Choux au Craquelin (Crispy French Cream Puffs)

Quick Summary: Choux au craquelin (pronounced "shoo oh krak-eh-lan") is a French cream puff made from light choux pastry topped with a crackly cookie layer called craquelin, then filled with vanilla pastry cream. Also spelled choux craquelin, it is a crispy upgrade on classic cream puffs and takes about 1.5 hours to make.

If you have mastered simple chouquettes or want to make something elaborate than choux à la cream, then choux au craquelin is the way to go.

What is choux au craquelin?

Choux au craquelin (pronounced "shoo-o-krat-ke-lan") is a French name for crunchy choux buns dressed up with a crackly top, called craquelin, and filled with vanilla bean pastry cream.

Also known as choux craquelin or craquelin cream puffs in English-speaking countries, they offer a fun twist on classic French choux, choux à la cream.

In English-speaking countries, you may also see it written as choux craquelin or craquelin cream puffs. Either way, the crackly topping is what sets this treat apart from plain choux à la cream.

What is craquelin?

Craquelin is a thin, crackly cookie topping baked over choux pastry, made from just four ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, and salt. As the choux puffs rise in the oven, the craquelin cracks into a delicate crackle-glaze pattern, giving each cream puff its signature crunch and light caramel flavor.

Light brown sugar gives craquelin the best color and flavor, while granulated sugar leaves it sandy and bland. You can tint or flavor the dough with cocoa, matcha, activated charcoal, or gel food coloring for a decorative finish.

Why you'll love this recipe

• Crispy cream puffs have a crunchy textured topping and a beautiful caramel flavor.
• The craquelin recipe is customizable in terms of flavors and colors.
• Finally, choux au craquelin is the way to elevate your choux pastry game.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter, preferably European-style butter with 82% fat content. For the best results, use cold butter for the choux pastry and softened butter to make the craquelin.

• Sugar: Use light brown sugar to make craquelin rich in color and a caramel flavor. Craquelin, made with granulated sugar, has a sandy texture and a lack of flavor. Oppositly, using dark brown sugar overwhelms the flavor of choux pastry.

• All-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK) brings the structure.

• Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the flavor and improves the texture of the pastry.

• Water: Use cold tap or mineral water to make the choux pastry. You can experiment with a whole milk-to-water ratio of 50-50%, but using only water for choux pastry gives a lighter, drier finish, resulting in a crunchier choux shell.

• Eggs: Use chilled eggs to facilitate the separation of egg yolks from egg whites. Then, bring egg yolks and whole eggs to room temperature.

How to make choux au craquelin

Making choux au craquelin involves a few steps: making craquelin and pâte à choux, piping puffs, preparing the filling cream, and assembling the dessert.

How to make craquelin

Pro tip: Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make the craquelin dough.

Step 3: Form a ball of dough with your hands and place it on a sheet of parchment paper.

Step 4: Cover with another parchment sheet and roll the dough into a rectangular shape about ⅙-1/7 inch (4 mm) thick. Ensure the rolled dough fits 12 disks 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) in diameter.

Pro tip: The size of the craquelin circle determines how much the cream puff will be covered. To partially cover the choux puff, opt for the same diameter of the craquelin disk and choux mound. To cover the whole cream puff with craquelin, ensure the craquelin round is about 0.4 inches (1 cm) bigger than the piped cream puff itself. 

Step 5: Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and place it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Then bring the dough to room temperature and let it warm up a bit.

Step 8: Gather the scraps, re-roll them between two sheets of parchment paper, freeze, and cut new rounds. Keep the craquelin rounds in the freezer until ready to use.

Make choux pastry

Consult the German cream puffs recipe to make pate a choux for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 9: Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line two baking trays with parchment and fix each sheet at the corners with a small amount of choux paste.

Pro tip: To make the choux puffs uniform, create a template. Using a pencil and a 2-inch (5 cm) round cutter, draw 12 circles with 2-3 inches apart. Turn the paper upside down and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat with a second piece of parchment paper.

Step 10: Pour cold water into a thick-bottomed saucepan. Add salt and butter, cut into small cubes. Bring the pot over medium heat and wait until it boils.

Step 11: Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add sifted flour at once. Use a wooden utensil to stir the mixture, flattening the lumps.

Step 12: Bring the pot over low to medium heat and cook, stirring until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the pot.

Step 13: Once cooked, transfer the dough to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and let it cool for 3-5 minutes. Operate the mixer at low speed for 2-3 minutes.

Step 14: Beat the eggs like for an omelet in a small bowl with a mini whisk. Add the beaten eggs in a few additions, mixing the dough well after each addition with a hand whisk or a mixer.

Step 15: Transfer the choux pastry dough into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco plain pastry tip 809). Hold the pastry bag vertically and apply pressure to pipe the puff.

Step 16: Once the puffs reach the desired size, release the pressure on the piping bag and make a circular motion to cut the dough.

Step 19: Bake the choux pastry for 35-40 minutes, one tray at a time.

Step 21: Make the filling cream by choosing one from the list below. I used French pastry cream with gelatin.

• French pastry cream, made with and without gelatin 
• Creme leger
• Sugar-free whipped cream
• French Chantilly cream
• Chocolate whipped cream
• Whipped chocolate ganache
• Diplomat cream 
• Mascarpone whipped cream
• Mousseline cream

Note: Make the pastry cream with gelatin if you make sandwich-style choux au craquelin.

