These gluten free Cream Puffs have a crisp outer shell with a nice large hollow in the middle, perfect for your favorite filling. The cream puffs are perfect for both sweet or savoury fillings.Which will you choose?
I will admit it now… Before having to eat gluten free, even though I was a baker, I never mastered making cream puffs.
I always had trouble with them not rising properly, or with them staying soggy in the middle.
My Grandma was really good at making them though, and if they were coming over for supper, she would whip up a batch filled either with pudding or whipped cream. This was always a treat, because my Mom never had success baking them either.
That was all in the past though. Now, I think I make a pretty awesome gluten free Cream Puff. They are crisp with a beautiful hollow in the middle, perfect for your favorite sweet or savory filling. The trick, I believe, is in making the “Pâte à Choux”, which is the dough that can be used to make Cream Puffs, gluten free Éclairs, or Crullers.
Since the dough itself has no sugar in it, you can use these gf Cream Puffs for either sweet or savory fillings. Whether you chose a rich, creamy pastry cream, or a spicy chicken salad, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Here are some tricks to making sure your gluten free Cream Puffs bake up properly:
- You have to be sure to fully incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet before adding the eggs. I like to stir the hot dough in the pan for another minute, just to dry it out a little more.
- Beat the dough for a few minutes before adding the eggs. This lets the dough cool down some before adding the eggs, because you don’t want to cook the eggs when you add them. You also need to add the eggs ONE AT A TIME, and make sure that it is fully mixed in before adding the next.
- The easiest way to beat the eggs into the dough is with a stand mixer. A heavy duty hand mixer may work, but I’ve never tried it. A good old wooden spoon would work too, I’m sure, you just have to have good arm muscles. I can’t imagine my Grandma got out her stand mixer to bake up a batch, I’m sure she used her wooden spoon or hand mixer when making cream puffs.
- Preheat your oven 10-15 minutes before you begin to mix your ingredients. You want to put your gluten free cream puffs into a very hot oven, that is what is going to help them to puff up when they bake.
- Use an oven thermometer so that you know your oven temperature is accurate. They aren’t expensive, and can save you a lot of frustration.
- Do NOT open the oven door while you are baking the cream puffs. You want to keep it as hot as possible in the oven, and opening the door will cause the temperature to drop.
- After the cream puffs have baked, crack the oven door open a little bit and turn the oven off. Let the cream puffs stay in the oven, drying out, until they are room temperature.
You can make gf Cream Puffs ahead of time:
FREEZE THE DOUGH: This dough, the Pâte à Choux, can be frozen to bake fresh gluten free Cream Puffs later.
- Spoon the dough onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, store in a zipper seal freezer bag.
- To bake, place frozen dough onto parchment lined baking pan, and let come to room temperature before baking (about 15 minutes). Bake the same way you would if you were baking immediately.
CRISP UP CREAM PUFF SHELLS: If you baked your cream puffs ahead of time and they got soft or soggy from storing them, you can re-crisp them before filling them. Place the empty cream puffs on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees F for 5-8 minutes. Just be sure to let them cool completely before filling them.
Looking for something besides whipped cream to fill your gluten free cream puffs with?
How about some smooth Peanut Butter Pastry Cream, or Lemon Curd?
Gluten Free Cream Puffs recipe:
Gluten free Cream Puffs
These gluten free Cream Puffs have a crisp, outer shell, with a nice large hollow in the middle, perfect for your favorite filling.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (107 g) white rice flour
- 1/3 cup (68 g) sweet rice flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) xanthan gum
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the white rice flour, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring the water and butter to a boil. Once they have reached a boil, pour all of the dry ingredients in at once, and stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated, and the mixture looks similar to play dough.
- Place hot dough into a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for a minute or two to cool the dough down a bit. With the mixer on medium speed, add one egg at a time. Beat dough until the egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one. When you add an egg, the dough will look like it breaks apart, but keep mixing it until it comes back together again. Repeat until all 4 eggs have been added.
- Mix on medium-high speed for 1 minute, until the dough is smooth.
- I use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to place the dough onto prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between cream puffs. You can use your fingers, dipped in water, to help smooth the tops of the cream puffs before baking.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the door, and pierce each cream puff with a sharp knife. This will help any steam trapped inside them to escape, giving a nice crisp cream puff. Leave the cream puffs in the oven, with the door open a few inches, until the oven has cooled completely.
- Once cream puffs have completely cooled, fill them with a sweet or savory filling. They are best served the same day, but can be stored in an air tight container. To crisp unfilled cream puffs again, place in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes.
Notes
FREEZE THE DOUGH: This dough, the Pâte à Choux, can be frozen to use later. Spoon the dough onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, store in a zipper seal freezer bag. To bake, place frozen dough onto parchment lined baking pan, and let come to room temperature before baking (about 15 minutes). Bake the same way you would if you were baking immediately.
