October 24, 2023
Review RecipeCream Puff Dessert
This easy cream puff dessert uses creamy pudding and frozen whipped topping on top of a cream puff crust to create a delicious dessert that’s so simple to make, yet incredibly impressive to bring to a gathering.
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Table of Contents
An easy twist on the classic French dessert, this cream puff dessert is made with a crispy choux pastry base, a layer of creamy vanilla custard, fluffy whipped topping, and a drizzle of rich hot fudge sauce. Think of it as a cream puff cake!
Cream Puff Dessert Ingredients
The light and airy texture of the pastry combined with the smooth cream filling creates a flavor that’s simply heavenly.
As you take a bite, your taste buds will be treated to a delicate sweetness with a hint of vanilla that’s perfectly balanced.
Perhaps the best part about a cream puff is the way it melts in your mouth, leaving a subtle, creamy aftertaste that lingers long after the last bite.
You’ll need:
- ½ cup of salted butter
- 1 cup of water
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- 2 (3.4-ounce) packages of French vanilla instant pudding mix
- 2 cups of whole milk
- ½ cup of heavy cream
- 8-ounce tub of frozen Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed
- Hot fudge sauce
PRO TIP:
Make sure you are using instant pudding and not regular pudding that requires cooking on the stovetop for this recipe.
Substitutions And Additions
FRENCH VANILLA PUDDING MIX: There isn’t too much difference between French vanilla pudding and regular vanilla pudding, so you could use the regular kind for the delicious filling in this easy cream puff recipe if needed.
HOT FUDGE SAUCE: Chocolate syrup would also work to drizzle on top of this dessert.
TOPPINGS: If you wanted, you could add chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or any other small candy pieces on top of this dessert. You could also go a different route and add fresh fruit on top of this delicious dessert.
WHIPPED CREAM LAYER: You can either use store-bought or homemade whipped cream in this delicious recipe. Check out our own stabilized whipped cream recipe.
How To Make This Cream Puff Dessert Recipe
The first part of making this sweet dessert is to make the flaky pastry. Once it is baked, you’ll top it with vanilla cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce to finish off this tasty dessert.
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
STEP TWO: In a 4-quart large saucepan, heat butter, water, and salt over medium heat. When the butter has melted completely, and the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat.
STEP THREE: Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and a smooth ball forms. Allow it to cool for five minutes.
STEP FOUR: One at a time, add the eggs, beating each egg into the mixture with a wooden spoon.
OUR RECIPE DEVELOPER SAYS
The mixture will separate with the addition of each egg but then come back together to form a smooth paste-like batter.
STEP FIVE: Spread the batter into the bottom of the baking dish.
STEP SIX: Bake for 25 minutes, until puffy and golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
STEP SEVEN: While the pastry is cooling, use the wire whisk attachment on an electric mixer or stand mixer to beat together the softened cream cheese, vanilla pudding, milk, and heavy cream.
PRO TIP:
A wire whisk will help to break down the cream cheese, but it is important that the cream cheese is quite soft and at room temperature before mixing. A few lumps won’t matter to the end result.
STEP EIGHT: Spread the vanilla pudding mixture to fill the cooled pastry.
STEP NINE: Add a layer of whipped topping on top of the cream filling.
STEP TEN: Drizzle with hot fudge sauce.
How To Serve
This delicious cream puff cake recipe would be extra special, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. This would be an impressive and scrumptious dessert to whip up for company.
Another fantastic choice is fresh fruit, either sliced and arranged around your dessert or served in a fruit salad. The sweetness of the fruit will offset the richness of the cream puff, making for a refreshing finish to any meal.
For more delicious pudding dessert ideas, take a look at this creamy French silk pie. Our cream puffs are the classic version of this amazing dessert.
MORE DESSERT RECIPES
Storing This Cream Puff Dessert With Vanilla Pudding
Here are some simple tips and instructions to ensure that your cream puff dessert stays fresh and tasty for as long as possible.
MAKE AHEAD: If you’re looking to save time or plan ahead, you can definitely make this cream puff dessert in advance. Prepare the entire dessert as directed, including the filling and topping, but hold off on adding any garnishes until serving. Once assembled, cover the dessert tightly with plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container.
Keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. By making it ahead, you’ll have one less thing to worry about when hosting a gathering or enjoying a sweet treat.
IN THE FRIDGE: Cover this cream puff dessert with plastic wrap, and you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to five days. Note that the longer it sits in the fridge, the softer the crust may become.
IN THE FREEZER: You can make this puff dessert in advance and freeze it for up to one month. Thaw in the refrigerator before adding the hot fudge drizzle.
