Maple and Candied Bacon Cream Puffs
Caramelized bacon adds the perfect sweet and salty touch to these decadent treats filled with homemade maple whipped cream.
Makes: 9-10 cream puffs
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Recipe Created By: Nick Castro
Featured In: Tennessee Home & Farm
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Recipe Created By: Nick Castro
Featured In: Tennessee Home & Farm
Ingredients
Candied Bacon
- 4 ounces (about 4 strips) bacon
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cream Puffs
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons bacon, cooked and chopped
- 4 eggs
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons cool water
Maple Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- Pinch of salt
Garnish
- Melted chocolate, if desired
Instructions
- To make candied bacon, heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange bacon on a baking sheet.
- In a separate bowl, mix together brown sugar, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle a bit of the sugar mixture onto the top side of the bacon and bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sugar begins to caramelize in the oven.
- Once the first side has begun to caramelize, take baking sheet out of the oven and flip each slice of bacon over. Sprinkle more of the sugar mixture on the bacon and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until you see that the sugar has caramelized completely and is golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- To make cream puffs, heat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a saucepan over high heat, add butter, sugar, salt and water and bring to a full boil.
- Once mixture has started to boil, turn off heat and add flour and bacon all at once, mixing carefully with a whisk until flour has combined.
- If using a stand mixer, transfer to bowl and beat on medium-low speed with a paddle until mixture has cooled slightly. If mixing by hand, continue to mix gently with a whisk or spatula for 1 minute until mixture begins to cool.
- Once the mixture has cooled, add eggs one at a time, combining very well after each addition until all have been incorporated.
- Scoop cream puff pastry using a 1- to 1 ½-inch cookie scoop and portion on a baking sheet fitted with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.
- To prepare egg wash, combine 1 egg with 1 tablespoon cool water. Brush the top of each cream puff with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door anytime during baking or the cream puff might collapse.
- After 20 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes. (At this point, you may open the oven door to check your cream puffs. They should look golden brown and feel light and hollow when picked off the sheet tray.)
- While the cream puffs are baking, prepare the maple whipped cream. Add heavy cream, sugar, maple syrup and a pinch of salt to a stand mixer bowl or any other stainless-steel bowl and whisk until cream has thickened and leaves stiff peaks where the whisk once was. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- To finish the cream puffs, cool completely, then slice each cream puff in half, fill the bottom half with maple whipped cream and return the dome of the cream puff to the top. Spoon melted chocolate over the tops of the cream puffs, if using, and top with candied bacon broken into smaller pieces. (If not using chocolate, you can put the candied bacon directly on the whipped cream as part of the filling.) Keep chilled until ready to serve.