These chouquettes are just what you want from an easy French bakery treat; light, airy, choux pastry, generously topped with pearl sugar and baked until crisp and golden. These miniature choux buns, along with choux buns and profiteroles, are a variety of petits choux (meaning "little cabbage").
Using my basic choux pastry recipe, these humble little pastries are so easy to make. They have a gorgeous contrast of delicate shells, soft and hollow inside with a sweet crunch of sugar on the outside. While classically topped with sugar, they can also be topped with sprinkles like chocolate sprinkles!
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❤️ Why this recipe works
- A reliable, easy choux pastry base for consistent puffs
- No filling required so they're quick and simple
- Pearl sugar adds the sweet crunch chouquettes are known for
- Bakes up light and airy, with hollow inside and crisp, golden outside
- A fun chocolate sprinkle option for a playful twist on the classic
What are chouquettes?
Chouquettes are small miniature choux buns coated in crunchy pearl sugar and a hollow inside. These French sugar puffs are a variety of petits choux, which translates to "little cabbages".
Chouquettes are a French pastry that have evolved over time into the simple sugar-topped puffs enjoyed now as a daily treat.
There's something wonderfully homely about chouquettes. Although they come from the same pastry family as eclairs and profiteroles, they're far more relaxed and snack-like. In France, you'd buy these from the local boulangerie by the dozen in little paper bags perfect for sharing and snacking on a walk home. Just as welcome at breakfast or alongside a cup of coffee, they're less about formality and more about a simple, humble treat.
Ingredients & substitutions
Most of the ingredients in French sugar puffs are very self-explanatory - flour, butter, milk and sugar. A few are worth explaining in a little more detail below.
- Eggs: You can use any size eggs but you'll want around or just over 200g/7oz. With choux pastry, the texture can be affected by so many factors so you need to focus more on the look of the dough than the quantity of egg going into it. That's explained in more detail below.
- Pearl sugar: Also known as nib sugar or hail sugar, Swedish pearl sugar is small crispy rocks of sugar. They're crisp, rather than hard so they're easy to bite into. You should be able to get these from a cake decorating store.
How to make chouquettes
Making chouquettes is really only as difficult as making choux pastry which, as long as you follow the steps, is incredibly easy. Put simply, it's just these 6 easy steps;
- Bring milk and butter to a boil
- Add the flour and cook
- Add the eggs
- Pipe onto baking sheets
- Scatter over sugar
- Bake
⬇️Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
The milk and butter
(2-3 minutes) Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan just to a simmer then turn off the heat.
Make the panade
(10 minutes) Add the flour and beat in with a spatula. Turn the heat back on and keep cooking for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Let this cool for 5-10 minutes.
Add the eggs
(5 minutes) Now start adding the eggs a little at a time and beating it in fully before adding the next portion.
The V test
When it's ready, the dough will be shiny and will reluctantly drop from the spatula leaving a neat "V" shape behind. See my choux pastry post for more signs your dough is ready.
Add to a piping bag
(2 minutes) Transfer the choux dough to a piping bag trying to avoid air bubbles.
Pipe the chouquettes
(2 minutes) Pipe small mounds of dough about 2.5cm / 1 inch wide and 2cm / ¾ inch high. Wet your finger and gently tap down the points.
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Add the sugar
(1 minute) Scatter the pearl sugar crystals over the top of each of the chouquette mounds. There will be a lot that misses and doesn't stick so just lift and carefully tilt the pan from left to right and the sugar will roll down and stick to the sides.
Tips and tricks
- Choux consistency: The most important step is to make sure the consistency of the choux is right. Make sure to properly cook out the flour and add eggs slowly until it's just the right texture.
- Size matters: Chouquettes are like choux popcorn - maybe like 2 popcorn pieces in size. They're meant to be just a pop in the mouth, single mouthful.
- Piping: Keep the piping tip touching the dough at all times as you pipe it. If you lift it, you won't get nice smooth chouquettes.
- Don't skimp on the sugar: Be generous with the pearl sugar and lift and tilt your pan to get all the sugar that landed on the pan to stick to the choux pastry.
- Prick the chouquettes with a toothpick when they come out of the oven to allow excess steam to escape thus keeping them crispier.
😥 Troubleshooting
For any choux pastry troubleshooting tips, see my dedicated choux pastry post.
How to serve chouquettes
In France, chouquettes are eaten as an informal treat or snack bought from the local bakery (boulangerie). They're lovely for afternoon tea but equally as welcome at breakfast alongside a cuppa. They also make for a light after-dinner treat.
While classically served with no filling, they can be filled if you want to treat them like mini choux buns.
Variations
While incredibly delicious and unbelievably addictive as they are, you can have some fun with your chouquettes.
