Wisconsin Cream Puffs

Wisconsin State Fair opens this week, and of the many indulgent foods available at the fair, cream puffs reign supreme. On average, Wisconsin State Fair sells… wait for it… 350,000 cream puffs during the 11 day event.

Cream puffs are stone simple to make. Really. They fall into my favorite baking category, “looks complicated but is really easy!” Go on, play in the kitchen for a little while, and dazzle your friends with an amazing dessert at your next backyard cookout!

Ingredients (Makes 30 small or 10 “Wisconsin State Fair sized” cream puffs)

1/2 cup real butter

1 cup water

1 cup flour

dash salt

dash cinnamon

4 eggs

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Step 1) Bring butter, water, salt, and cinnamon to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Step 2) Stir flour into the boiling mixture. Stir briskly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the saucepan and forms a ball. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.

Step 3) Add eggs, one at a time, to the dough. Stir well after each egg is added.

Step 4) Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets using teaspoons (for small cream puffs) or heaping tablespoons (for large cream puffs). Leave 1 – 2 inches of space between mounds of dough, as the dough will expand while baking. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes (small cream puffs) to 30 minutes (large cream puffs). Tops and bottoms will be light golden brown when fully baked.

Step 5) Transfer shells to a wire rack for cooling (see above). When shells are cool, cut in half and pull out any underbaked dough remaining inside. This hollows out the shells a bit, allowing room for sweetened whipped cream!

Step 6) In a scrupulously clean mixing bowl, combine whipping cream and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the whipping cream is very thick. Spoon whipping cream into each cream puff shell, and dust with extra powdered sugar if desired. Serve immediately!