These Gluten Free Cream Puffs (aka Gluten Free Profiteroles) are a gluten free dream come true! This French pastry is crispy on the outside and airy on the inside. Fill these pastries are filled with whipped cream or pastry cream and dust them with powdered sugar.
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If you haven't tried a cream puff, you are in for a treat! Luckily for you, this recipe is EASY, and it makes a lot of little cream puffs so you can have lots on hand! Did you ever have those puffy airy cream puffs before you went gluten free?
Well, now you can enjoy this popular dessert again! This Gluten Free Cream Puffs recipe will bring back memories, and you will want to devour a whole batch!
My family devoured these homemade cream puffs really easily. It is funny because my kids were young when they went gluten free and they never tasted regular cream puffs. This was a totally new experience for them. (Dare I tell them that I now can make eclairs too?)
Why These Gluten Free Cream Puffs Are Great:
- I can't rave enough about this gluten free cream puffs recipe! They are easy to make, with very simple ingredients.
- These cream puffs are an incredible French pastry. They are crisp on the outside and airy and almost hollow on the inside.
- You can fill these delicious cream puffs with whipped cream as I did, ice cream, or fill this choux pastry dough with a custard filling.
- You can dig into this delicious dessert in just 40 minutes!
- You can freeze them for when you need them.
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten free flour blend - I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn't mean others will not work, I just have not tested other gluten free all purpose flour blends.
- Xanthan gum - If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Eggs - I used size large eggs. You want them to be room temperature for this recipe.
- Whipped Cream - Use heavy cream or Cool Whip (read Is Cool Whip Gluten Free for more details.)
Recipe Step By Step Directions:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 425º F. Bring the water and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Make sure it is a rolling boil! Mix in the flour quickly.
The flour mixture will form a soft dough ball. You will notice that the dough mixture will pull away from the sides of the pan.
Step 2: Use an electric hand mixer or standing mixer with a paddle attachment to mix in the eggs. Start on low speed and gradually increase to medium speed. Add all of the eggs at the same time.
Note: Be sure the dough mixture isn't too hot. You don't want it to cook your eggs.
Step 3: Use a small cookie scoop to drop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can also use a piping bag with a large round tip to pipe the French pastry dough onto the baking sheet.
Step 4: Make sure to have a hot oven. The temperature needs to be 425º F before putting the puff dough into the oven. The dough will be sticky, but the surface evens out with baking.
Step 5: Bake the cream puffs for 22-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and set them on a wire rack for cooling.
Step 6: Allow the cream puff shells to cool. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut off the tops of the cream puffs.
Step 7: Use a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the bottom half. You can also use a large wooden spoon if you prefer. If you use a spoon, just add a dollop of cream filling on each bottom half. Take the top half and set it on top of the cream filling.
Step 8: After the pastries are filled, you can top them in lots of fun ways. Dust them with powdered sugar, drench them in a chocolate ganache, or dip them in chocolate.
Expert Tips:
- It is important to boil the water and butter before adding the flour. This helps the puffs puff up.
- Add the eggs all at once then use a mixer to blend them into the dough ball.
- Make sure your oven is 425º F before you put the dough balls into the oven!
- Do not open the oven door while the cream puffs are baking. I know it is tempting but don't do it! The cream puffs can fall if the temperature in the oven drops.
How To Make Homemade Whipped Cream:
We have several favorite fillings for cream puffs, but the easiest is to make homemade whipped cream. If you want to make a dairy-free whipped cream, follow the directions below but use a COLD can of refrigerated coconut milk. I keep my can in the refrigerator for at least a day to get it really cold.
- Take 1 carton of heavy cream and add it to a bowl.
- Use electric beaters to whip the cream until it forms peaks.
- I don't add sugar but feel free to add 1 tablespoon to the heavy cream then mix.
You can also make the creamy chocolate sauce that I used in this Gluten Free Chocolate Pound Cake recipe. That chocolate ganache would be delicious drizzled over these cream puffs! Now, they are ready to eat! Everyone ate them so quickly.
Recipe FAQ:
If you are new to the world of profiteroles, they are these incredible French choux pastry balls that can be filled with all sorts of delicious things including whipped cream, custard, vanilla pastry cream, and ice cream.
