You haven’t enjoyed an Eclair until you’ve tried a fresh homemade eclair filled to the brim with pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache. Watch the video tutorial, and you will master these French eclairs in no time.
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Classic Eclairs Recipe
Learn how to make classic and easy “choux pastry” dough (the same pastry used for Cream Puffs as well as Churros and even Zeppole Italian Donuts) and a decadent homemade vanilla bean pastry cream that will have you licking the spoon and the bowl.
Eclairs are best eaten the day they are made, but I do love that they can be fully assembled a day ahead.
Video: How to Make Eclairs
I’ll show you how to make the easy dough (don’t worry, it only sounds fancy, but it’s actually simple to make), the custard filling, and the easy chocolate ganache to give your eclairs that classic French look and taste.
Also, I’m so embarrassed that (due to my occasionally shaky hands), my eclairs looked mildly inappropriate when piped. I only realized it after the fact and I couldn’t stop laughing. And for those of you who never would have noticed otherwise, I am doubly embarrassed!
Tools for Making Eclairs
- Large Piping Bag – reuseable or disposable works fine.
- 1/2″ round piping tip or a 16mm open star tip – you need a large tip to pipe the eclair dough into strips.
- Baking Sheet – a half sheet works great
- Silicone Liner or Parchment Paper
- Bismarck tip (or a small sharp tip like Ateco #16 or #352) – you could use a number of tips to pipe the frosting into the eclair.
Tips for Making Pastry Cream
Pastry cream relies on corn starch and egg yolks to thicken and the end result is incredibly smooth – like a decadent vanilla pudding. Mixing the softened butter is the secret to the amazing texture – don’t skip it!
- Pastry cream can be made 3 days ahead which is perfect for holiday entertaining.
- If making ahead, cover the surface directly with a sheet of plastic wrap so it doesn’t form a film.
- You can substitute the real vanilla bean for vanilla extract. I love seeing those little vanilla flecks in the eclairs (see recipe notes)
Pro Tip:
Pastry Cream will thicken as it cools and to loosen it up for piping, whisk until smooth.
What is Choux Pastry?
Choux dough is a classic pastry made with super simple ingredients (milk, water, eggs, flour, butter, sugar and salt). The key is to continue mixing the dough in the saucepan to release excess moisture until a thin film forms on the bottom of the pan. Choux pastry is a soft dough that gets piped onto a baking sheet.
Getting the baking temperature right is the key to success. Starting the oven at 425˚F allows the pastry to rise beautifully, creating a hollow center for the filling. Choux pastry is then baked at a lower temperature to dry out the center.
Make-Ahead
- Eclair Shells – can be baked a day ahead and stored covered at room temperature for up to 2 days. Shells can also be frozen in an airtight conatiner up to a month then thawed at room temp for 30 minutes. To re-crisp shells, bake thawed shwells at 300˚F for 5-10 minutes then cool completely before filling.
- Filling (Pasty Cream) – can be made a day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap directly over the surface and refrigerate. Re-whisk before piping.
- Glaze – I find it’s best to make the glaze when assembling the eclairs since you’ll need to reheat it to loosen it up again which won’t save you any time.
How to Store Eclairs
Filled Eclairs are best enjoyed fresh or eaten the day of assembling since they will start to soften once you pipe the cream in and add the glaze, but you can store in the refrigerator in an airtght container for up to a day.
More French Desserts and Pastries
My husband and I were able to visit France this year, and we spent a fair amount of time visiting the boulangerie (bakeries that sell bread) and pâtisseries (that sell sweet treats), where we sampled the best French pastries and baked goods. It’s such a treat to recreate our favorites that remind me of our time in Paris.
- Homemade Croissants – I finally nailed it!
- Cherry Clafoutis – breakfast or dessert
- Easy Crepes – our go-to crepes
- Fruit Tart – with the best crust
- Peach Galette – the easiest ‘pie’
- Chocolate Souffle – restaurant copycat
- Easy Almond Croissants – French bakery copycat
- Raspberry Macarons – filled with raspberry cream
Now go forth and conquer homemade eclairs!
