SunButter Choux Nuts

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by SunButter. All images and opinions expressed are solely my own. Thank you for supporting brands that help make Sift & Simmer possible! 

Have you ever had a choux nut? 

A shoo-what? 

For this recipe, I got my inspiration from watching Junior Bake Off, which is a spin off the Great British Bake Off (GBBO).

Liam told the contestants to make “choux nuts.” 

WHAT ARE CHOUX NUTS?

I was intrigued since I hadn’t heard of this so-called “choux nut” before. I then realized it was a hybrid pastry, similar to “cronuts” or “cruffins.”

It is based off a choux pastry (or pâte à choux), which is used in cream puffs or éclairs. And it’s shaped in a round ring, similar to a doughnut, so choux-nut.

They’re glazed with an icing and finished with sprinkles for that full doughnut effect.

4 INGREDIENTS IN CHOUX PASTRY

Choux pastry has a high moisture content and requires a high baking temperature to produce steam for the puff or hollow in the centre. It doesn’t consist of any leavening agents like baking powder or yeast.

Choux looks like they’re difficult to make, but they’re actually not. There’s only 4 ingredients in the batter:

• water
• salted butter
• all-purpose flour
• whole egg

HOW TO MAKE CHOUX NUTS

The pastry is made exactly in the same manner as cream puffs. 

Combine water with butter, heat until boiling in a small sauce pot.

Remove from heat and quickly dump the flour into the pot. 

Vigorously stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pot. 

Transfer to a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment.

Cool down the mixture and gradually add in beaten egg. 

Note: It’s important not to add too much egg at once. If the batter becomes too thin, the puffs won’t work out as well.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip. (You can use a ziploc bag and cut the tip off if you don’t have a piping bag). 

Pipe 4 rings about 8cm in diameter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, and then reduce to 350F for another 20 minutes, until golden. 

Remove the choux nuts from the oven, turn the over and poke 4 holes on the bottom (to let the interior dry out).

Return to the oven for another 5 minutes to dry. 

Let them cool completely.

TIPS ON MAKING CHOUX

As noted above, don’t add too much egg at once. I like to use a measuring cup to gradually pour in the beaten egg. 

The batter will become curdled when you add in the egg, but don’t worry — let the mixture keep beating and it will come together.

How to know when you’ve added enough egg? Remove the paddle and see if the mixture hangs from the bottom in a “v” shape. If it does, you’re good to go. 

FILLING THE CHOUX NUTS

After the choux nuts have cooled completely, it’s time to fill them. I kept the filling for these choux nuts simple with a vanilla chantilly cream.

Chantilly cream is just whipped cream with a little powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

• Fit a the piping bag with a piping nozzle
• Fill with the chantilly cream
• Fit the nozzle into the holes that you made earlier on the bottom of each choux nut
• Apply firm pressure and squeeze until you feel a little resistance
• Repeat with each hole, until the cavity is filled entirely

SUNBUTTER CHOCOLATE GLAZE

I love SunButter sunflower seed butter with chocolate. It is such a great combination, which is why you’ve seen it time and time again on my blog. It’s simple to make and tastes delicious. 

• Melt chocolate in the microwave in 20-second increments
• Add in 2 Tbsp SunButter and stir to combine

Dip the filled choux nuts into the chocolate-SunButter glaze and add sprinkles (I had chocolate sprinkles on hand). 

Let the glaze set. Enjoy immediately. 

I can tell you that my 5 year old son hovered over my plate of choux nuts and when I was done photographing them, he devoured them.

EASY TO EAT

Also, I noticed that he was able to eat the choux nuts and not get cream all over his face… which is a super big win!

Whenever he eats cream puffs, there’s cream and crumbs all over his face.

But with these choux nuts, the narrow cavity makes it’s a lot easier to hold and eat, making it suitable for small mouths! Woohoo!

OTHER RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like:

• SunButter Chocolate Pop Tarts
• Chocolate Cookie Bars
• SunButter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Let me know if you try out this fun recipe — tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

SunButter Choux Nuts

A fun and whimsical recipe for choux nuts, or choux pastry in the shape of doughnuts, filled with cream and glazed with a SunButter chocolate icing.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate, choux, choux nuts, SunButter

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 4

Author Michelle | Sift & Simmer

Ingredients

Choux:

• 40 g salted butter
• 110 g water
• 50 g all-purpose flour
• 1 whole egg beaten (may not need all of it)

Chantilly Cream

• 200 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp powdered sugar

SunButter Chocolate Glaze:

• 75 g dark chocolate melted
• 2 Tbsp SunButter

Garnish:

• sprinkles of your choice

Instructions

Make the choux:

• Preheat oven to 425F.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small sauce pot, bring water to a boil, add in the butter and stir to melt.
• Once the butter has melted, remove the pot from heat and dump in the flour at once.
• Quickly stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball of dough.
• Transfer the dough over to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle.
• Cool down the dough by running the mixer on low speed, about 3-5 minutes.
• Gradually add in the beaten egg, until the dough is glossy and smooth. Make sure to just add enough egg. You may not need the entire amount. Test to see if the batter holds a "v" shape when you pull the paddle straight up.
• Transfer the choux dough to a piping bag fitted with a large piping tip, or just cut off the tip of the bag.
• You'll want a pretty substantial opening for piping the choux.
• Pipe 4 round rings about 8cm in diameter onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Space the rings apart.
• If there are any "tails" from the dough that pop up, you can use a slightly wet finger (dipped in water) to pat them down.
• Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, and then reduce to 350F for another 20 minutes, until golden.
• Turn off the heat. Remove the choux nuts from the oven, turn them over and poke 4 holes on the bottom using a skewer (to let the interior dry out).
• Return the choux nuts to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the chantilly cream:

• In a medium bowl, combine the cold heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
• Use a whisk to whip until firm peaks.
• Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a nozzle.

Make the SunButter chocolate glaze:

• In a shallow bowl, stir the melted chocolate with the SunButter.

Assemble:

• Pipe the chantilly cream into the holes of each choux nut. Use firm but gentle pressure to squeeze the cream into the pastry. When you start to feel resistance, remove the nozzle. Repeat with the remainder.
• Dip the top side of each choux nut into the SunButter chocolate glaze.
• Place onto a baking sheet and garnish with sprinkles if you wish.
• Best served immediately.

Notes

For the choux: it's important to not add in too much egg at once.
The batter will curdle when you add first in the eggs -- that's OK, it will smooth itself out.
 If the batter holds a "v" shape when you pull the paddle straight up, then it's ready to use.

 Choux pastry can be made in advance 1-2 days.
 Filled choux pastry will last for 1 day, stored in the fridge. It's best to consume on the same day it's filled.

Recipe inspired by Liam Charles from the Great British Bake Off.