Cream Puffs in Three Delicious Variations

3 Cream Puff Recipe variations: Heart shaped cream puffs;
Eclair dessert with the best chocolate fudge sauce; Cashew chicken tea sandwiches.
All made with the same easy base recipe.

Today I want to share a recipe that always impresses.  No matter which way you serve cream puffs, they look as if you spent hours in the kitchen creating the fluffy puffs of perfection. However, every time I make them I’m surprised how quick and easy they actually are.

And did you know that the very same cream puff dough can be served both as a dessert, and as a roll for a fancy tea sandwich? Because cream puff dough in itself is not sweet. It’s what you add to the baked product that gives it taste. Add sweetened whipped cream and chocolate fudge, and you have a decadent dessert. Add chicken salad between a sliced cream puff, and you end up with a little tea-sized sandwich. The first time I made the little cream puff sandwiches was for a baby shower. Everyone loved them.

Here are the 3 Cream Puff Recipe variations:

Heart Shaped Cream Puffs

With Valentine’s day just around the corner, I’m going to share how to make heart shaped cream puffs. 

While we usually drop the dough onto parchment paper with a small cookie scoop, making heart shaped cream puffs is a little more complicated. You put the dough into a pastry bag and pipe it onto the parchment paper. Use a big round tip, squeeze a 3/4″ circle, and pull out to a tip. Make the stripe of dough about 1.5″ long. Just to the left of the circle start another same size circle and pull to the first tip. Make sure the two stripes of dough are close enough to fuse together while baking.

From this point you bake and fill them just like the regular round cream puffs.

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Cream Puffs

Use this versatile dough for decadent desserts or delicious tea sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs

Instructions

• Heat the water and butter together in a saucepan on the stove, and bring to a full, rolling boil.
• Remove saucepan from heat and stir in 1 cup of flour.
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing each one into the mixture well before adding another. Use an electric mixer for this step.
• Preheat oven to 400°. Drop the cream puff dough onto parchment paper with a small cookie scoop. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pan sit in the oven with the door propped open a little. They need to be nice and dry.

Strawberry Eclair Dessert

Using the cream puff dough as the crust in this Eclair Dessert is faster and easier than individual cream puffs, and just as delicious.  And then top the fillings with sliced strawberries drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce and it’s as beautiful as it is delicious.

Start out with making the dough exactly the same as for individual cream puffs, then instead of dropping them into separate puffs, spread all the dough into a cookie sheet pan. You bake the crust layer the same way you would for cream puffs. Then pile the filling all over the top of the dough, top with a layer of whipped cream or cool whip. Mmmm…

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Eclair Dessert

A cream puff crust topped with rich, creamy filling, then strawberries and chocolate fudge sauce. Simply delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 recipe cream puff dough

Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 large pkg instant pudding, vanilla or white chocolate
• 2½ cups milk
• 12 oz. Cool Whip

Toppings

• 3 cups Whipped Cream, optional
• 1 lb Fresh strawberries, sliced
• Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup Karo corn syrup
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Eclair Crust

• Mix the cream puff dough from the original recipe and spread into a cookie sheet pan. (No parchment.) Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Let the crust cool in the oven with the door open and the heat turned off.

Filling

• Mix the instant pudding with the milk and set aside to set.
• Place cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Add the set pudding 1 cup at a time until it is smooth and thick. Whisk in the Cool Whip. Spread onto the cooled eclair crust.

Topping

• If you wish to add whipped cream on top of the filling layer, whip enough cream to make 3 cups. Spread it over the eclair filling.
• Distribute strawberry slices on the whipped cream, or the eclair filling if you're not using whipped cream.
• Drizzle strawberries and eclair dessert with chocolate fudge sauce.
• Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Side note: This is the best chocolate sauce recipe, and you’ll want to have it on hand at all times for ice cream and other desserts.  My husband has some practically every evening.

It has that lovely trait that thickens it into a chewy candy when the warm sauce hits the cold ice cream.  So yummy!

Cream Puffs as Sandwich Bread

This time you mix the pastry dough as usual, but after placing the balls on the parchment you pat them flat with a wet spoon before baking.  They will rise, but not quite as much.  Don’t hold me to that, though.  If they come out of the oven rolling around on the pan, well, just pick the flattest surface and slice it and stuff it!  It will still taste great.

Cashew Chicken Filling for Party Sandwiches

Here’s the filling:

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Cashew Chicken Sandwich Filling

A savory chicken filling for sandwiches, with the added crunch of salty cashews.

Ingredients

• 6 boneless chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and shredded
• 1½ cups mayonnaise
• 2 tsp parsley flakes
• 2 tsp Crazy Janes or Mrs. Dash's salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 green onions, chopped finely
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp pickle juice
• 1 cup cashews, coarsely chopped

Instructions

• Mix the filling well.
• Slice baked cream puffs like a sandwich. Remove any soft pulp and discard. Fill the cavity with a dollop of chicken filling. Top with sprouts and add the top piece.
• If the sandwiches don't stay together, use party toothpicks to keep them in shape.

Happy Cooking these Cream Puff variations!

And please share to social media (Yay, Pinterest!) if you liked these recipes.

Or if you want to try them for your next baby or bridal shower.