This French pastry starts with the same technique as making cream puffs, eclairs, and even churros. Once you’ve mastered the choux pastry (also known as a pâte à choux), you’ll be able to whip up a batch of these profiteroles in no time. See my full recipe tutorial below, including important notes on ingredients, step-by-step photos, and tips to help you make this profiteroles recipe flawlessly every time.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
All-purpose flour — all-purpose flour is ideal for profiteroles as pastry flour will yield shells that are too light, and bread flour will lead to flatter shells as they won’t rise as tall. Sift your flour beforehand if there are lumps. Butter — I always use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in a recipe. Eggs — you need multiple eggs for the choux pastry. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature so they can blend effortlessly and you can avoid over mixing. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm tap water if they are cold. Chocolate — I use semi-sweet chocolate but feel free to melt dark chocolate or milk chocolate to drizzle over your profiteroles.
How to Make Profiteroles
In a large saucepan, add water, butter, and salt.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When it comes to a boil, immediately remove the pan from the heat.
Add all the flour at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated. Return the pan to medium heat and cook, constantly stirring, for 1 minute.
Scrape the mixture into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes or until the dough is warm but not hot. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Continue mixing until the dough is smooth and glossy, and the eggs are completely incorporated
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe fat dots about 1½ inches wide by 1 inch tall spaced about 2 inches apart onto the lined baking sheet.
Lightly wet a finger with water and press the tops of each dough mound to smooth out any points of dough that remain on the surface. If desired, you can lightly brush the tops of each dough mound with an egg wash. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, then set aside to make a chocolate sauce. Once cooled, cut the puffs in half, place a scoop of ice cream in the middle, and drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top of the profiteroles. Serve immediately.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
The number of eggs that the choux pastry requires varies. Anything from the size of the egg yolks, the humidity of your kitchen, or even a bit of extra flour can affect the number of eggs you need. Hold off on the fourth egg to see if your dough needs it. Only add enough eggs for your dough to be shiny, thick, and smooth. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the dry ingredients. Flour, in particular, is easily mismeasured when using a measuring cup. For a consistent choux dough, measure the flour by weight. Make sure the dough is cool before adding the eggs. You do not want the egg yolks to cook from the heat. The dough might look split when you mix the eggs but keep mixing, and the choux pastry dough will come together. To make the assembly of these profiteroles quicker, you can pre-scoop balls of ice cream onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and keep them in the freezer. A bread knife with serrated edges makes cutting open the profiteroles easier.
What is the difference between this recipe and a cream puff?
Some people use the terms cream puffs and profiteroles interchangeably as they’re both choux pastry-based puffs. The main difference between the two is that you fill cream puffs with pastry cream and fill profiteroles with ice cream. See my cream puffs recipe to learn how to make them!
Why did my pastry collapse?
Your pastry may have collapsed due to not being fully baked. If you underbake the interior of the shells, they will collapse as they cool. Make sure they are golden brown and appear completely dry before removing them from the oven. Constantly opening the oven to check on them as they bake contributes to collapsing pastries as well. When you open the oven, cool air rushes in and will cause the profiteroles to bake unevenly and lower the oven’s temperature. Another reason the pastries collapse is due to a runny batter from adding too many eggs. Make sure the batter is thick and smooth before piping it to bake.
Do I eat these hot or cold?
You can serve the profiteroles immediately after assembling them or enjoy them later after storing them in the fridge.
How do I store leftovers?
If you do not fill the profiteroles, store them for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. If you have added the ice cream to the puffs, place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 6 weeks. You can freeze unfilled profiteroles for up to 3 months. If you’ve tried this Profiteroles recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
