Mini Eclair cream puff shells filled with an amazing cream filling, topped with rich chocolate ganache. The same delicious classic eclairs recipe with a bite-sized delivery. The perfect treat for any occasion!
I am a big fan of eclairs AND cream puffs. I’m also a lover of minis. Just take a look at these there recipes. They’re all delicious!
What better way to enjoy the flavors of creamy filling and rich chocolate AND also enjoy the fun of minis than by combining them? These mini eclair puffs are really just so perfect for any occasion.
I wanted to share this recipe now because Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Eclairs are a fabulous dessert to enjoy with your lover.
CAN I FREEZE ECLAIRS?
YES!
Surprisingly, cream and eclairs freeze nicely. This mini eclairs recipe is no exception. Leftovers (if you’re lucky enough to have any) can be frozen for up to a month. When you’re ready to enjoy them, just let them come to room temperature on their own.
You can also make the shells ahead of time. When you’re ready, just pop them into the oven at 400ºF for a few minutes to crisp them up. Let them cool then fill them as the recipe below directs.
Pretty awesome, right?
WHY SHOULD I MAKE MINI ECLAIR PUFFS?
A few things come to mind.
First, puffs cook faster because they are smaller.
Second, the recipe will yield more as each individual mini eclair puff uses less dough.
Third, puffs are much easier to fill. No need to worry that the luscious cream filling didn’t make it to the end of the eclair shell (like when you fill classic eclairs).
Mini eclair puffs are great for parties, family gatherings, brunch and so much more. They are a perfect dessert to add to a dessert bar too. Not too big, nor too small!
WHO WILL YOU BE SHARING WITH?
Without further ado… the recipe!
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE:
Mini Eclair Puffs
Mini Eclair shells filled with an amazing cream filling, topped with rich chocolate ganache. The same delicious eclairs recipe with a bite-sized delivery.
Ingredients
Mini Eclair Puff Shells:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4-5 eggs
Simple Cream Filling:
- 1 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding, dry mix
- 1 1/2 cup cold milk, 2% or whole
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Simple Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 cup chocolate, dark or milk chips or high-quality chocolate bar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Mini Eclair Puff Shells:
- In a large saucepan bring to a boil, water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar.
- Once butter is melted, reduce heat to low, add flour, and stir vigorously for 1-2 minutes. This helps remove extra moisture and gives the flour time to cook.
- Remove from heat. Let cool to 125-135 degrees (hot to the touch but not burning).
- Add eggs, one at a time. Incorporate completely before adding the next egg. Add 4-5 eggs until the mixture turns into a soft paste that will still hold its shape.
- Using a plastic piping coupler or piping tip of your choice (large opening) and Ziploc bag or piping bag.
- Immediately pipe the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. If making small puffs pipe 24 per balls per cookie sheet, for large pipe 18. Small puff - make the dough a ball the size of a quarter. Large puff - make the dough a ball the size of a half dollar). Bake time will vary depending on size.
- For small puffs, bake at 425ºF for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 375ºF for 8-10 minutes or until the shells are golden brown and hollow inside. For large puffs, bake 425ºF for 12 minutes then reduce heat to 375ºF for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown and hollow.
- Cool completely.
Simple Cream Filling:
- Whisk pudding mix and milk together. Mix 2-3 minutes. Set in fridge until ready to use.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip cream to soft peaks, add powdered sugar. Whip to stiff peaks. Don't over whip or you'll end up with butter.
- Remove pudding from fridge. Stir until smooth. Fold whipped cream into pudding.
- Using a bag with round piping tip, carefully insert tip into cooled shell. Fill slowly until shell is full.
Simple Chocolate Ganache:
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add cream and chocolate chips or chunks. Heat 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted. Usually only takes 30 seconds to 1 minute. Don't overheat.
- Stir chocolate mixture until cream is fully incorporated into chocolate. Mixture will look rich, smooth and chocolatey when done (1-3 minutes).
- Dip top of each filled eclair into chocolate ganache. Let ganache cool. Store in fridge or freeze for later.
Notes
Best if served fresh but can be frozen for later enjoyment. If frozen, allow eclairs to come to room temperature before enjoying.
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I love eclairs, so I will be trying these!
My 10 year old REALLY wanted to make eclairs after watching a kids baking competition show. She used your recipe and they came out perfect!! Thank you for sharing! We will definitely make these again!
Hi Robyn! I love this so much. Thanks for sharing. My love for cooking and baking came to me when I was about 11 years old via the food network. So happy to hear you guys loved this recipe. It’s a good one.
Everything taste amazing but mine deflated when I took them out of the oven and we’re not hollow. Any suggestions?
Hi Charlene. This can happen if they are not baked long enough or if too many eggs were added leaving excess moisture in the dough. I would double check your oven temp by calibrating. Some ovens can be off by many degrees (one of my mom’s ovens is off by over 20 degrees). If your oven is accurate then I’d try increasing the bake time by a few minutes.
These were amazing! I made the 1st batch without the chocolate tops, 2nd time with the chocolate tops. Waiting for them to be done, they look great! Excited to bring to New Years Eve party. Thank you
Hi Lea! Your comment made my day. Thanks for sharing. We love this recipe too.
Am I supposed to use regular or instant pudding mix?
I prefer using instant pudding but you could use regular cooked pudding (you’ll need to chill it before using though).
It would have been easier to have the recipe say instant, I used the other and does not set up like it would had I used instant
They were delicious! But the chocolate did not hardened it was a bit messy.. any suggestions?
Hi Karen! Glad to hear it. As for the chocolate, if they didn’t set even when chilled, next time try starting with half the amount of cream. It could have been the amount of fat in the cream used. Regular cream has less fat than heavy whipping cream which could cause it to be softer once chilled.
Your recipe was amazing a delicious, sorry for the crap these other people are giving you.
Thanks Jane!
My cream filling comes out pretty liquidy. Can I cut back on the milk & cream, or add more pudding mix? I’m pretty sure that I whipped the whipping cream sufficiently. By the way, they still tasted great. Thanks for the recipe.
Absolutely! The thickness by be due to the brand or age of your pudding mix. Also, using higher fat content milk and heavy whipping cream will allow you to obtain a thicker filling consistency. Make sure you are fulling mixing the pudding into the milk and also fully whipping the cream (to stiff peaks, the stage right before butter).
I followed to the best of my abilities and it was a mess. Mostly due to not the right equipment. They tasted better than they looked thankfully. I used 4 eggs instead of 5 and they definitely tasted eggy. And the puffs were nowhere near hollow. That may have affected the taste as well.
All in all they were fine.
Hi Leslie. I’m sorry to hear these didn’t come out as well as we’d hope. If they were not hollow I would guess a little longer in the oven would have done the trick. Depending on the size of eggs I use and whether I weigh or measure the flour, I use 4 or 5 so I don’t think that would have effected things much. Hopefully you give them another try. Thanks for the comment and for stopping by.
I wish you had a little more info, like do you out each pan in separately or together. A photo of how the look after you pipe them.
Hi Vicki! I would recommend baking them separate unless you have a convection (fan in the back) oven to help circulate the heat more evenly. If you do bake the pans together in a convection over, you’ll want to keep a close eye on them as the eclairs closest to the back by brown quicker. As for the extra picture, next time I make these eclairs I will snap a picture and add it to the post. Thank you for your comment.
Sound amazing ” want to try them…