A delicious eclair is one of my favorite things - although I rarely have them (mostly because I am far too tempted to eat them all and share with no one).  This recipe is similar to my cream puffs and both the chocolate Paris Brest and caramel-vanilla Paris Brest pastries, with some slight modifications which I find work better for the eclair shape, taste, and desired fillings.  

Had to sneak a bite of a yummy chilled eclair. 

Delicious gluten-free eclairs!

Gluten-Free Eclairs!

Makes about 24 - 30 eclairs, depending on size

Make your cream filling first, so it has time to cool. 

Creme Patissiere (Pastry Cream):

In a medium saucepan (avoid non-stick coated pans), heat over medium heat until just boiling: 

2 1/2 cup half & half (10% cream) OR whole milk

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, mix together: 

1/4 - 1/3 cup cornstarch (extra cornstarch will make a bit of a thicker cream, which is helpful if you use milk vs half & half

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup half & half OR whole milk

Whisk the yolks/cornstarch mixture into the hot sugar/cream mixture.  Increase the heat to medium-high to speed up the process, but whisk constantly and rapidly.  Once the mixture thickens and starts to boil (I find it makes big, thick popping bubbles when done, and I quickly have to remove from heat to avoid getting burned), remove from heat and pour the pudding into a glass dish.  (You can strain the pudding in a wire mesh strainer if you have any lumps or are worried about lumps).  

Cover the pudding with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the pudding.  Let cool at room temperature until it's cool enough to place in the refrigerator to completely chill.  (I like to make this in the morning if I need it chilled by evening, or you can make it the day before). 

Choux Pastry (Pate a Choux):

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In a medium sized saucepan (avoid non-stick coated pans), heat the following over medium heat just til starting to boil: 

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup salted butter

1 tsp sugar

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

Remove from heat and stir in quickly with a wooden spoon: 

1 1/2 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Put the pot back on the heat and stir vigorously over the heat for 2 - 3 minutes.  It should smooth during this time.  

Remove from heat and place the dough into a mixer.  Turn on the mixer speed to low.  Let it mix for ~5-10 minutes, scraping occasionally.  Your dough should look nice and shiny and be quite thick.  

Add to the dough (one at a time or just all together): 

4 large eggs, room temperature

You want to let the dough mix on medium to medium-high speed until it's nice and smooth, scraping occasionally.  Scoop the dough into two freezer ziplocs (not absolutely necessary, but it's quite a thick dough and I find this helps avoid having a bag split while piping).  Snip ~1/2" - 3/4" from the corner of the bag.  

 Pipe thin éclairs onto one of the parchment-lined pans.  Bake ~30 minutes until nicely browned.  (Light brown can be a bit sticky inside, too dark and it'll be dry and prone to cracking when you go to slice and fill).  

Immediately slice little 3 little holes along the side of each éclair after it comes out of the oven, then put it on a wire rack to cool. (This lets the hot air escape so the eclairs don't collapse on themselves).  You could also poke holes in the bottoms if you'd prefer to pipe your cream in from the bottom. I recommend 2-3 holes in the bottom of each one.  

Piped and ready to bake!

They end up a nice light to medium brown color.  Often you brush choix pastry with an egg wash for a rich golden color, but since we're filling then topping with ganache, I don't do that for eclairs. 

Pipe the second pan of éclairs and bake.  Slice and cool, as above.  

Once they are fully cool, I like to slice them carefully down the sides to fill.  Make sure you have the appropriate metal piping tip if you plan to pipe in the filling from the bottom.  

Chocolate Ganache Topping

I like the make the chocolate ganache then let it cool while filling the eclairs.  Otherwise, the ganache will end up a bit too runny - like in these pictures. ha! Taste will still be delicious, but it won't be as neat as you may want.   

In a saucepan over medium heat combine and heat until bubbling gently: 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup whole cream/whipping cream

1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Remove from heat and stir in until smooth (this takes a bit of patience, usually a few minutes): 

4-5 oz high quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

Once the ganache is nice and smooth, you can let it rest to cool 5-10 minutes, then spoon it into a freezer ziploc.  Just before assembling, snip a corner of the bag for piping your ganache.  

Assembling the Eclairs

Scoop your pastry cream into a piping bag or freezer Ziploc.  Snip the corner (or use a tip for a neater finish).  Pipe filling evenly into your eclairs.  

Sliced and filled with pastry cream. Yum!

Put ganache into a piping bag or freezer ziploc.  Gently pipe ganache along the tops of your eclairs.  If the ganache is a bit too warm, it may be a bit runny (like here).  If you just let it rest a few extra minutes (I have no patience), then you can get cleaner lines piped on top of your eclairs.  Chill in the refrigerator and serve!  Keep leftovers chilled in the refrigerator.   Enjoy!   

Covered with ganache.  When the ganache is a bit too warm, it will be a bit runnier and messier (like here).  I'm usually too impatient to wait for it too cool and become a bit thicker, but if you're patient, you'll end up with really neat looking eclairs.

I ended up with two pans of eclairs.  These are fairly small and thin eclairs. 

