To make craquelin, in a mixing bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, and salt with a rubber spatula until creamy. Add the softened butter and knead using your hands for 2-3 minutes to obtain a smooth dough.

With your hands, make a ball of dough and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with another parchment sheet and roll the dough in a rectangular shape about 1/6-1/7 inch (4 mm) thick. Ensure the rolled dough fits 12 disks 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) in diameter.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and bring to the freezer for about 10-15 minutes. Then, get the dough to room temperature and let it warm up for a bit.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut out rounds 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) in diameter, keeping them as close to each other as possible. Remove the scrapes, and freeze the cut-outs again. Avoid making cut-outs close to the edges of the dough since it may be rolled out thinner than the rest.

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.

To make choux pastry, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line two baking trays with parchment.

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. Fix each sheet at the corners with a small amount of choux paste.

Transfer the choux pastry dough into a piping bag with a plain tip - Ateco plain pastry tip 809. Hold the pastry bag vertically and apply pressure to pipe the puff. Once the size of the puffs has been reached, release the pressure on the piping bag and make a circular motion to cut the dough. Continue the same piping technique to pipe the remaining chou apart.

Take the craquelin cut-outs from the freezer and place them on top of each choux, slightly pressing to stick. Bake the choux pastry for 35-40 minutes, one tray at a time. Let the baked choux cool on a wire rack.

To make choux pastry filling, follow the French pastry cream recipe.

To assemble choux au craquelin, select a filling technique for choux au craquelin:

• The pipe-in technique requires creating a small hole in the bottom of each choux and using a pastry bag with a small tip, such as the Ateco plain tip 8, to pipe in the filling.
• The sandwiching approach involves slicing the choux bun with a serrated knife, piping the cream filling onto the bottom, and sealing it with the top. You may cut the bun in half or leave the top as 1/3 of the choux bun. Use your favorite tip, for example, open star pastry tip.