Bake up a batch of these light and airy Nun's Puffs, a delightful choux pastry dessert baked in a muffin pan and drizzled with sweet honey. A fun and easy treat the whole family will love!
Nun's Puffs are a delightful and fun-to-make recipe that I've been enjoying for years. I discovered this tasty treat in a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook back when I was engaged, and it's been a staple in my kitchen ever since.
The recipe calls for a classic pâte à choux dough, the same as used to make cream puffs, éclairs and beignets. Simply spoon the dough into a muffin pan and bake - the result is a light, airy pastry that's crisp on the outside and soft and crepe-like on the inside, like a cross between a popover and a Dutch baby. They definitely have a distinct eggy flavor, so if you're not a fan, this may not be for you.
I love how puffed-up and golden-brown these Nun's Puffs get in the oven. If you're a fan of cream puffs and beignets, you're sure to love these Nun's Puffs. They are traditionally served drizzled with honey, but you could also try them with whipped cream and fresh fruit and berries.
Nun's Puffs Video
Ingredients
The complete list of ingredients and their exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- butter
- Either unsalted or salted butter will work for this recipe.
- milk
- Most of the time, pâte à choux dough is made with water, but for Nun's Puffs, you need milk.
- I use whole milk, but you could probably use other types of milk, such a reduced fat milk or other alternative milk products, or just use water.
- all purpose flour
- eggs (large eggs)
- sugar
- honey
How To Make Nun's Puffs
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a regular size muffin pan with melted butter or oil, making sure to get it on all sides and even the rim.
- Prepare the pâte à choux dough.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.
- Add the milk and bring to a low boil.
- 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. Cool for 5 minutes.
- 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.
- Divide the dough evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each puff with sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until puffy and golden brown.
Be sure to cool the dough before adding the eggs.
If you add the eggs when the dough is too hot, the eggs will cook and you'll have "scrambled eggs" in the dough and the texture will be incorrect.
To cool the dough more quickly, I transfer it to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, turn it on and let it cool off this way, while it's mixing. This really speeds up the process. When the dough isn't steaming anymore and feels just slightly warm, you can start adding the eggs one at a time.
How To Serve Nun's Puffs
The original recipe suggests serving these with a drizzle of honey.
They are also delicious with some whipped cream and fresh fruit and/or berries. I have also had readers who shared that they served Nun's Puffs with sweetened condensed milk or dulce de leche.
Helpful Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
I don't know where this funny name came from, but from doing some research online, I found that Nun's Puffs are a type of dessert pastry that originated in France, where they were referred to as "pets de nonne." This delectable treat is now also produced in various regions, including French Canada, the United States, England, and Spain.
The mixer is faster and easier, but you can simply cool the dough in the pot, then add the eggs, one at a time, right into the dough. You'll have less dishes to wash:). 
Choux pastry, also known as pâte à choux, does not contain any leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda. Instead, the pastry relies on the steam generated by the evaporation of water in the dough during the baking process to puff up and rise. Additionally, the high moisture content and the presence of eggs in the dough also contribute to the pastry's ability to rise.
The original recipe doesn't contain any sugar in the dough. Sprinkling sugar on top of the pastry adds plenty of sweetness. If you serve the Nun's Puffs with honey, sweetened condensed milk, dulce de leche, caramel or whipped cream, all of those things will add a lot of sweetness.
You can also add a bit of sugar to the dough itself, about ½-1 Tablespoon.
More Simple & Delicious Desserts
Nun's Puffs
Bake up a batch of these light and airy Nun's Puffs, a delightful choux pastry dessert baked in a muffin pan and drizzled with sweet honey. A fun and easy treat the whole family will love!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 12 puffs 1x
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (½ cup)
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- ½-1 Tablespoon sugar, optional for the dough (not in the original recipe, but can be added for extra sweetness)
- sugar, for sprinkling on top
- honey, optional, for serving
- other options to serve - whipped cream, fresh fruit and/or berries
Instructions
- Preheat 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.
- 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.
- Cool for 5 minutes.
- 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.
- Divide the dough evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each puff with sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until puffy and golden brown.
- Serve with a drizzle of honey.
Notes
The original recipe doesn't contain any sugar in the dough. Sprinkling sugar on top of the pastry adds plenty of sweetness. If you serve the Nun's Puffs with honey, sweetened condensed milk, dulce de leche, caramel or whipped cream, all of those things will add a lot of sweetness.
You can also add a bit of sugar to the dough itself, about ½-1 Tablespoon.
These are delicious Olga!!!! Thank you so so much for sharing this recipe!!!!
these look great!
Thank you, Dina.
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
Makes my husband happy : ) hahaha, I am not sure how happy autocorrected to shoot!
That autocorrect! It sure comes up with some weird phrases and words sometimes.
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:).
These look delightful! Cannot wait to try them out 🙂
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.
Hi Tekla,
1 stick of butter is approximately 100 grams, or 1/2 a cup.
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! 🙂
Jam and Nutella sound like great additions, Yana. Thanks for taking the time to write.
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:)
That is sweet, Nata! I appreciate it.
Simplicity at its finest!!
They are so good!! My kids loved them!! I love when they tell me " mama you are the best cook" All because of your recipes. Thank you Olga so very much!!
That is so sweet, Olita! I can certainly relate to that. You just made my day:).
Thank you, Valentin!
I love simplicity in almost everything, especially food.
Yum, can't wait to try!
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.
I know, right? I hope you like them, Oksana.
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.
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:).
These look great! Have you tried filling them with cream?
You can certainly fill them, Tina. I prefer to eat them plain and if I want something with filling, I prefer to make cream puffs.
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!
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.
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!
Great sides, Julia! I'm sure they were all delicious combinations. Thanks for taking the time to write.
I want to make this for breakfast and dip them into cherry jam. Looks so good!
What a great idea, Mom's Dish. I want to do it to, next time I make them.
Wow. Can't wait to try this. Thank you Olga for this and all your other recipes.