Cream Puffs
Crisp, golden choux puffs filled with vanilla mascarpone cream and topped with a little chocolate glaze. A keto take on the bakery classic, with about 2.5 g net carbs per puff.
Nutrition per serving
1 cream puff- Net carbs
- 2.4g
- Calories
- 222kcal
- Protein
- 4.1g
- Fat
- 22g
- Total carbs
- 8.4 g
- Fiber
- 2.3 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient (optional ingredients excluded). Brands vary — check your labels if you track closely.
Ingredients
Chocolate cream filling: Cocoa whipped into the mascarpone cream makes a chocolate mousse-like filling — double chocolate with the glaze on top.
- Beat the cocoa and extra sweetener into the mascarpone before adding the cream, then whip as usual.
Strawberries & cream: Finely diced fresh strawberries folded into the vanilla cream, like a strawberry shortcake in a puff. Skip the chocolate glaze or keep it — both work.
- Pat the diced strawberries dry and fold them into the whipped filling just before filling the puffs, so the cream does not turn watery.
- Choux pastry
- Vanilla cream filling
- Chocolate glaze
- Choux pastry
- Vanilla cream filling
- Chocolate glaze
- Also add
- Choux pastry
- Vanilla cream filling
- Chocolate glaze
- Also add
Estimated cost $10.19 for 12 servings ($0.85 each) · how we estimate
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour and xanthan gum together.
-
Bring the water, butter and salt to a full, rolling boil in a saucepan. Turn the heat to low, add the flour mixture all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon for 1–2 minutes, until the paste forms a smooth ball that pulls away from the sides and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan.
-
Transfer the paste to a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes, until warm but not hot. Beat in the eggs a little at a time with a hand mixer, beating well after each addition, until the paste is smooth and glossy and falls from the beaters in a thick V-shaped ribbon. You may not need the last tablespoon of egg.
-
Pipe or spoon 12 mounds about 1½ inches (4 cm) across onto the sheet, 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Smooth any peaks with a damp fingertip.
-
Bake 15 minutes, then lower the oven to 350°F (175°C) without opening the door and bake 15–20 minutes more, until puffed, deep golden and dry to the touch. Turn off the oven, poke a small hole in the side of each puff with a skewer to let the steam out, and leave them in the oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
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For the filling, beat the cold mascarpone, powdered erythritol and vanilla briefly until smooth. Add the cold cream and whip for 1–2 minutes, to firm peaks.
-
Slice the top third off each puff (or pipe the cream in through the steam hole) and fill generously with the cream.
-
Melt the chocolate chips with the 2 tablespoons of cream in 20-second microwave bursts, stirring until smooth. Spoon a little over each puff and chill 15 minutes to set.
Tips for success
-
Keto choux puffs a little less than wheat pastry and has a more tender, eggy interior, but it still bakes into crisp, partly hollow shells that hold plenty of cream. Do not open the oven during the first 20 minutes, or the puffs will deflate. - Underbaked puffs collapse as they cool: they should be deep golden and feel light and dry. Soft shells can be re-crisped at 350°F (175°C) for 5 minutes before filling.
- For éclairs, pipe 4-inch (10 cm) logs instead of mounds (about 8), bake 5 minutes longer and fill them through two small holes in the bottom.
Nice to have, not needed
- A piping bag with a plain round tip gives the neatest puffs — a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off works.
- A hand mixer makes beating in the eggs easy; a wooden spoon and some elbow grease work too.
Storage & meal prepMeal-prep friendly
- Keeps 1 day in the fridge
- Freezes up to 1 month
Reheat: Serve chilled; re-crisp unfilled shells at 350°F (175°C) for 5 minutes before filling.
Prep tip: Bake and freeze the empty shells, then re-crisp and fill them on the day — filled puffs soften within a few hours.
Unfilled shells keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or frozen for 1 month. Filled puffs are best within 4 hours; refrigerate leftovers up to 1 day.
Variations
2 variations, each with its own ingredients and macrosChocolate cream filling
FlavorCocoa whipped into the mascarpone cream makes a chocolate mousse-like filling — double chocolate with the glaze on top.
- + ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- + 2 tbsp extra powdered erythritol
2.8 g net · 227 kcal · 4.5 g protein · 22 g fat · ≈$0.91 per serving (+0.4 g net carbs vs the original)
Strawberries & cream
FlavorFinely diced fresh strawberries folded into the vanilla cream, like a strawberry shortcake in a puff. Skip the chocolate glaze or keep it — both work.
- + 1 cup strawberries
3.1 g net · 226 kcal · 4.2 g protein · 22 g fat · ≈$0.94 per serving (+0.7 g net carbs vs the original)
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