With a coffee liqueur filling and glaze, these beautiful little coffee cream puffs are a coffee dessert lover's dream. Serve them with a glass of cool and creamy Bourbon milk punch!
Cream puff shell ingredients and notes:
- This recipe calls for bread flour, which has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour. More protein means more gluten and therefore a stronger structure in the baked good. That's important for something you want to puff up high during baking, such as these cream puffs.
- Note that there is no need to soften the butter for this recipe because you're going to cook the dough.
Coffee cream filling ingredients:
These French cream puffs are filled with coffee liqueur whipped cream instead of the more traditional custard or pastry cream.
Coffee glaze ingredients:
How to make cream puffs:
See full ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below!
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Add milk, butter, sugar and salt to a pot or a saucepan.
- On high heat, stirring continuously, bring the mix to a boil.
- Turn the heat down to medium, then add bread flour and immediately start to stir with a wooden spoon.
- Keep stirring until the dough comes together into a ball that peels away from the sides of the pot.
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Whip with an electric mixer until the dough has cooled down to almost room temperature.
- Whip in eggs, one at a time, then the egg white.
- Fill the dough into a large piping bag with a large round tip. Pipe about 20 small dollops (1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter) onto the baking sheet.
- Bake the puffs at 375 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Turn the temperature down to 325 degrees F. and bake for another 20 minutes until the puffs are golden brown. Let the puffs cool completely, then carefully slice them in half horizontally using a serrated knife.
- Whip heavy cream, coffee liqueur and sugar to stiff peaks. Fill the whipped cream into a piping bag and pipe onto the bottom halves of the puffs.
- Cover each puff with a top half, then make the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar and coffee liqueur. Drizzle the glaze on the puff tops and let dry.
Recipe notes & tips:
- Be sure to heat the dough long enough in the pot until it comes together into a large ball. (As shown in the photo for step 4.) If the dough doesn't get cooked enough, it won't turn crumbly after whipping and will end up being too runny to pipe.
- Fill the cream puffs 1 to 2 hours before serving for best results. Transfer the filled puffs into an airtight container and keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve them.
- 20 dollops will make puffs that are about 2 ½ inches wide, which is a little bigger than bite size. For smaller puffs, pipe 30 rather than 20 puffs and reduce the baking time at 325 degrees F. to about 10 minutes.
How should I store the cream puffs?
Store the filled and glazed cream puffs in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than a few hours. (If you keep them much longer than that they will get soggy.)
Can I freeze the cream puffs?
You can freeze the baked cream puff shells (unfilled and unglazed) in freezer bags. However, they won't taste as good as when freshly baked!
More delicious coffee desserts:
- Chai-Spiced White Russian12 Hours 10 Minutes
- Spiced Irish Coffee10 Minutes
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how you liked it in the comments below! Thank you!
Full Printable Recipe
Coffee Cream Puffs (Coffee Choux Buns) with Coffee Glaze
Equipment:
- measuring cups and spoons
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- pot or saucepan
- wooden spoon
- mixing bowls
- standing mixer or handheld mixer
- large piping bag with a large, round tip
- serrated knife
- whisk
- spoon
Ingredients:
For the choux pastry:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup bread flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
For the filling:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the glaze:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions:
For the choux pastry:
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add milk, butter, sugar and salt to a pot or a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.1 cup whole milk, 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add the flour all at once, then rapidly stir it in with a wooden spoon.1 cup bread flour
- Cook, stirring continuously, until the dough peels away from the sides of the pot and comes together into a ball.*
- Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl, then whip on medium speed until cooled down to lukewarm (2 to 3 minutes).
- Continuing to whip, add the eggs, one at a time, then add the egg white.3 large eggs, 1 large egg white
- Fill the dough into a large piping bag with a large, round tip. Pipe about 20 dollops onto the baking sheet.**
- Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325 degrees F. Continue to bake until the puffs are golden-brown, about another 20 minutes.
- Let the puffs cool completely, then carefully slice in half horizontally using a serrated knife.
For the filling:
- Whip all ingredients to stiff peaks.1 cup heavy cream, 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Fill into a piping bag and fill into the cream puffs.***
For the glaze:
- Whisk liqueur and powdered sugar together in a bowl. (Use as much liqueur as you need to get a slow-moving mass.) Drizzle the glaze over the cream puffs and let dry.2 to 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua, ½ cup powdered sugar
- Refrigerate the puffs in an airtight container until you're ready to serve them.
anna @ annamayeveryday says
Whoa, those look too good, great idea adding the coffee liqueur!
Nicole B. says
Thank you, Anna! I love coffee liqueur, I could put it into almost everything. :)