Pumpkin Cream Puffs
Delicate, airy choux pastry shells filled with a light, spiced pumpkin mascarpone cream and dusted with powdered sugar. An elegant fall dessert that looks like a patisserie window but comes together in your own kitchen — the showpiece for your Thanksgiving table.
Prep
50 min
Cook
35 min
Total
85 min
Serves
15
Ingredients
Choux pastry
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
Spiced pumpkin cream
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese, cold
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Garnish
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar, for dusting
Method
- 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment. Bring the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil in a saucepan, making sure the butter fully melts. Off the heat, add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until it forms a smooth ball that pulls from the sides.
- 2
Return to medium-low heat and cook 2–3 minutes, stirring, until a thin film forms on the pan bottom — this dries the dough for hollow puffs. Transfer to a mixer and beat on low 2–3 minutes to cool slightly, then add the beaten eggs a little at a time, fully incorporating between additions, until the dough is smooth, glossy and forms a "V" off the paddle. Pipe 1.5-inch mounds 2 inches apart with a large round tip and smooth any peaks with a wet fingertip.
- 3
Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, then — without opening the door — reduce to 350°F (175°C) and bake 20–25 minutes more, until deep golden, firm and hollow-sounding. Turn off the oven, prop the door ajar with a wooden spoon and dry the shells 10 minutes, then poke a small hole in each bottom to release steam and cool completely on a rack. For the filling, whip the cold cream to stiff peaks and refrigerate. Beat the mascarpone, pumpkin puree, powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla until smooth, then gently fold in the whipped cream in three additions. Chill the filling 30–60 minutes, then pipe it into the hole in each shell until heavy and full. Dust generously with powdered sugar just before serving.
Tips
- Drying the dough on the stove and again in the cooling oven is what gives you hollow, crisp shells instead of dense ones.
- Make the shells and filling ahead separately, but fill only just before serving — filled too early, the shells soften.
- Don't open the oven during the first bake; the sudden temperature drop deflates the puffs.
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