Nun’s Puffs

Nun's Puffs-1-9When I was an engaged young woman, I knew that I would soon be cooking for my own family. I bought myself a thick hard cover notebook and spent many hours browsing through my Mom’s hand written recipes, rewriting them into my own notebook. I felt so happy with anticipation and also proud to think that soon I would be a homemaker myself.
The very first cookbook that I bought for myself was a bridal edition New Cook Book of Better Home and Gardens. I found it on one of my many trips to Barnes and Noble. I was looking for a good comprehensive book with all kinds of basic recipes, starting from pancakes, and covering all the bases-  salads, sides, entrees, desserts, etc. I also really appreciated all the tips in the book too.
I vividly remember my first few months as a married woman. I loved planning my menu, getting dinner cooked and then waiting eagerly for my wonderful husband to come home from work. I even made sure to put on a cute outfit, do my makeup and fix my hair:). There was something so special about that time.
One day, as I was looking for a new dessert to try, I stumbled upon a recipe for Nun’s Puffs. The name itself was intriguing enough, and I loved how simple it was to prepare with only 4 ingredients. I’ve been making Nun’s Puffs ever since. If you open my cookbook, it will automatically open to that recipe, because the binding is permanently creased there. That’s how much I love this recipe. It is basically a pate choux dough, (the same one used for cream puffs and eclairs) except it’s made with milk instead of water. The texture really reminds me of a popover or a Dutch baby pancake, crisp on the outside and the inside tastes like a crepe. 

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 cup milk

3/4 cup flour
4 eggs
sugar, for sprinkling the puffs
honey, optional
Instructions:
Nun's Puffs-1Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a regular size muffin pan with oil, on the inside and on the rim.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the milk and bring to a low boil. Nun's Puffs-1-2Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, keeping the saucepan on low heat, until the dough comes together in a ball that stays together. Nun's Puffs-1-3Cool for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, using a wooden spoon, until each egg is evenly mixed in. Nun's Puffs-1-4At first, the dough will separate into chunks, but then will become smooth. Nun's Puffs-1-5
Nun's Puffs-1-6Divide the dough evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each puff with sugar. Nun's Puffs-1-7Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until puffy and golden brown. Nun's Puffs-1-8Serve with a drizzle of honey. Nun's Puffs-1-10
Nun's Puffs
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Sweets
Serves: 12 puffs
Ingredients
  • 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup flour
  • 4 eggs
  • sugar, for sprinkling the puffs
  • honey, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a regular size muffin pan with oil, on the inside and on the rim.
  2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the milk and bring to a low boil.
  3. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, keeping the saucepan on low heat, until the dough comes together in a ball that stays together.
  4. Cool for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, using a wooden spoon, until each egg is evenly mixed in. At first, the dough will separate into chunks, but then will become smooth.
  6. Divide the dough evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each puff with sugar.
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until puffy and golden brown.
  8. Serve with a drizzle of honey.

65 Comments

  • Julia

    Wow.. these look so light and airy! Looks like a muffin, tastes like a puff? I’m in 🙂 Never heard of these before!! But definitely will be trying; especially love that the ingredients are stuff I always have, anyway. Thanks Olga!

    • olgak7

      I love that about them too, Julia. It’s always a good option when you want to make something sweet that really easy and I usually have all the ingredients on hand too.

      • Julia

        I ended up making them last night & they turned out delicious 😀 1 only left today. My kids had them with jam and Nutella, my hubby with just butter. Thank you!

  • Alina's

    Could you please let me know in gr as how much is a stick of butter as here in the UK we have butter packed in 250 gr package.

    Many thanks and looking forward to cooking them.

    • olgak7

      Hi Alina!
      Each stick of butter is approximately 100 grams, or 1/2 a cup, as I wrote in the ingredient list. I hope you will enjoy them:).

  • Oksana

    You’ve been doing them a long time and only chose now to share with us? I’m sure I’ll be making them tonight, and sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon, I can’t wait to bite into those.

