Vegan choux pastry recipes are almost non-existent! Once we found out about how Just Egg‘s new formula is more suitable in baking recipes, we experimented with using it to make vegan cream puffs. This was our first time ever having cream puffs as vegans! We use this base recipe for making vegan eclairs, vegan Saint Honoré, vegan red velvet croquembouche, vegan Paris-Brest, and even savory vegan gougères (cheese puffs) as well. This is a small batch recipe, so feel free to double the recipe.
Once the dough is baked, the puffs are hollow inside for easy filling! You can use this recipe with our vegan pastry cream recipe or vegan chocolate pastry cream recipe.
Sep 2022 Update: When we started creating these recipes, Just Egg was on version 2 of its formula, and they are currently on version 4. You can see “V4” on the bottle near the best-by date. The past few times making the vegan elcairs, they have been deflating and coming out very greasy, which might be due to the formula change. So I experimented making some new changes to the recipe to get it working again. I haven’t made the cream puffs in a while, but I assume they could benefit from the updated recipe as well. These changes will also probably apply to all our choux-based recipes, it will just take some time to edit each recipe.
If you try this recipe, leave us a comment below to let us know how it goes. We would love to hear from you!
Vegan Cream Puffs (Choux Pastry)
Equipment
- rubber spatula
- saucepan
- mixing bowl
- piping bag
- half sheet baking tray
- parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- small sharp knife
Ingredients
- ¼ cup water (60g)
- ¼ cup unsweetened soy milk (60g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ tbsp sugar (6g)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter (28g)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (65g)
- ½ cup Just Egg (125g)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk (30g) (to mix with the Just Egg)
Instructions
- Prepare your filling. If using our pastry cream recipe, prepare it first and place it in a piping bag in the refrigerator.
- Prepare and gather the ingredients for the choux pastry. Using the second listed amount of soy milk, mix it together with the Just Egg. Set aside for later.
- Combine the water, soy milk, sugar, vanilla extract (if using), and butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Mix it with a rubber spatula until the butter dissolves and then leave it for a few minutes until it starts to simmer.
- Once the liquid ingredients begin to simmer, carefully add in all the flour. Turn the heat to low. Continue to mix until the flour is incorporated and no white flour spots remain. The mix will thicken into a dough and almost form a ball. It should come off the sides of the pan easily. This shouldn’t take more than about 3 minutes.
- Scoop the dough out of the pan and into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Avoid using a plastic bowl as the dough will be hot. Smash the dough down and flatten it to help release the heat. Leave it to cool for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can mix the dough over some ice or some ice packs to help it cool more quickly. You can also mix the dough for a few minutes in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Once your dough is just barely warm or room temperature, add in the Just Egg mixture a few tablespoons at a time. The amount is up to you. We’re just trying to avoid mixing a ball of dough sitting in egg soup—that would be more difficult to mix! Mix it with the rubber spatula and allow it to fully incorporate in between each addition. The final consistency should just barely run off the spatula and look pipe-able. Add more soy milk a tablespoon at a time if your mixture is still too thick.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F.
- Line a half sheet tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Scoop the choux mixture into a piping bag with a 1/2 inch opening or smooth tip.
- Pipe small mounds of batter, about 1 inch wide, by keeping the tip close to the parchment paper. If you make them 1 inch wide, they puff out to a little less than 1.5 inches after baking. This method gets you about 30 small cream puffs. If you would like bigger ones, pipe bigger mounds, you will just end up with fewer puffs. You can wet the tip of your finger and gently flatten the little tips that will form when you pipe the choux puffs.NOTE: Unlike traditional non-vegan choux, these do not puff as much.
- Place the baking tray into the middle rack of the oven. Allow the puffs to bake until evenly golden brown. It could take from 40-45 minutes. Do not open the oven door while they are baking! This will lower the temperature of the oven and could interrupt the production of the steam inside the puffs that they need to… puff. You can check on their color in the final few minutes of baking.
- Once the puffs are golden brown, turn off the oven and leave the oven door open a crack for 10 minutes to allow the inside of the puffs to continue to dry out while also cooling down.
- Remove the baking tray from the oven. The puffs will still be warm. Poke a hole in the bottom of each puff with a small sharp knife. Rotate the tip of the blade when you insert it to make the hole. This allows the remaining steam to escape and helps to prevent them from deflating. NOTE: Bake for closer to 45 for a more hollow center and crispier outside.
- If you are filling your puffs with pastry cream, use a piping bag with a small tip. Insert the tip into the hole on the bottom of each puff. You will feel the cream push back a bit when you’ve filled each hole with enough of the pastry cream. Wipe off any excess cream from the hole. Repeat on each puff.
- Feel free to top your puffs with some powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, or caramel.
Wow! These came out delicious! I would definitely make these again. I can’t believe how hollow the centers got! I filled mine with store bought coco whip which worked like a charm and we devoured them all within a day. Really well written instructions, which I really appreciate! The one thing I had trouble with was incorporating the just egg mixture-i think because I put my dough in the refrigerator in my impatience for it to cool (so probably my own fault). Thanks for the recipe! So exciting to eat cream puffs again.
Really glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I’m kind of shocked it worked, but hey, here I am with my platter of choux.
I always thought choux were like soufflés, stuff you cannot veganize no matter how hard you try.
(Hm. You wouldn’t happen to want to try soufflés, would you ?)