The gluten free dough aka the gluten free pate choux is used to make these profiteroles and also eclairs! They are interesting to make because you cook the dough on the stove and then blend the eggs in a little bit at a time.
The profiterole dough will puff up when it bakes as you can see in this picture. Once the cream puffs are cool, you can cut them in half and add the filling.
There are lots of things you can fill cream puffs with. Here are my favorite ideas: You can fill your cream puffs with whipped cream, jam, Nutella, or ice cream.
These cream puffs will keep up to 3 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
You can easily freeze cream puffs but I recommend doing it without the filling. To thaw, place them on the counter to come to room temperature, then place them in the oven at 325º F for 5-8 minutes to re-crisp.
You will also love this Gluten Free Crepes recipe, these Gluten Free Cheese Danish, and these Gluten Free Flaky Pastries for more French dessert love.
Just one bite of these gluten free cream puffs is all it takes to be hooked. Don't forget to check out my Gluten Free Pantry Essentials to see what I use to bake in my gluten free kitchen.
This post was updated from an older July 2018 post with better directions and more filling ideas to try.
More Gluten Free Desserts To Try:
Reader Cindy P's photo of her baked cream puffs. She loved how the recipe turned out.
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Cream Puffs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- 4 large eggs
- ⅔ cup whipped cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425º F.
- Bring the water and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Make sure it is a rolling boil! Mix in the flour quickly. The flour mixture will form a soft dough ball. You will notice that the dough mixture will pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Use an electric hand mixer or standing mixer with a paddle attachment to mix in the eggs. Start on low speed and gradually increase to medium speed. Add all of the eggs one at a time. Be sure the dough mixture isn't too hot. You don't want it to cook your eggs.
- Use a small cookie scoop to drop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can also use a piping bag with a large round tip to pipe the French pastry dough onto the baking sheet.
- Make sure to have a hot oven. The temperature needs to be 425º F before putting the puff dough into the oven. The dough will be sticky, but the surface evens out with baking.
- Bake the cream puffs for 22-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Remove them from the oven and set on a wire rack for cooling.
- Allow the cream puff shells to cool. I am so excited I finally got my recipe to work in this gluten free version!
- Use a sharp knife to carefully cut off the tops of the cream puffs. Use a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the bottom half. You can also use a large wooden spoon if you prefer. If you use a spoon, just add a dollop of cream filling on each bottom half. Take the top half and set it on top of the cream filling.
- After the pastries are filled, you can top them in lots of fun ways. Dust them with powdered sugar, drench them in a chocolate ganache, or dip them in chocolate.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn't mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
- These cream puffs will keep up to 3 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
- You can easily freeze cream puffs but I recommend doing it without the filling. To thaw, place them on the counter to come to room temperature, then place them in the oven at 325º F for 5-8 minutes to re-crisp.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Ruth M.
So these are twice-baked (steps 6 through 9)?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Ruth, They are not. It looks like a malfunction on the recipe card. I went in and fixed it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Terrie Severson
I believe that the last sentence in step two should have the word “ one” removed . I had to read the tips section to confirm that all of the eggs are added at the same time. Also there is no mention about taking the pan with the dough off of the stove to aid in cooling before beating in the eggs. I don’t want to sound like I’m criticizing your recipe but for first time bakers it might be helpful. I can’t wait to make these as I have missed eating eclairs like we use to buy at the bakery many years ago before Celiac was diagnosed 25 years ago.
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Terrie, I see your point and made the correction. Thank you so much.
Kathy
What can I use instead of eggs?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Kathy, I haven't tested this recipe without eggs, so I do not know how to advise.
Claudia
Hello, could you tell me the amount of butter in grams? Thank you very much for all your delicious recipes that help us a lot
Sandi Gaertner
I looked online and the converter said 1/2 cup of butter is 113 grams.
Jan R
This is the recipe my grandmother would use for dumplings in chicken soup, minus the sugar, of course. They aren't the biscuit kind, we used to call them Danish dumplings. I'm going to try it for that. It would be great to have them GF. Such a great comfort food on a cold night.
Sandi Gaertner
I hadn't thought of using this as a dumpling base, but I definitely can see this working! Thank you so much Jan.