My grandma once said that, in case of an emergency, she could take over for my mom and prepare all of our favourite meals, simply based on the state of my mom's cookbooks. She could flip through those cookbooks and stop at the pages that were crumpled, stained, or stuck together. In my mom's copy of Betty Crocker's Desserts Cookbook from the late '60s, the page devoted to Cream Puffs is nearly illegible.
This was one of my favourite desserts, as a child—I would get so excited at the thought of cream puffs or their elongated brethren, eclairs, that I could barely make it through the day if I knew they were on that night's dessert menu. They are surprisingly easy to make for such an impressively tasty dessert. This is my dairy-free version of the original, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, bring water and coconut oil to a rolling boil.
Add flour and stir vigorously until mixture becomes a ball, with a consistency like mashed potatoes.
Remove from heat. Stir in eggs until smooth.
Drop mixture by heaping tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets, shaping with your hands to make a ball or "puff" shape.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
VEGAN OPTION: Add 1 teaspoon baking powder when stirring in the flour. Omit eggs, instead whisk together 4 tablespoons of ground flax and 3/4 cup water and use that mixture in place of the eggs. Bake for an extra 5 minutes, for a total of 25-30 minutes.
When puffs are cooled, slice in half and fill with coconut whipped cream. Drizzle with chocolate glaze (recipe below).
Chocolate Glaze:
Ingredients
In a small saucepan, melt chocolate with coconut oil.
Add icing sugar and hot water, stir until smooth. Use immediately to drizzle on top of the cream puffs.
Refrigerate glazed and filled cream puffs until ready to eat.
(Yield: About 2 dozen bite-sized puffs)
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Desserts
Want more delectable desserts? Try my Avocado Key Lime Pie, my Five-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse Pie, or my Chocolate Coconut Cream Pie-in-a-Jar.
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