You can also use a piping bag, or a heavy plastic bag with the corner cut off, to pipe the dough onto the parchment paper.
Recommended Products
Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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Sweet Rice Flour (Pack of 6) -
Ateco 230 2 7/8" Bismark Metal Piping Tip - Great for filling donuts, cupcakes, elclairs, and other pastries -
Fayomir Cookie Scoop Set - Small/1 Tablespoon, Medium/2 Tablespoon, Large/3 Tablespoon - Ice Cream Scoop Set, 18/8 Stainless Steel Dough Scoop Cupcake Scoop Melon Baller
Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Recipe & images updated Feb 2016.
Beth says
Those look amazing!!!!
Jeanine says
Thanks, Beth! They tasted great too. Hope you give them a try!
Marisa Renn says
Would I be able to substitute vegetable butter for the unsalted butter, we have issues with dairies too:(
Jeanine Friesen says
I’ve seen some dairy free recipes that use oil instead of the butter, so I think subbing a good dairy free butter (like Earth Balance sticks) should work without a problem.
kelsey says
What type of filling did you decide to use? The filling looks really yummy~:)
Jeanine says
The filling is super simple – heavy whipping cream beat with vanilla pudding mix (added enough to make it nice & thick, plus it stabilizes it) and raspberry extract, with a drop of red colouring for the pink colour. Topped it with some homemade hot fudge sauce (from Brown Eyed Baker’s site). DELICIOUS and pretty. 🙂
Sarah says
Oh my, I can’t wait to make these! It’s been so long since I’ve had a cream puff!
http://www.sarahbakesgfree.com
-Sarah
Jeanine says
You’ll love them! 🙂 With the variety of fillings you can do, the options are endless. Followed your blog on FB & Pinterest, love your site, Sarah!
Michelle says
WOWW!!! I’m thinking these would make a perfect anniversary dessert!!! Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Jeanine says
Oh, they would be! Bake what you need, freeze the rest, and it’s perfect! Happy Anniversary!
Margaret A. Massey says
Hmmm! I think the recipe could be cut in half. I don’t have any room in my freezer. 🙁
Company coming in August.
Jeanine says
Absolutely! Cutting in half would be easy, since it has 4 eggs! I always find recipes with 3 eggs difficult to halve. 🙂
Betty Reimer says
Another beautiful recipe mastered! I just told another friend about your website, she loves it!!
Jeanine says
Thanks, Betty! I appreciate it! 🙂
Susan says
Jeanine, I use Jules GF flour would it work?
Jeanine says
I’m not sure, since I haven’t ever used Jules GF flour blend. If you do try it, let us know how it works!
rwect says
Jeanine, these look devine! How long do they keep in an airtight container? I’d like to make them ahead of time, just need to know how much time they have!!
xRx
rwect says
…also thought you might be pleased to know that a chef (who is not coeliac) said he could not tell the difference between the ones I made and regular gluten filled choux pastry.
Good job!
Camille says
I made these today as a Christmas treat and they were divine. The dough puffed up beautifully even though I made my cream puffs quite large. This tasted just like the delicious cream puffs I used to eat before I got diagnosed with celiac disease. I used the cream puff filling recipe from the food and wine magazine’s website and put dark chocolate sauce on top. My family could not believe how good they were. I will absolutely be making these again.
Camille says
Correction: I used the chocolate sauce from the Food & Wine website and the filling from the gluten free cream puff recipe on Seriouseats.com. I am sure these would be delicious with any filling and topping however. Again, this was an amazing cream puff recipe. Try it!
Vivi says
Thanks Jennie, after a few trial, i finally get a great result. After nearly a decade not eating cream puff, theybtaste so good !!!
Anna says
Hi! I really appreciate you publishing this recipe online! I love to bake, even more so french pastries. I bring them to my French class (I’m in highschool), but unfortunately my teacher and one of my close friends are gluten intolerant. I can’t express how glad I am to not only find a recipe that is gluten free and works for high altitude, but is also delicious! Thanks a bunch! 🙂
Jeanine says
That is so great of you for baking so that your teacher & classmate can both partake too. Glad that the recipe worked well for you! 🙂
Carrie says
Hi! Just made these with my son and they turned out pretty well, my only issue is they were not quite hollow inside…any tips on how to make that happen?
Brenda Taylor says
Did you open your oven while they were baking? Achoux pastr did
Tiily says
I decided to whip up these goodies yesterday to accommodate diabetic and gluten-free. I subbed part of the brown rice flour with oat flour and found them to be wet on the inside although they puffed and looked amazing. Would baking them longer be helpful or do I have to use the brown rice flour? I added unsweetened Greek yogurt, mixed berry yogurt and chopped fresh strawberries to slightly sweetened whipped cream. The taste was fabulous.