Classic Eclair Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for Choux Pastry:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Ingredients for Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
For the Chocolate Glaze:
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, *
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
How to Make Choux Pastry
- In a Medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, 8 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat then remove from heat and stir in 1 cup flour all at once with a wooden spoon.
- One flour is incorporated, place back over medium heat about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes stirring constantly (to release extra moisture and partially cook flour), or until dough comes together into a smooth ball and a thin film forms on bottom of pan.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat using an electric hand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute to cool the mixture slightly. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate between additions. Beat until dough is smooth and forms a thick ribbon when pulled up.
- Pipe eclairs over baking sheet lined with silicone using a 1/2” round tip. Pipe 18-20 (4” long and 3/4” wide) strips, keeping them 1 1/2″ apart.
- Bake at 425˚F for 10 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temp to 325˚F and, bake 30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool while making pastry cream.
How to Make Pastry Cream:
- In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups milk, vanilla bean and scraped seeds just to a boil, stirring to prevent film from forming.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup corn starch and pinch of salt. Add 4 egg yolks and whisk until smooth, creamy and lightened in color – it takes a couple of minutes but it will get there.
- Gradually (so the eggs don’t curdle), while whisking constantly, add hot milk in a steady stream until all of it is incorporated. Pour mixture back into saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking constantly then whisk another 30 seconds until mixture is thick and pudding-like in consistency.
- Transfer pastry cream to a medium bowl (whisk in 2 tsp vanilla extract if using). Cut butter into pieces and quickly whisk into the custard until fully incorporated Cover with plastic directly over the surface of the cream, let it cool slightly then refrigerate 30 minutes or until cool.
- With a small pastry tip, poke 2-3 holes through the bottom of each cooled pastry. Pipe cream inside, scraping off excess. Refrigerate eclairs while making chocolate glaze.
How to Make Chocolate Glaze:
- Place 4 oz of chocolate chips into a small heat-safe bowl.
- Heat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (in a saucepan or microwave) until it is just at a simmer then remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Let rest 2 minutes then whisk from the center outwards until smooth sauce forms.
- Dip the top half of filled and chilled eclairs into the chocolate sauce, allowing excess to drip off.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
My mother made us chocolate eclairs starting in the 50’s as a treat. The only differences is that she used 18% cream (whipped with a little sugar and vanilla). The chocolate was made with powdered cocoa.
Sounds good too! Thanks for sharing that with us, I’m sure the recipe was delicious.
Hi Natasha! Thanks for the recipe. It looks amazing and I bet it tastes better! I have a question, for the choux pastry dough do I put the saucepan over low, medium, or high heat?
Hi Alaia, we have that written into step one and two. “One flour is incorporated, place back over medium heat about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes stirring constantly”
Absolutely perfect eclairs! Only thing was you gotta watch them in the oven because it may just be me, but I put them 10 mins at 425, but then at 325 they were completely done after 10 minutes!
Also, make sure to bake them on conventional bake mode (not convection)
I made these about a month ago and they were absolutely amazing. My whole family loved them. However, my brother recently became dairy free and his birthday is coming up and I was wondering if it would be possible to swap out the milk for a dairy free option as well as the butter with a vegan butter and still get amazing results?
Hi Nikki, I haven’t personally tested that but someone else commented and shared this “I made this dairy-free..I used almond milk and plant base butter..they turned out perfect!!” I hope this is helpful!
My eclairs did not fully puff up, so that may be an issue with the dough. However overall, they were amazing. The pastry cream was INSANE! so sweet, creamy, and velvety. i will definitely be using that recipe again.
Hi Saketh, If they come out of the oven too early, they can go flat. Also, if they are piped too wide, they can flatten.
