How to make choux dough. Recipe, tricks and tips to make it perfect

For 10 0.1 €/pers. 250 kcal/100g

How to make choux dough in an easy and traditional way.

Of all the pastries on an assortment tray, the filled choux pastry puffs have always been the last to be eaten in my house. Those snacks made with a dough that for us was dry, rubbery and flavorless, were always at the bottom of the list of preferences. But that has changed when we discovered what choux pastry really is  and how delicious it is.

This sweet dough is what is used to make the sandwiches filled with cream or pastry cream that we can find in the assorted trays. It is a dough full of flavor that is made easily and quickly to prepare profiteroles , Éclairs, chouquettes or French religieuses , it all depends on the nozzle you put on the pastry bag.

It is a preparation of this dessert base that is typical of French pastries that is characterized by its lightness. It is usually consumed cold and stuffed. When baked, it remains hollow inside, which allows it to be filled very easily. Filling this dough with all kinds of cream is now our downfall. Of all we go for the classics, whipped cream and pastry cream . But I tell you, with lemon curd or a homemade chocolate ganache , they will be to die for.

I encourage you to prepare this type of snacks at home. You will be like me and you will discover how much you like this dough and even more so if we fill it with rich creams.

Preparation of choux dough

1. We start by sifting the flour to eliminate all its lumps. This point is important so it is advisable to have it ready beforehand. We reserve.
2. In a saucepan we add the milk, water, salt, sugar and butter. We turn on the fire and heat until the mixture boils. With a whisk we mix well until the butter melts and integrate with the liquids.
3. We remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour. We must incorporate it at once, all at once. We begin to integrate it vigorously with a wooden utensil until there are no lumps or visible remains of flour.
4. We must obtain a dense and uniform dough, which will come away from the walls of the saucepan. We put the saucepan back on the heat without stopping stirring the dough. This way we will eliminate as much moisture as possible. 
5. The degree of moisture absorption will vary from one flour to another, which is why this point is somewhat imprecise. The important thing is that the dough comes off the walls and try to dry it a little more over heat until we see that it begins to create a film at the bottom of the pan. We let the dough cool a little before continuing the process.
6. We carefully weigh the eggs until we get the marked amount. The proportion of the rest of the ingredients depends on this average. An L egg will not be the same as another XL, its weight can vary by up to 50%.
7. We add the eggs, one by one, to the mixture. We mix well and wait for each egg to integrate before adding the next. Although at first it may seem that they will not amalgamate with the dough, eventually, after a little arm work, they will fully integrate.

Choux dough in pastry bag and shape

1. When we have all the eggs absorbed we will have a shiny, soft and smooth dough. We put the dough in a pastry bag with a round nozzle or simply cutting off the nozzle if it is disposable.
2. We form small portions on greaseproof paper on the baking tray. We must place the portions apart from each other, they will grow during baking. We can make profiteroles, eclairs, hollow donuts or Lyonnaises , the dough is the same, only the shape will vary when baking it.
3. Brush each portion with beaten egg while rounding off any peaks left in the dough. This way we ensure better cooking without burnt spots.

Baking choux dough. Final presentation

1. We preheat the oven to 200ºC. It is very important that the oven is very hot when we insert the tray.
2. We bake the profiteroles at 200ºC with heat from above and below without a fan. We will bake them for about 20 minutes. After this time we remove the tray from the oven and let the snacks cool on a rack.
3. If we have decided to make eclairs or Lyonnaises, the baking time should be longer. If we remove them prematurely they will deflate and flatten.

If even with the video and the text recipe you are not clear, I leave you a step by step in photos of this choux dough recipe   so that it turns out yes or yes. Don’t hesitate, follow these photos.

Tips for a perfect choux dough

• It could happen that the profiteroles or eclairs sink when you take them out of the oven. This is a symptom of undercooking. It is very important not to open the oven door until the end of cooking to avoid this point.
• If the resulting dough was too light, it would spread when making the portions; if it were too hard, it would fit well but with a less light result. All this will depend on the degree of humidity with which the dough remains before baking. Depending on the flour we use, it will absorb more or less moisture. It will be a matter of trying until you get the ideal texture.
• Preparing this type of dough is easy and in this recipe you have the basis to prepare different desserts, but to do so you need to invest in a good pastry bag, which is easy to handle and comfortable, with its corresponding nozzles. For example, for éclairs you need a size 12 nozzle and for chouquettes one size 8 or 10. This numbering coincides with the diameter of the nozzle in millimeters.
• Once the dough is baked and cold, we can store it in the freezer in an airtight container. It will also keep quite well in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.
• When we have the sandwiches already filled, we must take into account that the filling will tend to moisten the dough. Although they will keep well for a few hours. In no case is it advisable to fill them in too early.