Best Choux au Craquelin Recipe

Choux au craquelin is a French dessert which is a hollow buttery pastry (the choux) with a crispy crunchy cookie crust on top (the craquelin), which provides a very nice and sweet texture. Choux au craquelin briefly translates to cracker cream puffs because of its crispy and crunchy texture paired with a smooth, delicate crème diplomat, it can be a very addicting dessert. In this video, I will be making three different flavours; vanilla, matcha, and chocolate. But you can personalize these cream puffs however you like by adding fresh fruits, incorporating different colours into the cookie crust or whatever you desire! These are the three basic flavours that should be enjoyed at least once in their lifetime by everyone. 

This recipe is very dear to me because it is a product of my hard work and dedication of trying to perfect and make delicious cream puffs. Every time I make these, my family loves it, to the point of eating 3-4 right after I finish piping them. These also make great gifts, and I always bring these to potlucks or gatherings (pre-pandemic). They are also very pretty and super impressive looking. Choux au craquelin are the perfect dessert for any occasion! 

Full Youtube tutorial: https://youtu.be/duiq5PP9iFE

Choux au Craquelin

Makes 40 cream puffs, but depending on the size you pipe them, you might have a different amount

Recipe:

Profiteroles:

• 120g butter 
• 177g water 
• 1 ⅓ cup flour (175 g) 
• 5 eggs 1 tbsp sugar pinch of salt

Crème Diplomat:

• 3 egg yolks 
• 1 large egg 
• 37g cornstarch 
• 480g milk 
• 75g sugar 
• Vanilla 
• Salt 
• 240g heavy cream

Craquelin:

• 120g butter 
• 100g sugar 
• 120g flour - sift together with either matcha or cocoa powder 

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 380 F Combine milk, and vanilla extract into a small saucepan and heat on the stove until simmering. Meanwhile add 3 egg yolks + egg, and sugar to a large bowl and whisk until homogenous. Then add in cornstarch and whisk again until well combined. After milk has simmered, slowly pour into the milk mixture until you mix the egg mixture while whisking constantly so you don’t scramble your eggs. Pour everything back into your saucepan and bring to the stove. Stirring constantly until it thickens and becomes smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap, making sure that it touches the surface of your cream and store in the fridge until chilled completely.
2. Using a spatula, mix together butter with sugar until it becomes homogeneous and very fluffy and soft. Then sift in flour and mix again until homogenous, feel free to add colouring or flavouring at this point. Then place dough between two sheets of parchment and press down and use a rolling pin to smooth it out to a thin flat sheet, around 1-2 mm. Freeze until solid.
3. While waiting, add water, butter, salt, and sugar into a small saucepan and heat on the stove on medium heat until it comes to a boil. Then add in all of the flour into the butter mixture and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed into the flour, and becomes a dough. Then cook the dough in the pot (around 1 min) until you see a rough skin on the bottom of the pot and then take it off the stove and transfer to a large bowl. Then add in 1 egg at a time, each time making sure that all of the egg has been completely mixed into the dough. Transfer to a piping bag, and pipe your choux, making sure to space them out, giving them enough space to rise.
4. Cut out craquelin dough with a cookie cutter and place on top of each choux, slightly pressing down. Reshape and refreeze and then repeat this process until all the choux are covered. Then BAKE! For 20 mins then lower temp down to 320 F for 15-18 mins, depending on your oven. Let cool. Take out chilled cream and whisk until smooth again and mix in your matcha and cocoa powder. Whip up heavy cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks. Mix ⅓ whipped cream with each flavour and then transfer to a piping bag. Poke holes in each of your choux and fill. Then ENJOY!!