“Chouquettes” are ubiquitous afternoon snacks in France. These bite sized choux pastry puffs topped with crisp pearl sugar, can be found in virtually every bakery at any time of the day, and are handed to you by the dozen in paper bags. Chouquettes are also a fun treat to make at home. They’re easy, quick and require only staple ingredients… and they’ll disappear fast!
About Pâte à Choux
The making of Chouquettes is in essence the making of a choux pastry – known in French as “Pâte à Choux”. The soft pastry dough is then piped into little mounds on a baking sheet and topped with pearl sugar before baking, to create chouquettes. Basic ingredients for a Pâte à Choux include butter, water, flour and eggs. There is no leavening agent (ie. baking powder). Instead, it is the high moisture of the dough (made with water) that creates steam and puffs the dough while it bakes at a high temperature. As a result, choux pastry puffs are light and hollow in the center.
If you’re interested in French baking, Pâte à Choux is a great recipe to add to your repertoire. Pâte à Choux is the base dough for making classic Chouquettes, but also Classic French Profiteroles (Cream Puffs with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce), Nun’s farts, Eclairs and even savory Gougères (cheese puffs – a recipe you can find in my cookbook).
If you’ve never made a Pâte à Choux before, make sure you read the recipe twice before you start, to familiarize yourself with the process. A Pâte à Choux does have a reputation for being an advanced technique, but I assure you it is not that complex. My tip: you want to make sure you have all your equipment prepared (saucepan, bowl, wooden spoon, piping bag, etc.) and all ingredients measured out in front of you before you start. A successful Pâte à Choux is all about moving quickly and precise timing.
About Pearl Sugar
The second key component of Chouquettes is pearl sugar, which gives them both their signature crunch and white-dotted appearance. A specialty sugar popular in European baking, pearl sugar is in essence sugar nibs made from crushing blocks of white sugar. The particularity of pearl sugar is that it doesn’t melt at normal baking temperatures. This means the sugar keeps its crunch and also serves decorative purpose.
Pearl sugar is very common in French bakeries, where you find it sprinkled on Chouquettes and small brioche buns known as “brioches au sucre”. It is also well-known and used in Liege waffles, where the sugar is mixed into the waffle batter to provide a crunchy texture.
You can find pearl sugar in European grocery stores and at Ikea (for Swedish pearl sugar – smaller sugar nibs). You can also source it online on amazon or King Arthur Flour.
How to enjoy and keep Chouquettes (French Sugar Puffs)
Chouquettes are best eaten right away or within 3-4 hours of being made. I don’t recommend storing them on the counter or in the fridge for any longer, as they will soften and get “wet”.
You can however freeze them. Once cooled down to room temperature, place them in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to one month. For enjoying, let them thaw at room temperature for a few hours and re-heat them quickly (max. 5 minutes) at 350°F (180°C) so they crisp up again.
Notes:
- For shaping the mounds of choux paste onto the baking sheet, it is much easier to use a piping bag. However, you can also use a cookie scoop or 2 large spoons to form little dollops and drop them onto the sheet.
I hope you’ll love this Chouquettes (French Sugar Puffs) recipe as much as I do! If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
You may also like:
- French Bakery Beignets
- Brownies with Pecans & Fleur de Sel
- Classic French Butter Brioche
- Roasted Hazelnut Financiers
- Overnight No-knead Bread
8 comments
could you fill these with vanilla cream or pastry cream to make cream puffs?
Yes, absolutely!
I just made these gorgeous puffs! Easy and delicious. Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you!
Can i make these ahead of time? or best to serve on the day of baking? thanks.
Hi Anna. Chouquettes are best served right after baking.
I tried this recipe today for the first time. I learned an important lesson–don’t get the pearl sugar on the parchment paper. if possible, shake it off gently before you put it in the hot oven. Mine started browning and then burning right under the bun. I think I was too “generous” with my application! When the burnt part was scraped off, it tasted wonderful. Won’t do that again. I do like the precise instructions and images with the recipes though.
Thank you, Judy. I do try to make the recipes as user friendly as possible, and am glad to hear they assisted you well while baking. A good lesson indeed regarding the pearl sugar and something I hadn’t thought of mentioning.