Cream Puffs with a Lemon Cheesecake Filling!

Cream puffs are made with ‘Choux Paste” which is a dough that is used for ALL sorts of things - eclairs, churros, cruellers, profiteroles, gorgieres and more! It’s a dough you cook on the stove, then add eggs to before piping and baking. I filled my cream puffs with a lemon cheesecake filling, but you can fill them with lightly sweetened whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream for a simple and delicious dessert!

A mountain of Cream Puffs!

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Cream Puffs with Lemon Cheesecake Filling

Yield: 24-30 cream puffs

Preheat your oven to 400*F

Choux Paste aka Cream Puff Dough:

• 1/2 cup Milk

• 1/4 cup Water

• 1/3 cup Butter

• 1/4 teaspoon Salt

• 1/2 teaspoon Sugar

• 3/4 cup Flour

• ~3 Eggs

• icing sugar for dusting on top

Lemon Cheesecake Filling:

• 1 cup (8oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

• 1/4 cup Icing Sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon Salt

• zest of 1 lemon

1. In a small pot, bring your milk, water, butter, salt and sugar to a boil.

2. Once the milk mixture is boiling, add your flour and stir over a medium heat until the mixture become a dough ball and leaves a film on the base of your pot. Transfer to a bowl and cool for a minute or two.

3. Add your eggs one at a time, stirring to combine after each egg. Depending on how much moisture is in your dough, and how large your eggs are, you might not need all three. You want your finished dough to be soft and when you run your finger though it, it should slowly fill in the gap, but still leave a visible line where your finger had been.

4. Place your dough into a piping bag and pipe about 1.5” diameter rounds onto a parchment lined baking tray.

5. If there are little “kisses” poking up from where you stopped piping, wet your finger and lightly press them down so the tops of your cream puffs are flat.

6. Bake in a preheated 400*F oven for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Try not to open the oven at all (no peeking!) for the first 20 minutes, the cream puffs are creating steam that will help them bake, and we don’t want that to escape!

7. To make the lemon cheesecake filling, whip together the cream cheese, icing sugar, salt and lemon zest until light and fluffy. If you plan on piping it into your cream puffs, you can place it into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off.

8. Once your cream puffs are baked, let them cool and fill with your choice of filling! You can use a knife to poke a hole in the base of your cream puff, large enough to fit the tip of a piping bag full of filling, then squeeze it into your cream puff, or you can cut the top of your cream puff off with a serrated knife, scoop some filling into it and then place the top back on once filled, both look cute!

9. Sprinkle the tops with icing sugar and devour!