Summery Strawberry Coconut Cream Puffs

Conquer your fear of making cream puffs- they’re easier than you might think.   The recipe is pretty basic – flour, egg, water and butter. To me the cream puff is really more about the yummy filling. The cream puff shell itself doesn’t have that much flavor. However, the shell is perfectly neutral so that you can fill it with whatever flavors you crave.

For this recipe I used a standard shell recipe and then add a few special ingredients to a  cream filling that uses instant pudding mix – adapted from Taste of Home.  Since strawberries are just starting to come in season I decided to use those in the filling.  You can use any flavor combination that you like.  Lemon filling with blueberries would work great too!

Ingredients:

For the shells –

1 cup water

½ cup butter (cut into cubes)

1 cup flour

4 eggs

For the filling –

3 packages of instant coconut cream pudding mix (3.3 ounce size)

8 ounces softened cream cheese ( I use the low fat version)

2 ½ cups of skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1/2 cup shredded coconut

½ cup sliced strawberries

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon orange juice (optional)

Whipped topping (optional)

Instructions:

Shells:

1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
2. Place parchment paper on your baking sheet
3. Combine water and butter in large saucepan and bring to a boil
4. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously until a shiny ball of dough is created
5. Remove from heat and let the dough sit in the saucepan for 10 minutes
6. Add the eggs one at a time – stirring until each egg is incorporated.
7. Using a tablespoon drop the dough onto your baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
8. Bake for 35 minutes or until puff shells are firm and a nice golden color.
9. Let cool completely

Filling:

1. Combine the cream cheese, milk, vanilla and pudding mix in a large bowl 
2. Use a hand – mixer to beat until light and smooth – this may take a minute or two to get the cream cheese lumps out.
3. Fold in the coconut flakes.
4. In a separate bowl combine the sliced strawberries, sugar and orange juice – set aside.

To assemble the puffs use a serrated knife to cut the puff in half, place a generous amount of the filling inside and add the strawberries and whipped topping if you are using it.