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
Hi!
I have extra pastry cream. What else can I use it for?
Hi Terry, cream puffs are a great way to use pastry cream. You could also use it for a crepe cake or filling for baked donuts
Awesome recipe! Turned the cream blue with some natural food coloring and used them for a pregnancy/gender reveal to my coworkers. Came out beautifully.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Dana!
Awesome! I have been looking for an Eclair and pastry filling recipe for EVERY! Thanks so much! Cant wait to try it.
That’s so great! I hope you love this recipe!
This is so great that the eclair is baked. I have a recipe for the creme that the Amish use in their cream sticks and I thought I would try that. So excited and you make it seem so easy, thanks
I hope you love and try this recipe soon, Linda!
Delicious recipe! Everything came out great!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
My 12 yo daughter made these and they were spot on!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you Stacy!
i want to know if I can use non-dairy milk in the choux recipe. Like rice milk or almond milk or something like coffee rich. I cannot use regular milk. what about margarine? No coconut please. thanks
Hi Sarah, I honestly haven’t experimented with dairy-free substitutes. If anyone else has tried, please let us know and thanks in advance.
You can just use all water in the Choux instead of milk and water.
Thank you so much.
In fact, most recipes for choux that I’ve seen call for all water instead of milk.
I would like to ask what amount( ml or oz) is the cup or how much milk and water you are using in ml!
Thank you!
Hi Delyana, If you click “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post it will take you to our printable recipe where you have the option to view the ingredients in US Customary or Metric measurements. I hope that helps.
Hi, Natasha! What kind of chocolate did you use? Couverture or any chocolate will do?
Thank you! 🙏
Hi Hazel, they were semisweet chocolate chips like these.
Can these be made ahead of time? Like the day before an event? If so, how to store them for that day?
Great question, Vicky! You can make the shells in advance and store in an air tight containers. Ours haven’t lasted long enough to try that but our readers have tried freezing them. I imagine a couple days is fine in the fridge.
Hi Sarah I made these dairy free..I used almond milk and plant base butter..they turned out perfect!!
Thank you for sharing that with us Figen!
I love this recipe so much!. Eclair
Is my favorite desert, but I never made it for myself. After reading a lot of recipes about eclair, I decided to follow this!They came out fantastic! Everyone at home love it! The pastry Cream taste better that anyone that I tried before. The Choux Pastry was delicious. I will definitely made them again! Thank you for sharing your recipe and the fabulous video. I love how you was showing the texture of the pastry and cream steps by steps! Thanks again!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Elaine!
Hi Natasha,
My son asked me for Eclairs and I tried your recipe today. Everything was great except the dough became golden brown pretty quickly so I took them out of the oven too early. They eventually collapsed. Also, it felt that the 1/2 tip was too small for piping them the right width. What did I do wrong? Thanks.
Hi there Rana, it definitely sounds like it could be related to oven temperature issues. I have tested these at 325 and even at 350 and they did not burn. Also, make sure you are not using a convection setting which will bake faster (you would need to reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees normally if using convection and I haven’t tested these in convection to say if any other modifications need to be made or if they would rise properly). I hope that helps! You might try an in-oven thermometer to see if your oven is putting out too much heat.
Thank You Natasha 🙂
I love this recipe .Made them twice already.
That’s so awesome, Mariana! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
What a perfect eclair! I can find no flaw and I’ve tried many. Thank you so much for sharing it.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Nicole!
Absolutely delish!! Made them and they turned out perfect! I made both chocolate and salted caramel and they were all everybody could talk about at the party. I used to make these when I was 12 and they didn’t turn out as yummy 🙂 thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Ej!
Hey Natasha, I’m wondering if I can make these ahead. I mean bake the shells, fill it with the cream and dip it into the chocolate and freeze it for the next day?
Thank you!
Hi Atiya! Ours haven’t lasted long enough to try that but our readers have tried freezing them. I imagine a couple days is fine in the fridge. I haven’t tried this but I read that it’s best not to freeze eclairs. If you refrigerate the shell, it won’t be as crisp but will still taste good.
Hey Natasha, I made these and they weren’t even close to yours. The shells did not rise. They were thin and kind of soft. I love your recipes and I was dying to try these! I’m wondering why they didn’t rise. Also it’s my first time making choux pastry.
Hi Atiqa, 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.
HI Natasha! I Made these today and they did not work out very well for me. They did not puff up for me and the pastry cream is taking forever to thicken. Any tips on how I could do this any better? Thanks!