- Chocolate chouquettes: Add some chocolate sprinkles in place of pearl sugar. When you do this don't tilt the pan. I find the chocolate sprinkles that collect underneath can burn easily yet on top they're fine.
- Coffee: Mix a good pinch of coffee powder (or to taste) with your pearl sugar before adding to the tops.
- Cinnamon: Sprinkle a small amount of ground cinnamon over the tops after adding the pearl sugar. Don't go too heavy. You could also mix ground cinnamon into the choux dough.
- Flavour the choux pastry: Add a small amount of extract of choice - like vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract - to the choux dough before piping.
- Filled chouquettes: Choose whipped cream, chantilly cream or pastry cream to fill your little French sugar puffs. Try this chocolate pastry cream or raspberry pastry cream.
Storage
Room temp
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days in a cool spot like the pantry.
Fridge
Store in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Freezer
Baked chouquettes can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Once stored for longer than a day, the chouquettes will soften. You can recrisp them in an oven for 7-10 minutes.
Tools I use
- Stand mixer: I most often use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for making the choux dough. You can beat it by hand.
- Medium heavy-based saucepan: The heavy base makes for even heating.
- Silicone spatula: So useful for all baking.
- Measuring jug: I whisk my eggs up in this.
- Mini whisk
- Piping bag: For piping the choux buns. You could use a ziplock bag with the corner cut off if you need.
- Silicone baking mats: Regular silicone baking mats will work perfectly for chouquettes. You can use baking paper but I find the shape is better using silicone.
- Half sheet pans: These are the size I always use for my baking.
If you made this easy chouquettes recipe,
be sure to leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you!
Chouquettes (Petits Choux)
Equipment
- Wooden spoon / rubber spatula
- 2 Baking sheets
- Silicone baking mats (best option) or baking paper
Ingredients
- ½ cup water (125ml)
- ½ cup whole milk (125ml)
- 115 g unsalted butter (4oz / 1 stick)
- 2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 130 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (1 cup, spooned and levelled/~4 ½oz)
- 200-230 g eggs (7-8oz / 4-5 large eggs, see notes)
- ½ cup Swedish pearl sugar (nib sugar / hail sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C / 375F. Line 2 large baking sheets with silpats (recommended) or baking paper/parchment paper.
- Combine the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in saucepan and heat over medium stirring to melt the butter, then allow it to start to bubble.
- Once you see the first bubbles, turn the heat off. Add the flour and stir in with the spatula until fully combined.
- Place the pan over low heat and cook for 2 minutes, moving constantly. Fold it over itself then press it out across the pan and repeat for 2 minutes.
- By hand: Press the dough out flat over the base of the pan and leave it to cool for 5-10 minutes until it's no longer hot (warm is fine).By stand mixer: Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on low for 2 minutes.
- Lightly beat 4 eggs together in a jug (or shake them up in a jam jar).
- Add a quarter of the eggs to the panade/dough with one of these 3 methods;- In the stand mixer with paddle attachment and mix on low.- Beat by hand, directly in the saucepan with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon.- Use a handheld mixer on low.
- Continue by adding another quarter of the eggs, beating until fully incorporated. Repeat with the third quarter of eggs.
- With the last quarter of the eggs, add them just a little at a time until you have a dough that is smooth and shiny. It should reluctantly fall from the spoon leaving a "V" shape hanging from it.
- Once the dough is the right consistency, transfer it to a piping bag with a 1cm/~½inch round piping tip.
- Pipe small mounds of dough about 2 ½cm / 1 inch wide, and 2cm / ¾ inch high. With a wet finger, gently tap down the points on top.
- Scatter the pearl sugar all over the chouquette dough, don't worry if it falls all over the tray. Once they have a good coating, lift the tray and gently tilt both ways, so the excess sugar rolls along and sticks to the sides of the dough.
- Bake the chouquettes for 27-30 minutes until deep golden brown. When they come out of the oven, use a toothpick to prick them on top or underneath (as soon as you can handle them) to allow excess steam to escape.
- Please take a moment to rate this recipe. I really appreciate it and it helps me create more recipes.
Notes
- How many eggs? With choux pastry, the texture is best judged by eye, not by quantity of eggs. Add the eggs until the dough is at the right texture. For me it's between 3 ½ and 4 large eggs but the amount you require will be determined by many variables - egg size, amount of moisture cooked out of panade, protein content of flour and even humidity in the air.
- Store baked chouuquettes in an airtight container in a cool place, like the pantry for 2 days or fridge for 3-4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
- They are only crispy on the day of baking and will begin to gradually soften. You can re-crisp them before serving them in an oven preheated to 180C/350F for 7-10 minutes.
- Chouquettes are not typically filled but certainly can be. A simple pastry cream would be lovely. If you are filling them, do it close to serving time as the filling will soften the pastry.
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