Gluten-free cream puffs are light, airy pastries made from pâte à choux, a classic French dough that magically steams into hollow shells as it bakes. Made with gluten-free flour, these puffs still deliver the same crisp exterior and tender, airy centre you’d expect from traditional cream puffs—perfect for filling with whipped cream, pastry cream, or your favourite festive fillings. They’re elegant yet surprisingly simple to make, making them a show-stopping addition to any holiday dessert tray.
Festive Idea: Turn Them Into a Croquembouche
To make your gluten-free cream puffs extra festive, transform them into a croquembouche—a stunning tower of caramel-glazed cream puffs traditionally enjoyed at celebrations. Stack the filled puffs into a cone shape using a bit of caramel as “glue,” then drizzle more caramel over the tower for a golden, sparkling finish. Add sprigs of rosemary, edible glitter, or sugared cranberries to give it a holiday twist. It’s a holiday centrepiece that’s as impressive as it is delicious!
ingredients
- Milk
- Water
- Butter
- Salt
- Sugar
- Vanilla
- Gluten Free 1-1 Flour: I use either Ardent Mills 1-1 Flour or Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Flour
- Xanthan Gum – even if your flour already has it
- Eggs
- Dark Chocolate
- Cream
Tools
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Bag
- Piping Tip
Storing
When I was watching a baking show and for the life of me I cannot figure out which one… but it taught me that you can pipe the eclairs on parchment paper. I then tried it out myself, and I found that it worked out very well, I added another minute to the bake time and that’s it. So all you need to do is, put them into the freezer to freeze. Then you can put them into a freezer ziplock bag until you are ready to bake. This way you can pull as many as you need out at a time and they will be fresh.
Gluten Free Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Cream Puff
- 95 Grams Milk
- 95 Grams Water
- 90 Grams Butter
- 1 Gram Salt
- 1 Gram Sugar
- 105 Grams Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Flour
- 3 Grams Xanthan Gum ((Even if your flour already has it.))
- 3 Eggs
Pastry Cream
- 365 Grams Cream
- 80 Grams Sugar
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 1 Gram Salt
- 22 Grams Cornstarch
- 40 Grams Butter
- 3 Grams Vanilla
- 100 Grams Chocolate ((I like to use dark chocolate))
Instructions
Pastry Cream
- You can make this a day before to make assembly easy, as it needs to be cold for an hour or two depending on your bowl.
- In a glass bowl, add in the sugar and egg yolks. Whisk until they are light in colour.4 Egg Yolks, 80 Grams Sugar
- Whisk in corn starch and salt.22 Grams Cornstarch, 1 Gram Salt
- In a sauce pan, eat the cream until it is hot.365 Grams Cream
- Slowly pour it into the egg yolks bowl and whisk as you do it so it does not scramble the eggs.
- Pour it all back into the pot. And cook it on medium heat. It needs to thicken up and cook out the corn starch. Whisk it constantly.
- Once thick, remove it from the heat, strain it with a sieve into a glass bowl as this removes any lumps. Whisk in butter and vanilla.3 Grams Vanilla, 40 Grams Butter
- Press plastic wrap on top of it so a film does not happen in the fridge. Place into the fridge until it is cold.
Cream Puff
- In a pot add milk, water, butter, vanilla, sugar and salt. Bring it to a rolling boil.95 Grams Milk, 95 Grams Water, 90 Grams Butter, 1 Gram Salt, 1 Gram Sugar
- Remove the pot off the heat and quickly add in the flour and xanthan gum. Work quickly to whisk it together to avoid it from clumping. Put it back on the heat to cook the moisture out of the dough. You do not want to cook it long, and need to consistently move it. You know when it is done because you try to bring it up the bowl and it rolls down without sticking.105 Grams Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Flour, 3 Grams Xanthan Gum
- Dump in into a bowl of a stand mixer. Beat it on medium to remove all the heat out of it.
- Turn it down to a slow speed, mix 1 egg into it at a time. It is going to look separated, but keep going. Once all the eggs are in there, mix it up to high and let it beat together. It should come together into a silky glossy mixture. When you stop it after 2 minutes, it should fall off the paddle in a ribbon and end up with a V shape falling off the paddle.3 Eggs
- Put the mixture into a piping bag with a large star tip.
- On a parchment paper lined tray, pipe 4-6” long lines. You should be able to get 8 per tray.
- Place them into the freezer while you pipe the rest.
- Place them into the oven for 30 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN. The moisture helps puff them up.
- After 30 minutes, open the oven to let out the steam and bake for another 7 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven, and let them cool on the baking tray.
Assembly
- Once the cream puffs and pastry cream are cool, you are ready to assemble.
- Flip over the cream puffs to the bottom. Take a knife, and poke 1 hole into the bottom.
- Then fill a pastry bag with the pastry cream. Pipe it into the 1 hole.
- You can pick up the cream puffs to feel the weight difference when they are filled to the max.
- In a shallow bowl, add in the chocolate and microwave for 45 seconds. Stir it and if it is not melted fully, put it back into the microwave for another 30 seconds.100 Grams Chocolate
- Take the filled cream puffs and dip the top into the chocolate and place onto a tray to dry the chocolate.
- It is best to eat cream puffs the same day, but you can store them in the fridge and eat within 2-3 days.
Did you make this recipe?
Lovely. Now let me know how you liked it and how easy it was to bake. Tag @laurabakesglutenfree on Instagram and hashtag it #laurabakesglutenfree.
While I have you here, may I suggest few you try next:
Until next time. Keep following and commenting. Join me on Instagram, where I will be revealing my secret tips and tricks! Yes, that’s right!