Hi Sierra, 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.
Amazing! I’m so impressed by this recipe! The taste is OMGEEEEE de-li-ci-ous! Some of mine didn’t rise properly, but I think it’s because i made them a bit longer (5-6 inches).. So if you’re reading this, don’t be greedy like me and try to make big ones lol! The 4 inch ones were perfection! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe Erica! Thank you for sharing your awesome review with us!
Hi Natasha, is it possible to make the filling chocolate flavored? If so what should I add?
Hi Raeesha, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work to melt chocolate in. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I have two questions.
1. Can you make everything the night prior and assemble the following day?
2. I didn’t see the butter on the recipie for the cream. I’m going to watch the video again and see if I missed it.
Oh brother, lol I see where the butter is.
Still would assembling next day work? I’m thinking pastry either on fridge or air tight container. I didn’t know if the cream or chocolate would firm up too much to assemble the following day. I need them for a birthday that evening.
Hi Mic! You can make the shells in advance and store in an air tight containers. Ours haven’t lasted long enough to try that but our readers have tried freezing them. I imagine a couple days is fine in the fridge.
Hi Natasha, I haven’t made this but will very soon! I am planning to make this for a Charity event. The event is early Sunday morning and I surely won’t have enough time to make it and get it ready on Sunday morning itself.
I plan to make the vanilla cream on Thursday. Bake Choux on Friday. Cool it, make holes beneath then fridge it. On Saturday evening, fill up the Choux as well as chocolate dip it and back in the fridge it goes.
I cannot leave them in room temperature as I live in Singapore and it’s hot and humid here.
The best eclairs I’ve tasted was frozen ones. Believe it or not so I’m hoping if I fridge your recipe, it will taste as good, if not better, than the frozen ones I’ve had best.
Please advise soon! I can’t wait to make this! Charity is not till first Sunday in June but I want to test drive a small batch first.
Hi Aisah, I think it should work well the way you are describing. If you refrigerate the shell, it won’t be as crisp but will still taste good. I hope you love the Eclair recipe!
Hi Natasha!!! Thank you so much for your response.
I made a test run today. Halved the recipe and oh my goodness!!!!! The cream and Choux pastry tasted so so delicious and wonderful! We all loved it!!!
I did face some issues though. I made the cream first and fridged it for around 4 hours before I tried inserting the cream into the puffs.
Once I’ve made the cream, I covered it with cling wrap all the way that it is in contact with the cream. Let it cool on the counter for about 15 minutes, then fridged it.
When I took it out about 4 hours later, I tried whipping/mixing it again but it won’t mix. It became this jello like consistency. So being the amateur that I am in baking, I went ahead and put it in the piping bag and it won’t squeeze out of the bag (could also partly be my very small hole piping nozzle, see below).
Should I take the cream out of the fridge in advance to let it come to room temperature prior to whipping it?
Second issue I have is the piping nozzle. I don’t have the 2 inch for the Choux, so I just cut the tip of the nozzle and it all came out not uniformed :p
I also think my piping nozzle for the cream is too small. I need to get the right ones.
I want to get mine as pretty as yours, so it’ll sell out for the good cause. Not just good tasting.
Please advise on the cream and whipping it after being fridged.
I’d like to give it another test run once I have the proper magic wands aka piping nozzles 😀
Have a great start of the week Natasha!!!
Hi Aisah, with a piping tip that is very small, it is difficult to pipe a thick custard. That might have been the culprit but it should have been easy to stir and not jello in consistency. If you cut down the recipe for the filling in half also, it would have needed some modifications in cook time. I wonder if it was over cooked which could cause it to thicken too much.
That is a great observation Natasha! I’d like to do another test run once I’ve got my proper piping nozzles.
This is so exciting and nerve-wrecking all at once.
Thank you for this recipe and being by my side Natasha.
Till next time, have a joyful day!
You’re so welcome Aisah!
I’m about to make these for an Easter gathering. Question: why not poke the holes and fill from the top since the chocolate on top would then cover the holes?
Hi Nyoka, that is the traditional way and poking holes on top would be a little messier – you have to really make sure to clean off the tops before applying the chocolate glaze.
what would cause some eclairs’ bottom to raise off the baking sheet and the eclair to be slightly arched.
Hi Susan, it could possibly be due to uneven piping or making them too slender or too thick. Also, be sure to bake in the center of your oven so they bake up evenly. I hope that helps!