Makes: About 3 dozen
Time: About 45 minutes
A favorite snack in France, these tidbits are placed near the register at bakeries since they’re so irresistible. They use the same dough as Cream Puffs, but instead of being filled, they’re coated with pearl sugar for a nice crunch. If you can’t find that, use the coarsest sugar you can find, like turbinado, or crushed sugar cubes. See the list that follows for more unorthodox alternatives.
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease 2 baking sheets with butter or line them with parchment paper.
2. Scrape the cream puff pastry dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip or a freezer bag with the corner snipped off or use 2 spoons to scoop the batter into mounds about 1 inch wide, a little taller than 1 inch, about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. At this point you can freeze the sheets until the puffs have firmed up, then put them in a zipper bag and freeze for no longer than a week.
3. Sprinkle each puff with about a teaspoon of the sugar, enough to completely cover it, and gently press it so that it sticks. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re nicely puffed up and golden. Cool on a rack and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
5 Other Coatings for Puffs