding eggs once you reach the desired consistency rather than relying on the number of eggs only as the exact quantity will always vary slightly.

Choux pastry can be made in advance and stored in the fridge covered with plastic wrap touching its surface for a few hours or up to 24 hours. Allow to come back to room temperature before piping and baking.

• Preheat your oven on 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a baking sheet with baking paper / parchment paper.

• Photo 18: Place the chocolate choux pastry in a pastry bag fitted with a 2 cm (¾ inch) round piping tip. Pipe small mounds of pastry that are about 4 cm (1,5 inch) wide and 2 cm (¾ inch) tall, leaving plenty of room between each choux bun.

• Take the craquelin out of the freezer and gently peel of the baking paper sheets from it. Using a cookie cutter that is the same width as the piped choux buns (4 cm / 1,5 inch), cut out small disks of craquelin.

• Photo 19: Gently lift up each craquelin disk (I like to use a small offset spatula to move them around) and place them on top of each choux.

If the craquelin gets too soft and is hard to move around, place back in the freezer for a few minutes.

• Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes without opening the door at all. The chocolate choux should have puffed and risen into small balls.

• Turn off the oven, place a wooden spoon in the between the oven and its door to keep it slightly open and leave for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the baking sheet on a wire rack until the choux are completely cool.

The most crucial part in baking choux pastry is to give them enough time (and enough heat) to first puff then completely dry out and set. If you open the oven door too early or bake them not for long enough, the chocolate choux will collapse.

• Photo 20: Take the chocolate pastry cream out of the fridge and transfer inside a piping bag fitted with a 1,2 cm (1/2 inch) open star tip. Slice the completely cool choux buns in half and pipe the chocolate cream inside them. Place the top part of the choux over the cream and serve.

Recipe FAQs

Tips & Troubleshooting

The chocolate pastry cream is lumpy

If the temperature of the stove was too high or the mixture was not mixed well while it cooks, the pastry cream could get lumpy. The lumps are usually bits of eggs that scrambled.

You can try to break the lumps by vigorously whisking the cream away from the heat. If that does not solve the problem, pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve. Lastly, use animmersion blenderon low speed to break down the lumps.

What consistency should the chocolate choux pastry have?

The key to make good choux is to stop adding eggs as soon as the pastry has reached the right consistency - even if that means you have some egg left or need to add one more.

To check the consistency, pick up some of the pastry with a spatula and let it fall back. When the pastry breaks off and falls back into the bowl, it should leave some pastry hanging from the spatula in a 'V' shape. The pastry should be smooth, glossy and slightly sticky.

Why did my choux not rise?

There are a few factors that can cause for choux pastry to not rise in the oven: the dough wasn't cooked enough on the stove, you added too much or too little eggs, the oven is not at the right temperature or the chocolate choux weren't cooked for long enough.

Why did the buns collapse?

Choux buns tend to collapse after baking if there were not baked for long enough and/or if the temperature of the oven was not right.

The heat of the oven makes the water contained in the pastry turn into steam and puff the choux. You then need to give enough time to the choux to form of a stable crust to hold their shape.

One of the biggest mistake is to open the oven door too early when the exterior of the choux exterior has not fully set yet, which will make them collapse.

Why are my choux not hollow?

Water is essential to create the steam that will make the choux rise. If you cook the "panade" for too long on the stove, too much of the water evaporates and there is not enough left to make they rise nicely, resulting in dense choux buns.

How to store Chocolate Cream Puffs

Un-filled chocolate choux can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days. Avoid storing them in a container as any moisture trapped in it will make them soggy. I recommend storing on a clean tray covered with a tea towel instead.

Filled choux buns should be eaten straight away or kept in the fridge for one day. Although they will be safe to eat for 3 days, they will tend to become soggy after 24 hours in the fridge.

How to freeze Cream Puffs

Both the craquelin cookie and the chocolate choux pastry can be frozen separately and assembled before baking. Craquelin can be rolled and frozen for up to 2 months.

To freeze unbaked choux buns, prepare the dough and pipe it on a flat lined baking tray. Place in the freezer until fully frozen then store in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, cut out the craquelin and place it over the each Choux. Allow to bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to thaw. Fill with the chocolate cream once baked.

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