Jeanine Friesen says
Hi Tilly! It could be the difference – the original recipe calls for white rice and sweet rice, so it could be that the oat flour was a little too heavy. But if they still puffed well, a few more minutes of baking may have helped them too. Did you pierce the cream puffs after baking, and leave them in the oven with the door cracked open? That step should usually help the trapped steam to escape. The filling sounds amazing!! Perfect dessert for those gluten and sugar free!
Sue Hare says
My sister and I used to make a cream puff dessert in a glass cake pan and we loved it – but now miss it terribly. The recipe called for spreading the dough on the bottom of the pan. It would puff up all over, but especially rise on the sides. Then the filling was made and spread over the center part of the baked dough. It was similar to cream puffs, but a fraction of the hassle! Would this gluten free dough behave in the same way? What modifications would you recommend ( I imagine baking time would be affected – but by how much)? Would appreciate any comments!
Jeanine Friesen says
Yes, it does work! I think this recipe would be enough for a 9×13 pan, do 1/2 if you’re doing a pie pan. Bake the same way you would the other recipe, it should work the same way. 🙂
Louie says
amazing insight. Really enjoyed browsing this blog.
Keep up the good work and to everyone keep on tweeting!
Jessie says
just wondering if this would work with 100% brown rice flour instead of white rice flour/sweet rice flour? just want to save going out to buy 2x more ingredients 🙂
Jeanine says
I haven’t tried it using only brown rice, Jessie. That would require some testing to see if it would work the same way. I think you could sub brown rice for the white, but the sweet rice flour is completely different than those two, so you may have to only buy one? You can get sweet rice flour, also called glutinous rice flour, at Asian stores for cheap. Hope this helps!
Lacey says
I have a vitamix. Can I make the flour myself? I have tons of rice lol yellow, black, white long grain, sweet rice …. now I’m wheat free. So looking to make different things gluten free but not wanting to buy a lot of flours
Jeanine says
I’ve heard of others that make flours using the vitamix, but have no experience with that myself.
Jill says
So Jeanine, this makes 18 puffs? Can you link me or give me recipe for the creamy filling? Thanks
Jeanine says
Hi Jill! Brand new recipe for peanut butter pastry cream: http://www.faithfullyglutenfree.com/2016/02/peanut-butter-pastry-cream.html or an older recipe for a vanilla bean pastry cream: http://www.faithfullyglutenfree.com/2008/06/gluten-free-pastry-creamvanilla-pudding.html Both are yummy though!
Kelly says
This looks amazing… I miss cream puffs. But I cant have dairy either. Do you think I could sub out the butter with margine? or butter floured Crisco?
Jeanine says
Kelly, I would sub with these sticks, I think they’d work best. http://earthbalancenatural.com/product/vegan-buttery-sticks/
Jenna says
When you say to stab it with a knife, do I stab it on the top or the side?
Celeste says
Wow these look AMAZING Jeanine!
Ann says
Oh my,I miss these so much.Reminds me of my childhood back in Europe when my mom was making these every weekend.I do have a question though,is it possible to leave out the xanthan gum,as my son is allergic to it?I see another recipe from King arthur site where there is no xanthan gum,and their flour blend doesn’t have either.
Ann says
Also,can duck eggs be used and how many?They are quite huge.My son can’t have chicken eggs.
Thank you.
JennyPF says
I weigh my eggs when substituting duck eggs for chicken, or local farm chicken eggs for standardized large eggs. 50g out of the shell per large egg. I beat them, and then take out or add the amount I need.
Tina says
Do you think it’d be possible to substitute all purpose gf flour for this?
Fara says
Hi
I can’t find sweet rice flour. They are all regular rice flour. Do you have any soloution?
Thanks
Lela says
I’ve never bought sweet rice flour, but I’ve read that you can find it at Asian grocery stores. If there are none near you…I just checked and Amazon has several brands, including Bob’s Red Mill.
Tammy says
I used sweet butter instead of unsweetened butter to fixed the rice flour.
Ann says
Wow – I just finished making eclairs with this batter. Excellent result! I used a star tip to pipe them out. You cannot tell they are gluten free. They rose perfectly!
A Magical Life says
I made these last night for my family, and filled them with whipped cream and elderflower-rhubarb jam. They tasted wonderful but didn’t rise as high as yours. The batter was a bit too runny to mound up properly, even though I cooked the flour mixture till it was playdough consistency. I’ll try them again with a touch less liquid. Great recipe, though. Thanks!
Jeanine says
Cream puffs can be so finicky. If the eggs are a little too large, that can throw it off too. Definitely give them a try again, they are really good!
Kelly Thomas says
I’m over the moon with how these turned out! I didn’t that’s any sweet rice flour so I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour since the first ingredient was sweet rice flour. I did omit the xantham gym. They taste just like my grandma used to make. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Mary says
This is Easter Sunday, and we have enjoyed this recipe for four years at all of the holiday dinners.