This easy cream puff dessert in a pan recipe has all the deliciously sweet flavors of homemade cream puffs but without all the hard work!
Rather than making individual cream puffs, you can bake everything in one pan in a cream puff pastry for a simple dessert that’s an easy make-ahead dessert.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I freeze this cream puff dessert?
This easy recipe is an excellent make-ahead dessert and can be frozen for up to a month.
Can I use a store-bought puff pastry instead of making the crust from scratch?
For the puffy crust, it is best to make this choux pastry from scratch. Choux pastry is slightly different than puff pastry and, therefore, will give you slightly different results.
Can I add extra toppings to this dessert?
You can make this cream puff dessert extra decadent with sweet toppings such as chocolate chips, nuts, or even fresh fruit.
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Cream Puff Dessert
This easy cream puff dessert uses creamy pudding and frozen whipped topping on top of a cream puff crust to create a delicious dessert that’s so simple to make, yet incredibly impressive to bring to a gathering.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 15
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter
- 1 cup water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 6.8 ounces French Vanilla instant pudding mix (two 3.4-ounce packages)
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
- hot fudge sauce, you can try our delicious hot fudge sauce recipe!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a 9×13 glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a 4-quart saucepan heat butter, water, and salt over medium heat. When the butter has melted completely and the mixture begins to boil, remove it from heat.
- Immediately mix flour into the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a smooth ball.
- Allow mixture to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Adding only one egg at a time, beat each egg into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. The mixture will separate with the addition of each egg but then come back together, forming a smooth paste-like batter.
- Spread batter into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges have poofed up the sides of the baking dish and the batter is golden brown. Some of the batter on the bottom of the dish may puff up also, which is fine.
- Cool completely.
- Use the wire whisk attachment on a hand or standing mixer to beat together softened cream cheese, pudding, milk, and heavy cream. A wire whisk will help to break down the cream cheese, but it is important that the cream cheese is quite soft before mixing.
- Spread the pudding mixture to fill the cooled pastry. Spread the whipped topping evenly over the pudding filling.
- Serve with hot fudge sauce drizzled over the top.
Notes
- Make sure you are using instant pudding and not regular pudding that requires cooking on the stovetop for this recipe.
- The mixture will separate with the addition of each egg but then come back together to form a smooth paste-like batter.
- A wire whisk will help to break down the cream cheese, but it is important that the cream cheese is quite soft and at room temperature before mixing. A few lumps won’t matter to the end result.
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 271mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 645IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 1mg
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Comments
Gloria says
My husband could eat this entire pan! Definitely a keeper!
JOANN LABRADA says
LOOK GREAT
Laurie says
Instead of French Vanilla pudding, can you use a different type of flavor of pudding?
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Laurie – you could use regular vanilla if you prefer. Enjoy!
Jeanna says
Can this Cream Puff Dessert be made the day before I plan to serve it and kept refrigerated?
Layne Kangas says
Yes, enjoy!
Marlys Dotseth says
I made this and served this cream puff dessert for church fellowship. This dessert was fabulous 👌 everyone loved it . It was a big hit:):).
Jo Ella MacKool says
I made this and my husband said it was the best thing I’ve ever made! I personally made my own whip cream and I think that made it even better
Lisa A Stebbins says
Definitely will make and use extra chocolate, yum!
Anna says
I would you heavy cream for the whip cream, I think is so much better. Love the idea of the cake instead of single servings.
Lyndi says
I’ve never made a homemade puff pastry before, but I think I’m going to have to try this one!!
Dolores Oviedo says
I have made lots of cream puffs in my life. They are the best and easiest delicious dessert imaginable. They seem to disappear before you know it!!! Everyone loves them!!! Especially when you drizzle lots of melted chocolate on top!!! Enjoy!!!
Caroline says
The best every!
Rick Salzsauler says
I have never made a cream puff dessert.
Janice says
I have never made a cream puff dessert before, but I think pistachio pudding would make a great filling with home made whipped cream!
Jeci Joy says
I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING!!! 😋
Denise says
Extra chocolate drizzled on top
Lorraine Imhoff says
Definition delicious 😋
Susan ruch says
My mother would make cream puffs for special occasions. It was a delicate and time consuming job. This recipe looks so much simpler. I’m sending her this recipe.
Stephanie says
I’ve not made before, but sounds yummy
Mary Nichols says
I have made this many times. It’s so delicious and I always put extra chocolate sauce on it
Pauline Gudas says
OMG This looks delicious. I have never made puff pastry nor this recipe. Guess I am off to the store to get whipping cream and pudding.
