Puffy puff

This is one of the recipes that I prepared for my Pampered Chef show this afternoon. These were very easy to make and turned out to be a wonderful and puffy light dessert. Ok maybe not light as in healthy, since each puff packs 90 calories and 5 grams of fat, but light as in you know, puffy and light. :)

I was actually a little concerned while making the dough because once the liquids were at a boil and I added in the flour the dough looked like a roux gone wrong. It looked like a big waxy ball of I don't even know what. But obviously that is what it was supposed to look like because the puffs got rave reviews. The only changes that I made to this recipe were to leave off the nuts, in case anyone had allergies, and I melted some semi-sweet chocolate to drizzle over top.


Profiterole Puffs
(Adapted from: Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 07)

Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling and topping:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls chopped pistachios or almonds
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. For puffs, in small saucepan combine water, butter and salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add flour all at once. Stir mixture vigorously about one minute or until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms into a ball. Remove from heat; place dough into bowl and. Add eggs and which until smooth and very thick.
2) Lightly spray mini muffin pan with oil. Using slightly mounded tablespoon, scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and make a small cut into side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and allow to cool completely.
3) For filling, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended. Attach small holed tip to pastry bag, fill with filling and pipe into center of each puff. For topping, chop nuts and microwave frosting on high 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with pistachios.

Yield: 24 puffs