Gluten Free Eclairs Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Surprisingly, I don't make cream puffs terribly often, but every time I do I am reminded why they're such a fun dessert.  You can make these larger or smaller, depending on your preference, but you will have to adjust your baking time and make sure they're a nice golden brown.  Larger cream puffs definitely need longer in the oven to make sure they're firm and don't collapse on themselves during cooling.  An easy filling is just to use fresh whipped cream whipped with a spoonful of powdered sugar added to sweeten it a bit, but we especially love them with a vanilla or chocolate pastry cream.  Enjoy!

Make any size from this recipe!  Tiny cream puffs or larger ones.  Both work great!

Cream Puffs

Makes ~20 cream puffs, but it can make more/less depending on the size you pipe out

Make and cool filling of your choice.  I recommend a rich crème patissiere (vanilla pastry cream) (recipe below), or a rich chocolate pudding (chocolate pastry cream) (make it using 1/4 - 1/2 cup less milk for a bit thicker pudding). 

Crème Patissiere (Vanilla Pastry Cream): 

In a medium saucepan (avoid non-stick coated pans), heat over medium heat until just boiling: 

2 1/2 cup half & half OR whole milk

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl, mix together: 

1/4 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup half & half OR whole milk

Whisk the yolks/cornstarch mixture into the hot sugar/cream mixture.  Increase the heat to medium-high to speed up the process, but whisk constantly and rapidly.  Once the mixture thickens and starts to boil (I find it makes big, thick popping bubbles when done, and I quickly have to remove from heat to avoid getting burned), remove from heat and pour the pudding into a glass dish.  *If you find you have any lumps in your pudding, you can strain the pudding through a fine sieve to remove lumps as you put it into the glass dish. I find if I am trying to multi-task and forget to stir enough then this sometimes happens to me.*  

Cover the pudding with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the pudding.  Let cool at room temperature until it's cool enough to place in the refrigerator to completely chill.  (I like to make this in the morning if I need it chilled by evening, or you can make it the day before.  If you're in a rush, you can place the bowl into a larger bowl of ice to speed the cooling process). 

Choux Pastry (Pate a Choux):

Preheat oven to 360 F.  (I find somewhere between 350 - 375 works perfectly).  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

In a medium sized saucepan (I prefer to avoid non-stick coated pans), heat the following over medium heat just until starting to boil: 

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup salted butter

1 tsp sugar

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

Remove from heat and stir in quickly with a wooden spoon: 

1 1/2 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Put the pot back on the heat and stir vigorously over the heat for 2 - 3 minutes.  It should smooth a bit during this time.  (I do find the bottom of the pot ends up coated with a thin layer of dough, but soaking the pot makes clean up easy)

Be prepared for an arm workout during this step.  The dough is thick and sticky. 

Remove from heat and place the dough into a mixer.  Turn on the mixer speed to low.  Let the dough mix for ~5-10 minutes, scraping occasionally.  Your dough should look nice and shiny and be quite thick.  This helps the dough cool before adding your eggs.  

Add to the dough (one at a time ideally, or just all together if you lack patience - the main thing is to let the dough beat until it's really nice and smooth): 

4 large eggs, room temperature

You want to let the dough mix on medium to medium-high speed until it's really nice and smooth, scraping occasionally.  Scoop the dough into two freezer ziplocs one inside the other (not absolutely necessary, but it's quite a thick dough and I find this helps avoid having a bag split while piping).  Snip ~1" from the corner of the bag.  

After scraping down the bowl.  It's hard to tell in a photo, but there's a glossy sheen to the dough.

Pipe small blobs onto a parchment-lined baking pan.  You can make these smaller or larger, depending on your preference.  They puff up during baking, so make sure they're spaced far enough apart from each other.  If desired, you can dip a finger in water to gently push down and smooth the tops of the choux pastry.  Use sparingly - you don't want them to be too wet on top. 

If desired, beat 1 egg and brush the tops of the choux pastry before baking.  If you don't brush the tops with beaten egg, they don't end up as dark golden browned during baking.  I've done it both ways - and it's really just a look thing.  I think the golden brown you get from the egg wash is lovely.  Bake at 360 F for 20 - 35 minutes, until the cream puffs are nicely browned.  I find smaller cream puffs need only 20 minutes, but the larger ones need significantly more time until they're puffed and golden brown.  *Yes, 360 F.  I find 350 too low and 375 too high.  If your oven runs cool then bake at 375 F.* 

These cream puffs were baked without being brushed with an egg wash, so they ended up paler, but are just as crispy on the outside and soft on the inside as the ones brushed with egg. 

Remove from oven and immediately poke a hole in the bottom with a sharp knife before placing on a cooling rack.  This helps steam escape, so the cream puffs won't collapse on themselves.  It also makes it easier to pipe in filling later, if you're wanting to pipe it in neatly.  

Once cool, fill cream puffs with filling of your choice - some people even prefer them filled whipped cream instead of a vanilla or chocolate pastry cream.  Whatever you prefer is great! To fill, it's neatest to pipe in the pastry cream from the bottom of each choux pastry using a long nosed metal piping tip.  However, I tend to aim for speed, so slicing the choux 1/2 or 3/4 through and piping the filling in from the side works well for me.  

These can be decorated with powdered sugar, or drizzled with a homemade chocolate ganache or homemade caramel sauce, like the one I used in my Paris-Brest Pastry recipe before serving.  Once the cream puffs are filled, store them in the refrigerator until serving.  Enjoy! 

Filled with chocolate pastry cream and topped with homemade caramel sauce. Yum! 

Cream Puffs Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!