I adapted the recipe to what I found which was Easy Egg (I’m in France, and there are actually more recipes for vegan choux in english than in french…)
I took their “cooking mix” (for scrambled eggs and such, they also have a “baking mix” but it’s basically just starch and leavening so I figured it wouldn’t work for this recipe since we need protein for it to lift), so the end result is savory, but the main ingredient in Easy Egg (and the reason it works, i figure, since aquafaba and stuff) is chickpea flour, so I think I might substitute that (and maybe some starch, and yogurt or soy milk to mix it in ?) for it to make a sweet version.
Anyways I’m rambling, sorry, main fact is, it worked ! So, many thanks.
Oh also I added some gluten to the flour, since some people say bread flour works better since it’s richer in gluten, but I couldn’t find any. Not sure how much of a role it played in the end result, though.
So happy that you were able to adapt our recipe with the ingredients you could get in France! That’s true baking skill!
We don’t have a soufflé recipe, but that’s a great idea! Adding it to our list of recipe ideas.
Did you use the liquid Just Egg or is this interchangeable with their powdered egg too?
Hi Jessica! We use the liquid Just Egg product here: https://www.ju.st/products/just-egg We aren’t aware of a powdered vegan egg product made by that company.
I followed the instructions exactly and ended up with a batter that was much thinner than what’s pictured. The puffs did not rise at all when baked; they came out like flat discs. Any suggestions? I feel that diluting the Just Egg with water made the batter too thin.
Hi Donna, the recipe calls for mixing the just egg with soy milk, not water. I hope that helps.
I made these and they came out amazing and perfect. Thank you so much for creating these recipes! I’ve been a vegan for 22 years and had just accepted that certain kinds of baking were out of reach for me. These recipes are a game changer!
That’s great! So happy it worked out for you!
Perfect! I’ve been looking for a cream puffs recipe (that works loll) for so long! Thanks!!
🙂 Thank you!
How far ahead of my party can I make the shells and how should I store them until ready to use? Thank you.
Hi Lori! They’re best eaten fresh, but they should be fine if you make the puffs the day before your party and then fill them the day of the party.
Just tried these after a failed attempt with another recipe.
They turned out brilliant. I followed the recipe to the letter.
Many thanks guys!
Before going vegan cream puffs were my absolute favorite dessert, and I’ve never been able to find a vegan version out in the world. I had tried one other choux pastry recipe in the past that was very complex and didn’t turn out well so it’s been a long 9 years without my beloved cream puffs. I just tried this recipe today and was blown away with the results! Me and my kids promptly devoured half the batch once they were cooled and assembled. Thank you so much for this recipe, it was very straightforward and easy! Now I can get my cream puff fix whenever I want (;
Is there an alternative for the just egg? We live in Germany and I have not found a similar product. Could I maybe try flaxseed gel or aquafaba?
Hi Sierra! We have not found an alternative to Just Egg in this recipe. Unfortunately, aquafaba and flax eggs will not produce the same results. You might have luck trying some of the newer egg replacers that have been coming to the market in the past couple years.
But how many eggs are we replacing?
Hi is there any possibilities I can replace just egg because I cant have it here thanks
Followed to a T. Couldn’t even get the butter/water then add flour mixture to even ball. It was so runny and basically a paste. Which I thought was weird. I thought, let me add more some bits of flour and I ended up adding another 1/2 c of flour and still did not ball up. I have tried so many vegan choux recipes and can never get it right. I actually own a creampuff bakery and cannot tell you how many customers beg me to make vegan choux pastry and have not been able to successfully make it. I’ve tried Just multiple times, aquafaba, powdered egg mixture (few different brands) and I feel so defeated! 🙁
I’m a beginner to baking but I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect!! Looked exactly like the photos. So delicious!
I used v4 JustEgg and Chobani extra creamy oat milk instead of soy, and I had to add ~4 tablespoons of milk at the end to get the batter the right consistency. I also swapped the vanilla extract with maple for a fall flavor.
Hm. 200 degrees Celsius is correct as far as I know. So why are my tiny balls burnt 16 minutes early? At least they puffed up. But I use the egg replacer we have in Norway and 125g goes a long long looooong way. It’s not suited. What can one use in stead of Just Egg?
I have the same problem. Any solutions? Baking at 350F doesn’t give the shells a crunchy exterior. Just very soggy.
Tried this several times. Most of the time, they were flat, but they came out pretty well once. Played with it three times in one night, and the first two were flat. Then I realized I hadn’t added the milk to the Just Egg the time they came out, so I tried that. Much better. A week later, made these again without the added milk, Once again, success. So I recommend omitting the milk that is added to the Just Egg. I use almond milk rather than soy, so I don’t know if that was the reason for the fail with the added milk. But it works great now.
I’m so glad I found you and can’t wait to give this recipe a try! I’ve been wanting to make a croquembouche forever and I’m gonna treat myself to one for my birthday.
I’ve noticed your update on the Just Egg; are the measurements provided accurate or should I use more/less based on the new formula?
Also, do you have a YouTube channel or video blog or something so I can see your lovely face while we bake together?
These turned out great! I omitted the milk from the v4 Just Egg as another commenter suggested, and they puffed up beautifully. I used a small cookie scoop instead of piping and it yielded 19 puffs. Bottoms were a little too brown so I would try reducing time to a bit under 40 minutes if your oven runs hot. Thank you for the recipe!
I don’t eat eggs, but I do drink milk. Can you use milk and butter and just avoid the egg?
Turned out amazing, my vegan family loved them
Hi, as you put it in the first part of your text, vegan choux is almost non existent, so I’m really interested and exccited to try this out, but in my country there’s no Just egg, is there a way to replace just that?