Cream Puffs

So today on the Yahoo! Gluten Free Recipes Group someone posted that they loved eclairs and missed them. Which made me think of Cream Puffs which I haven't made in years, but love. So I decided to try to find a way to make Gluten Free ones. I started by looking through me 2 GF cookbooks and found one in my Bette Hagman cookbook. Then I pulled out my regular cookbooks and looked for a recipe. I must admit I kind of collect cookbooks and have recipes in all of them I love. That said, I have a lot. It took me 5 tries to find a recipe. I couldn't believe it since Cream Puffs are so incredibly easy. Anyway Bette Hagman's and Better Homes & Garden's recipes were similar but Better Homes & Garden used BUTTER, my one true baking love! The processes they used were slightly different as well. So I decided to combine the two recipes to make mine. I also made regular ones as well for everyone else. Anyway this is the recipe I used.

Cream Puffs (printer friendly recipe)

Makes 6 puffs
1/2 C water
1/4 C butter
scant 1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (opt.)*
2 1/2 T potato starch
1/3 C Rice Flour
4 eggs
Filling: pudding, ice cream, whipped cream, chicken salad, or anything else that sounds yummy!

1. In a medium saucepan combine water, butter, salt, and sugar (if using). Bring to boiling. Meanwhile mix potato starch & rice flour in a small bowl. Once the water/butter mixture boils add flour in all at once and stir vigoriously. Cook and stir until the mixture forms a ball and it all sticks together. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.

3. Drop by 6 heaping Tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 400-degrees for 30-35 minutes, or till golden. Cool on a wire rack. Fill with your favorite filling.

I put both my GF and regular ones on the same pan with a piece of tin foil separating them. The regular ones are on the left and are twice as big only because the recipe made 12 and I only had room for 9.

This is a closeup of the GF cream puffs.

4. When cooled, cut tops from puffs and remove any remaining soft dough from the inside. Fill with your favorite filling and replace tops. If you want you can sift powdered sugar over the tops of dessert puffs for an extra pretty presentation.

Eclairs: You can make them using the same recipe, but put the dough in a piping bag with a 1" hole and pipe them 4" long on the cookie sheet and bake, poke, and split (if desired) as above. Fill with pudding or cream and frost with chocolate glaze or frosting.

*I don't particularly like sweet cream puffs, especially to use for a sandwich. I like the combination of the salty/buttery dough with sweet fillings. But adding 1 tsp sugar could be a nice touch for a dessert puff if you want.