Cream Puffs have always been a super special treat for me. That started when I was a little girl and my Mom and I would go shopping and stop at a bakery/lunch counter type of store. Recently, I was visiting her and I asked her if she remembered our special shopping treat and at 94 years old, she immediately said yes. She has a very selective memory these days and I was pleasantly surprised she remembered. She just lives 5 miles from me in a nursing home, I came home and made these Banana Cream Puffs.

When I walked into her room, she couldn’t wait to taste it. I take her treats all the time, but this one was the best, according to her. I plan to make Cream Puffs again, it’s going to be what I’ll make for her on Mother’s Day!

My instructions look like these might be hard to make….but they really aren’t. I have been quite detailed to insure success. I usually make the puffs ahead of time, the day before you want to use them is fine. They will even freeze fine, after baking. I always make the whole recipe for the puffs and freeze the extras. It’s really nice to know you have them in the freezer to pull out at a moments notice, make a filling or fill with ice cream and smother with hot fudge. The Choux Paste is a very basic recipe and you can even fill with almost anything. Just one note…. leave out the sugar if you want to fill them with something savory, like chicken salad.

If you like banana pudding, you will love this recipe. At the same time, if you don’t care for bananas, it’s easy to leave the bananas out and and enjoy the best traditional Cream Puffs ever…I promise!!! Remember that the bananas will turn dark very quickly, so I like to refrigerate the filling ahead of time without the bananas then quickly fill the puffs.

Ingredients

For the Choux Paste (Puffs)
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
4 large eggs at room temperature

For the filling
2 cups half and half
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
5 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pint heavy cream slightly sweetened
½ banana per puff hold off until puffs are ready to be served if not using all the puffs at once
Confectioners sugar to sift on top

Instructions

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