  • Nata

    Wow Olga! This recipe sounds/looking amazing. Love it & a lot of your other recipes:) May God continue to Bless you & help you with all that you are doing! You are an inspiration to many ppl:)

  • Yana

    Just made these today and as usual, your recipes do not disappoint. I halved the recipe and had to add a little more flour for the dough to form a ball. As they were baking, the outside was already cooking too fast while the inside was raw. I would just lower the heat for the remainder 10 minutes next time. Otherwise, it was so good and not too sweet. I topped it with jam and Nutella. Delicious! 🙂

  • Tekla

    They look like a dessert my mother made long ago that were filled with sweetened whipped cream AI am also wondering like Aline previously asked, how much is in a stick of butter? I’m from Canada and our butter is sold in one pound (454 gram) bricks.

  • Shura

    Dear Olga. Made these yesterday and they turned out delicious. I love love love your blog. You make cooking so much more approachable for someone like me who is not a confident cook (and all this cooking makes my husband shoot which is always a plus 🙂
    In one of the comments you mentioned cream puffs. Do you have a cream puff recipe on the blog? I couldn’t find it,
    Thank you, Shura

    • olgak7

      Hi Shura!
      Thank you so much for taking the time to write. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear such awesome feedback. I’m so happy that my blog is helpful.
      I don’t have a recipe for cream puffs posted here, but I definitely should. We love them in our family. It’s on my to-do list:).

  • alice

    I made these puffs this morning!! Sooo good. My girls loved them. I will be making these AGAIN AND AGAIN. Thank you Olga!!!

  • Yelena

    I made these puffs last Saturday. Just WOW. 🙂 and so easy to make. Everyone one in my family loved them.
    Thank you Olga for this great recipe and all other recipes too.

  • Yelena

    I made these puffs last Saturday. Just WOW. 🙂 and so easy to make. Everyone in my family loved them.
    Thank you Olga for this great recipe and all other recipes too.

  • annika

    I am not much of a baker usually, but these puffs grabbed my attention and I had to try making them. I did struggle a bit trying to convert the ingredient amounts into something comprehensible for myself, but I think the trouble was worth it- the puffs turned out really good 😀 Thank you for sharing this idea and recipe! I will definetly make them again 🙂

  • Danielle

    these were great and my kids loved them with a side of raspberry jam…. Have you tried freezing them or preparing day ahead and refrigerating? Wondering how they will hold up? Thanks!

  • Charissa

    Olga, wondering if you have any suggestions for this… Mine turned out fabulous, but deflated the minute I pulled them out of the oven…

    • olgak7

      It’s normal for them to deflate a bit as soon as they hit the cooler air, Charissa. They should still have lots of lift, but deflate a little. Since there isn’t any leavening agent in the dough (yeast, baking powder or baking soda), the only things helping the puffs rise are the eggs and air. That’s why they deflate when out of the oven and away from the hot air that puffs them up.

  • Diane

    These came out fantastic!! Going into my notebook of recipes! My picky eater ate two! I topped them with forest fruit jam!!

    Thank you for a delicious recipe that my family will enjoy for years to come!!

  • Estera

    Hi Olga, I was so excited to try these today so I made these earlier today, but they turned out not as airy as I was expecting (a little raw on the inside). Does the flour you use matter?

    • olgak7

      Hi Estera,
      They are not meant to be airy like cream puffs, it’s a different consistency. If they were raw, then you just need to cook them a little bit longer.

  • Laurel (Chef Potpie)

    It never occurred to me to use choux pastry this way! I use it for Danish-style desserts and things like that, but trust me, leave off the sugar and it makes a lovely little dinner roll! Tender, flaky and buttery. We had them with a very flavorful stew. I admit we were also compelled (even after we were full), to smear some homemade strawberry jam on them and have them as an after-dinner sweet!
    This is one of the first things I ever pinned on Pinterest a long time ago. I don’t know why I took so long to try them, they are wonderful! Thank you for a keeper recipe, Olga!

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