Will be enjoying it again today. we switch off an on the fillings from regular heavy whipped cream, sometimes sweetened with honey and strawberries, other times we have flavored the whipped cream with other fruits. my grandmas Italian cream filling is excellent in this also. we have enjoyed them filled with chicken salad for showers and once for a tea party. They are excellent and we have never ever had trouble with this recipe Thanks bunches.
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that, Mary! I love this recipe too, and it’s so versatile too. That Italian Cream Filling sounds delicious!
Melissa says
I grew up on my mom’s amazing cream puffs so I was very skeptical of a gluten free version. But these are absolutely amazing and the taste is truly authentic. I have filled them with mousseline cream and also with chicken salad. I will be making these over and over, thank you!
Maree Waldock says
Hi Jeanine,
I am amazed at how non-gluten-free these cream puffs look. Just like my aunt used to make! But can you explain a little more about the rice flours – I live in Australia? We can get a standard rice flour at a supermarket that you would traditionally use for shortbread. There is also a finer one available at Asian grocers. Which one do you recommend for your recipe? Also, I have never heard of sweet rice flour. What is it or in it? And are you aware of possible substitutes. I honestly don’t know if we have that here.
Lela says
I’ve read several times that you can find sweet rice flour at Asian markets, so I’m betting the finer one at the Asian grocers is sweet rice flour. I think the standard rice flour at the supermarket is white rice flour. Good luck.
Maz says
I use Orgran gluten free flour in Australia and it works perfectly!!
Leanne says
Can absolutely get sweet rice/ glutinous rice flour at Asian stores. I live in Oz in a country town, too. 🙂
Janette says
Your Cream Puff looks beautiful! I want to follow your recipe, but I don’t have a paddle attachment at my mixer. Can I make this by hand? Thanks
Jeanine says
Hi Janette, your hand mixer might be powerful enough, if not, then get out the good old wooden spoon. My Grandma always made the most amazing cream puffs, and she did it all by hand, so definitely possible. I think you just have to be sure to let the dough cool down enough before quickly stirring in the eggs – that might be the tricky part.
Lela says
I don’t have a paddle attachment either. What would happen if I just use the regular beaters on my stand mixer?
Jeanine says
I’m not sure what the regular beaters are – if it is a dough hook, I don’t think that’ll work well. A whisk type hook may work. I’m sure a hand mixer would work as well.
E says
Hi, I made these today. I’m not really a baker, but I can often get good results following recipes.
This was the first time I ever made Pate Choux, much less GF Pate Choux. I used a 1 to 1 GF flour and felt that the dough was a little wet when I put the eggs in, but they puffed right up in the oven like they were supposed to.
I used the tips and didn’t open the oven until it was time, and left the oven door open a crack after. I normally would spin the sheet 1/2 through baking. Unfortunately, a few puffs had black scorched bottoms. Nothing can really be done about it because to modify a cream puff shell is not possible. I might try spinning the sheet next time.
For the filling, I tried the easy recipe of whipping cream and French vanilla pudding in the stand mixer. It worked really well. Next time I’ll be bold and try to do a traditional filling.
Last, I melted chocolate chips and dipped the tops in to finish it off. They looked really good. Next time I’ll try making actual ganache. 😱
I will also try chicken salad in these, as you said, they’re not sweet and would really be nice for other types of fillings.
Thank you for the recipe, I never thought I’d eat a cream puff again after I had to go gluten free.
Next, can you do a gf phyllo dough? 😁 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I miss my Christmas appetizer recipes.
Jeanine Friesen says
Hmm… phyllo, I’ve been tempted, but not enough to actually try it. 😀 I miss the appetizers at Christmas too, especially the ones I could just buy & bake. Haha!
Maz says
KitchenAid Cook Processor: I found this method on http://www.nath-chocolat.com
1 Crack the eggs in a bowl and beat them vigorously. Keep a little of egg for glazing.
2 Put the water, salt and butter in small pieces in the bowl fitted with the Multiblade blade .
3 Cook at 90 ° / 5 min / speed 1 without the cap.
4 Add the flour all at once, mix 1 min 30 / speed 3.
5 Gradually add the egg through the hole in the lid, speed 5 / 1.30mn.
6 It is important to use 125g of eggs because the eggs are not the same size. We will use the rest for glazing.
7 Using a pastry bag, form a small pile. Using a fork, dip in the egg and put a little egg for the gilding and possibly lower the small tip.
8 Add pearl sugar and bake for 20 minutes at 200°C.
Juie says
what does this recipe make? It leads you to an all-French page and I can’t make out the title.
Eileen says
Can you use Bob’s Red Mill Baking Flour for this recipe, one cup?