I made these for a family gathering and everyone loved them. I thought they tasted great and recipe was so easy to follow! My only question is Can you freeze these ? Do they hold up well? Thanks!
Hi Lisa, Filled and glazed eclairs can last for up to 4 days in the fridge (maybe even longer, but the eclairs will continue to lose freshness with time). I haven’t tried this, but I read that it’s best not to freeze eclairs.
I used this recipe to bake eclairs for the very first time. I took them to a dinner party with some serious foodies and a seasoned German chef in attendance. The table fell silent as people took a bite…followed by moans of enjoyment. The chef, who always gives me constructive feedback, said he couldn’t tell me anything to improve on. He loved it!! My one problem was that I didn’t bring enough for everyone to have two. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Wow! That’s so great!! Thank you so much for sharing that wonderful review with me. I’m glad you all enjoyed it!
I made these today. I didn’t know pastry cream was so easy!!! Thank you. The video was so helpful.
Also took half the dough and made cream puffs 1/2 with vanilla and 1/2 with chocolate stabilized whipping cream. Delicious!!!! Can’t wait to try another of your wonderful deserts.
Glad you enjoyed this recipe, Honey! I hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try.
These are great! So yummy 🙂
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Next time i will add less sugar, because in my opinion it’s a little bit too sweet. Also i ended up with lumps in my cream and since i add sifted flour in the moment when egg yolks and sugar are already combined it’s always smooth.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
The zeppole look so good, I didn’t know that it’s the same recipe fir cream puffs. Although I must say my recipe does not have butter.
Thank you I will try them
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, Anna!
Good morning my eclairs did not come out like yours but I think my pan was to got and my flour was still moist. I will give it another try. With the pudding and choc. They will be great .
I hope you give it a nother go and love it!
Hands down the best eclair I’ve had. My only comment is on the 30 mins bake at 325. My eclairs were done after only few mins of the 325 bake, maybe 5 or 6mins in. I don’t think I missed anything, but any input is appreciated.
Thank you for your awesome review and suggestion, we appreciate it!
hi . How do you avoid that soft dough inside of shells after baking?
Hi Akira, I haven’t found that to be a problem. Make sure to bake long enough and also avoid piping them too wide.
These are so good! Feel so fat tho lol
Aren’t thy irresistible. I have the same issue over here! Wait until you try our newest recipe for Zeppole that we are posting Friday. Those are even more dangerous and they use the same dough – so easy!
Hi Natasha,
I love this recipe and was wondering how I could adjust it for a savory (cheese) 🙂 application without a filling.
Thanks, Julie! I haven’t tested that yet to advise but I think it’s worth experimenting with. It could be delicious! Please share with us how it goes if you do an experiment.
My 8 year old son, Jake, helped me make this. It was fun and it came out great. Thank you!
That’s a nice bonding moment with your son. I’m glad you had fun together while making this recipe!
So sad. Mine did put puff up very much, therefore not hollow. The pastry cream is good. I will still dip in chocolate and use as a dip stick into the pastry cream.
Hi Mary Jane, I would highly suggest watching the video if you haven’t already to see where your results started to change or differ from the method I shared here. Also, the eclairs will have trouble rising if they are piped too wide so be sure to stay in size parameters listed (that was an issue I ran into while working with choux pastry and had to bake longer for the rise on wider pastries). I hope that helps! I didn’t have any issues with thickening on the cream but I highly recommend checking measurements and be sure to measure dry and wet ingredients correctly since the wrong proportions can definitely affect the setting time.
Omg these turned out delicious. And perfect.
Hi Lee, I’m glad you liked it!
the ganache was way too watery! 🙁 the recipe for everything else was great
Hi Susan, it should not be too watery, could it be that the measurements were not correctly followed? I recommend checking out my video on How to Measure Ingredients.
These came out amazing!
I’ve made these so many times now! They are a family favourite! Love love love them! Thanks for the great recipe.
That is the best when the family loves what we moms make. That’s so great!