Peanut Butter Cream Puffs Recipe

When I was little, one of my weekend hobbies was reading through my mom's cookbooks and finding recipes we had all the ingredients for, then attempting to make them. I learned to bake from a combination of watching my mom and grandma bake around the holidays, watching the Food Network, and practicing on my own.

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I'll never forget finding a recipe for cream puffs and making them for a birthday gathering in my family. My grandpa said his mom used to make cream puffs for Easter and they brought back good memories for him. He was so proud and impressed that I made them from scratch (even though I could have brought a pack of Ho-Hos and he would have told me I was the sweetest thing in the world - that's just the kind of grandpa he was!). 

Fast forward to now. I've made cream puffs countless times in my life and they're still one of my go-to things to make. They work for any event, any holiday. I've perfected my pâte à choux recipe through trail-and-error (lots of error!) to where now, I have it down to a science. This pâte à choux recipe works for sweet or savory fillings, and I even dropped it in the deep fryer and made cheesecake filled churros out of it for Christmas this past year. 

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The cream in these Peanut Butter Cup Cream Puffs is adapted from a classic diplomat cream recipe, adding peanut butter and folding in whipped cream before filling the puffs. The chocolate ganache is made from Hershey's milk chocolate candy bars, then topped with chopped Reese's peanut butter cups (actually Reese's hearts!) before it hardens. The salty peanut butter combined with the sweet milk chocolate and vanilla bean-flecked diplomat cream makes for a Reese's lover's dream dessert. 

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Use this choux and cream recipe (just subtract the peanut butter) as a base for any sweet cream puff, then add some mix-ins and toppings to create your own flavor!

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Peanut Butter Diplomat Cream Filling

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/2 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp flour​

2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 pt heavy cream

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Line a baking dish with plastic wrap (with enough excess to cover the cream once inside) and set aside. Measure and prep all ingredients so they are readily available. Begin heating milk, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and half of the sugar over medium heat. While milk is heating, mix the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar, then add the cornstarch and flour in a large heatproof bowl.

Once wisps of steam begin to come from the milk, pour half of it into the egg mixture along with the peanut butter, and mix until smooth. Let the rest of the milk come to a boil, then whisk in the tempered egg mixture. The cream will immediately thicken. Wait for bubbles to begin popping, then remove from the heat and quickly whisk until glossy, and pour into prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and press into the entire top of the cream. Refrigerate until completely cool (at least three hours, preferably overnight). 

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Once cream is cooled, transfer to a large bowl and give it a quick mix. In another bowl (or a Blender Bottle), whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the pastry cream.

Pâte à Choux

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs
1 cup flour

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Preheat oven to 425. Bring butter, water, and salt to a rolling boil over medium heat. Add the flour all at once and remove from heat while mixing until all flour is combined, then bring back to heat and continue mixing for a minute or two until dough pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball. 

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Transfer dough to the bowl of a standing mixer and mix on medium speed until bowl is warm (not hot) to the touch and most of the steam is out of the dough. Add eggs one at a time, mixing completely between. Pause between the third and fourth egg and check the consistency of the dough. You may need one more egg, part of an egg, or no more at all depending on humidity and temperature. 

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Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a 1A or 2A round tip and pipe golf ball-sized rounds 1.5" apart. Wet fingertip with water and smooth out the tops if necessary.

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Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until dough has expanded and is golden in color. Reduce heat to 375 and bake for another 18-20 minutes. Check the puffs; they should feel very light and sound hollow when tapped. Turn off the oven and let the puffs sit inside for another 15 minutes to completely dry them out. Remove from oven and let sit until completely cool to the touch before filling. 

To assemble the puffs, fit a pastry bag with a filling tip (I use a 230), then use a butter knife to stripe the inside of the bag with peanut butter (use as many or as few stripes as you would like), then fill with the peanut butter cream. Push the tip into the bottom of the puffs and gently and steadily squeeze the bag to fill. The puff should be noticeably heavier once full. 

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Finely chop 2 Reese's peanut butter cups (or hearts, eggs, ghosts, or trees depending on the season) and set aside.

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Make Candy Bar Ganache (recipe below) and dip tops of filled puffs immediately while the ganache is still hot (may want to work in batches, making half a recipe of ganache at a time and dipping half of the puffs). Sprinkle with chopped Reese's cups before ganache hardens.

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Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Cream puffs are best served fresh, so do not prepare further ahead than 1 day. Enjoy!

Candy Bar Ganache

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Ingredients:

8 fun sized milk chocolate bars (approx 3.5 oz)

3 tbsp heavy cream

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Break apart candy bars and chop into fine pieces. Heat cream in a very small saucepan until small bubbles begin to appear on sides (about 15 seconds), then pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for a minute while the cream melts the chocolate, then mix until smooth and glossy.