Cream Puffs

I have always been intimidated by cream puffs, but when my boyfriend said he really liked them (with ice cream, which made it easy cuz I didn't have to make the cream), I decided to check out a recipe. And wow. For some reason, I always thought they were fried! These are THE simplest things to make, ever. And they don't look simple--I always thought they were so complicated! I never really liked them but with the vanilla bean ice cream I put inside, these were really good! Best the day-of, so next time I make them I'll try to make them for a crowd, because even with my roommates these couldn't be finished in a day.

You can make them any size, but I made a medium/large-size cream puff that's good for a single serving. Bite-size with different fillings would be fun, or even filling the ones I made with something to make it a mini-meal or appetizer would be fun!

Cream Puffs
Recipe from The Comfort of Cooking
Makes 12 cream puffs

1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray and set aside.

Put the water, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir well until the flour is completely mixed in.

Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Scrape the dough into a large bowl.

With a wooden spoon, beat in the eggs one at a time until all four eggs are well-incorporated.

Spoon the dough into 12 rounded mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Dip your finger into a little water and smooth out the edges to make sure that no small bits burn. Bake for 40 minutes, and let cool for 30 minutes before filling.

Once the cream puffs have cooled, fill with your favorite filling, or garnish with desired toppings.