Assemble choux au craquelin

Step 22: Select a filling technique for your choux au craquelin and fill the choux puffs.

Serve right away and enjoy, or refrigerate.

Expert Tips

1. Measure ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than measuring cups for accurate and precise baking results.
2. If the craquelin dough softens, return the baking sheet to the freezer for 5 minutes, then continue. 
3. Do not open the oven door while baking choux puffs.
4. The size of the cream puffs should be adjusted to your preferences. Read the choux pastry guide for choux puffs sizing and baking time.

Recipe variations

• Chocolate craquelin: Replace 1 tablespoon of flour with cocoa powder.
• Black craquelin: Replace 1-2 tablespoons of flour with activated charcoal.
• Matcha craquelin: Replace 1 tablespoon of flour with matcha green tea powder.
• Colored craquelin: To add red, blue, or other colors to the crunchy topping, add a few drops of gel food coloring.

Storing & freezing

You should consume the filled choux au craquelin on the day they are made. Store the filled pastry in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Uncooked craquelin cut-outs

To store, keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator at 0°C to 5°C for up to 2 days.

To freeze, keep them in a freezer-friendly box in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Unfilled choux au craquelin

To store, keep the unfilled choux au craquelin in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

To freeze, place them in a freezing Ziploc bag or a freezer-friendly box and freeze for up to 3 months.

To refresh, place the frozen choux au craquelin in a preheated oven at 355°F (180°C) and reheat for about 5-7 minutes. Cool down completely before filling.

Troubleshooting Tips

The craquelin is hard to work with

Reason #1: Too cold craquelin. If the craquelin dough cracks when cutting, it has been chilled for too long.
Solution: Let the dough sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it becomes pliable.

Reason #2: Too warm craquelin. If the dough is too soft to handle, it becomes difficult to place on top of the piped choux pastry.
Solution: Chill the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before cutting or handling.

The craquelin bakes unevenly

Reason #1: Inappropriate mixing. Using cold butter instead of softened butter creates small butter pockets that produce air gaps during baking, similar to puff pastry.
Solution: Use softened butter and let it sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours before making the dough.

Reason #2: Inconsistent craquelin thickness. Unevenly rolled dough bakes at different rates, creating an irregular, separated appearance.
Solution: Roll the dough to an even thickness using an adjustable rolling pin.

Reason #3: Too soft craquelin dough. Soft craquelin rounds may shift or separate as the choux expands in the oven.
Solution: Chill the rolled dough in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes or freeze it for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Reason #4: Craquelin rounds are too small. If the rounds are smaller than the piped choux mounds, the topping stretches excessively during baking and develops uneven cracks.
Solution: Cut the rounds to the same diameter as the piped choux or about 0.4 inches (1 cm) larger. Larger rounds provide more complete coverage as the choux expands.

Reason #5: Poor adhesion. If the craquelin rounds are not pressed gently onto the choux, they may lift or separate during baking.
Solution: Lightly press each craquelin round onto the choux mound so it adheres securely.

Reason #6: Incorrect oven temperature. If the oven is too hot, the choux may expand too quickly, causing the craquelin to crack more than intended.
Solution: Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe and verify your oven's accuracy with an oven thermometer if needed.

The baked craquelin falls apart

Reason: Using white granulated sugar produces a sandy, more fragile topping.
Solution: Use light brown sugar instead, which yields a more cohesive, tender craquelin.

Recipe FAQ

What is craquelin made of?
Craquelin is made of four basic ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, and salt. For a chocolate version, you can add cocoa powder, and gel food coloring gives it a colorful, decorative finish.

What is the difference between choux au craquelin and regular cream puffs?
Regular cream puffs are plain choux pastry, while choux au craquelin adds a thin cookie layer, called craquelin, on top. The craquelin bakes into a crackly, crunchy shell that gives these cream puffs their signature texture and caramel flavor.

What is the best sugar for craquelin?
Light brown sugar is best for craquelin because it gives a rich color and caramel flavor. Granulated sugar leaves the topping sandy and bland, while dark brown sugar can overwhelm the delicate choux pastry.

Why is my craquelin cracking or baking unevenly?
Uneven craquelin usually comes from dough that is too soft, rolled unevenly, or not pressed firmly onto the choux. Chill the rolled dough, roll it to an even thickness, and gently press each round onto the piped puff so it bakes into a smooth, crackly top.

Can you make choux au craquelin ahead of time?
Yes. Freeze the uncooked craquelin rounds and the unfilled baked puffs for up to 3 months. Fill the puffs with pastry cream only on the day you plan to serve, since filled choux au craquelin is best eaten the same day.

Where did craquelin choux pastry originate?
Choux pastry, or pâte à choux, was created in 16th-century France by a pastry chef of Catherine de Medici and later refined by Popelini and Antonin Carême. The exact origin of adding a disc of cracker dough on top, the craquelin, remains unclear.

Love choux pastry recipes? Try these next!

Looking for more delicious choux desserts? Check out the website now, from fancy cream puffs to other delightful treats:

• German cream puffs
• Paris Brest Dessert
• Nun's Farts (deep-fried beignets donuts)
• Italian cream puffs
• Or browse all the choux pastry recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.