Suzanne Needle says
I would use store bought whipped cream just because it’s easier!
Erin says
So good! I would also add some caramel or butterscotch drizzle!
Belinda Snyder says
One of my favorite desserts! Have to have the chocolate drizzle!
Dorie says
This recipe sounds delicious. I would definitely use vanilla pudding and the ready made whip cream. I would not use the chocolate drizzle, but maybe experiment with a caramel drizzle.
Jean says
never made one before
Jane Hoschar says
Looks delicious!! Can’t wait to try it!! I love your recipes!! They always inspire me to try something new!
Kiera pollard says
I love cream puffs but never made my own. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’m adding it to my list to make!
Gina says
Looks so good and I would definitely use chocolate on top!
Leigh says
I’ve never made cream puffs but would love to try this recipe!
Dawn says
I have never made any cream puff recipe before.
Joel Cannaday says
I’ve never made a cream puff dessert before, but it looks delicious.
hlfrock says
I have never made my own cream puff but this recipe looks east enough! Thank you
Lori Pennington says
I have never made the cream puff dessert but there are a lot of your recipes I haven’t tried but I am definitely gonna try…..
Jaci D. says
I can’t wait to try the Cream Puff Dessert. I will let you know how it goes!!😋
Melissa says
This looks amazing! My husband loves cream puffs so I can’t imagine he would not like this! I would definitely add extra chocolate drizzle on it because who doesn’t love a little extra chocolate? Also I would definitely make my own whipping cream homemade is always the best! I can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Cheryl Redd says
The recipe sounds very easy to make and sounds very delicious
Holly Stevens says
I have never made a pastry dessert and this looks like something worth trying
Mary Manning says
Looks Delicious i would add extra chocolate drizzle on top.
Michele Holmes says
My husband loves cream puffs so I definitely have to try this recipe. I’ll use sugar-free pudding and Lite Cool Whip since he’s a diabetic.
Gail Gehly says
I have never made cream puffs before but this sounds so good and I will try it.
Steve Cappiello says
I would use ready made whipped cream for this recipe.
Judy says
This looks so yummy! I love to cook but I have never made anything like it before! So anxious to try it along with the hot fudge sauce!
Malala says
This looks yummy. I would put butterscotch toppings on the dessert.
stella says
I would love to make this recipe I have never made cream puffs.
Robert Eberling says
Thank you, I am learning a lot about
cooking from you. I have never made
a cream puff dessert before, probably
because I never found a recipe that I
thought i would use. I might try this
recipe, but only after I have learned
how to make a decent pie crust.
Kathy Belt says
Vanilla pudding puff with chocolate drizzle on top
Linda says
This is a wonderfully delicious dessert! Your guests will think you bought them from the bakery!
Brenda Widger says
This looks delicious!! I have not made anything with puff pastry but I’m going to try this with the fudge sauce. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Cassandra Cranmer says
The recipe sounds delicious. I would use vanilla pudding if I made this recipe at home.
Sayedeh Sonia Alemi says
I would like to use a vanilla flavor pudding in this recipe 😋😍😊🙂☺😋
Thank you 😊so much
Sherrijo capodiferro says
I make this dessert often with chocolate pudding mix and after topping it with homemade whipped cream, I sprinkle on crushed oreo cookies.
Lynda Coffey says
I have never made a cream puff dessert before.
I look forward to it!
Sam says
The last time I made cream puffs, I left them out unattended a little too long and my dog ate the entire batch. I love this twist and look forward to trying it.. and not sharing it with my pup
Jamie Klopp says
Recipe is perfect, yummy! I always make whipped cream for my desserts with heavy cream and I would use it for this recipe also. Thanks!!
Barbara Barnwell says
I like butterscotch pudding and would use butterscotch chips.
Greg Cecere says
I have never mad this kind of dessert before, but the simple instructions make me want to try it very soon. I would add maraschino cherries on top after the chocolate sauce.
Nancy Dean says
Going to make this. Looks delicious. My question is…should the hot fudge be warm? Wondering how that would work on top of the whipped cream.
Thank you!
Nancy
Rachel says
For the pudding – do you just add the mix in with other ingredients? Or do you follow the box directions & make the instant pudding?
Thanks!
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Rachel – you’ll use the pudding mix in the recipe as shown, not following the box directions. Enjoy!
Chris says
Excellent directions and supporting pictures! Your presentation style makes preparing the recipe an easy and stress free journey! Wonderful dessert! Thanks for sharing!
Mary Bannon says
Just Wonderful! My go-to dessert especially when we have guest and serving a lovely dinner. Makes a beautiful presentation. Thank you for sharing this recipe.