Cream Puffs

This dessert may sound fancy, but it is made with simple ingredients and it only takes a few quick steps before you are serving these to friends at a party!  These Cream Puffs would be perfect to serve at a Bridal or Baby Shower.  

There are a couple possibilities for the filling.  You could use pudding (such as the filling I used for my Banana Cream Pie), a scoop of ice cream, or whipped cream.  I took a container of cool whip and folded in some chopped fresh strawberries to make a fruity cream filling.  The result was a light and fluffy dessert with a sweet taste of strawberries!

Yields: 10 small Cream Puffs (Serves 5: 2 cream puffs per person)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

cream puff filling of choice

powdered sugar for sprinkling

In a saucepan bring Water and Butter to a boil.  

Add Flour.  Stir until smooth ball forms.  Take off heat and let stand 5 minutes.  

Add 1 egg at a time beating well after each.  Combine until smooth.

Drop by rounded tablespoonful 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet.  (Just like you would when making chocolate chip cookies).  

Bake 400* 30-35 minutes.  Around 25 minutes poke a hole into the top of each cream puff so they will not collapse.

Remove from rack and allow to cool. 

Slice the cream puffs in half.  Place a scoop of filling onto the bottom of the cream puff.  Place the top on the filling and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy

~Banana Cream Pie~

I made this pie when my parents were visiting and we all agree it is a keeper!  Very basic ingredients and a little stirring time on the stove is all it takes to make this classic pie!!!  

Yield: One 9 inch pie (6-8 servings)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks beaten

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

2 bananas sliced

1 pre-baked pie crust

Combine Sugar, Flour, Salt, and Milk in saucepan.  Stir over medium heat. Bubbles will form.  Keep stirring another 2 minutes, then remove from heat.  

Add a couple spoonful’s of the hot mixture to beaten egg yolks to slowly bring them to temperature (This will prevent any scrambled eggs in your delicious pudding).  Add to the rest of the hot mixture and return to stove.

Cook while stirring constantly for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Add Butter and Vanilla.  Mix until smooth (at least 5 minutes to allow the mixture to cool a bit).  

Place 1 sliced Banana over the pie crust. 

Pour the pudding on top.  Cool 3 minutes then cover with plastic wrap that touches the pudding to prevent any film from forming (not very tasty).  

Cool 10 minutes then transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour. 

Serve with an additional sliced banana and whipped cream!

 This recipe would work out wonderfully if you want to serve it as banana (or even plain vanilla) pudding instead of a pie.  You could serve the pudding with some vanilla wafers and whipped cream for a very nice dessert!

Sweet Dreams,
Cindy