Chocolate Peanut Butter Football Eclairs

Taking a quick break from Valentine’s Day posts to share these cute mini football eclairs, just in time for Super Bowl Sunday! Whether you’re hosting to enjoy the game, the food, commercials, or just the half time show, these easy chocolate peanut butter eclairs are a must addition to your party! The crisp choux pastry shells, are miniature in size with a creamy peanut butter filling and a simple chocolate glaze. Unlike pastry cream, there is no cooking required for the filling, so the eclairs will take less time to make, resulting in the perfect treat for game day parties! Decorate with little icing laces and gold foil to add an elevated finishing touch to your Super Bowl celebration.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Football Eclairs

Miniature eclairs decorated to look like footballs for Super Bowl Sunday. They have a smooth and creamy peanut butter filling and are topped with chocolate glaze and frosting, icing laces and gold leaf. Dairy free.

What exactly is an eclair

If you haven’t yet tried an eclair and are wondering what exactly one is, then you’ve come to the right place! An eclair is long and skinny French pastry, made from choux pastry dough, that is often filled with pastry cream, curd or chocolate. The exterior of the pastry is crisp like a shell and the center has pockets of air that hold the delicious pastry cream when filled.

Eclairs are commonly filled with pastry cream that can be flavored in multiple ways but filling possibilities are endless. They are also usually topped with a glaze, fondant or icing and decorative details.

What is choux pastry/ pâte à choux

Choux pastry/pâte à choux is a light and crisp pastry for cream puffs and eclairs. It’s made with water, butter, milk, sugar, salt, and flour, that’s heated on the stove top and then mixed with eggs to form the dough. It has an egg forward flavor, with lots of layers and air pockets created by steam, perfect for the delicious ingredients inside!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Eclairs 

The choux pastry for today’s eclairs is made with dairy free butter and milk. Instead of pastry cream, the filling is  a light and delicious peanut butter frosting that is also dairy free. The chocolate glaze on top is made from 3 ingredients and the chocolate frosting also mixes up in a few moments from from start to finish.

For chocolate peanut butter lovers, this eclair pairing is like an elevated Reeses peanut butter cup, stuffed in a crisp vessel (dough) that holds all the amazing rich chocolatey and peanutty flavors together!

Super Bowl/Football themed eclairs

Since football is big in our family, we host a small super bowl party every year. My husband and I love to incorporate some elevated snacks and treats into our menu and these football eclairs are no exception. Chocolate was the perfect glaze and topping so the eclairs would like just like mini (skinny) footballs. The laces are piped with a small amount of white royal icing for the cutest finish.

No matter who you’re rooting for in the Super Bowl these mini football eclairs will be cheer worthy and a like touchdown in taste!

How to make football eclairs

I have to admit, there are quite a few components to these eclairs but the instructions are easy to follow! You’ll start by making the choux pastry dough which is initially heated in a pot on the stove, then transferred to a mixing bowl to incorporate whipped eggs. Once combined, the dough is transferred to a piping bag fitted with a tip for piping.

The choux dough is then piped onto a silicone baking mat in 3 inch strips, and dusted with powdered sugar to caramelize the pastry while baking in the oven. There are some key steps to prevent the choux pastry from deflating while baking which requires the release of steam from the shells before removing from the oven. Once shells are golden brown and done baking, they can be cooled on a cooling rack and filled with easy peanut butter frosting. Then topped with glaze and chocolate frosting using piping tip 104.

Make a quick batch of royal icing for the football laces and transfer to the fridge before serving.

How to prevent eclairs from deflating

There’s nothing worse than deflated/flat eclairs. This commonly happens because of too much moisture in the shells and not allowing the steam to release before the eclairs crisp in the oven. To prevent the eclairs from deflating, it’s important to puncture the sides of the eclairs with a toothpick size hole or similar, to release some of the steam from the shells. Continue baking, then puncture the opposite side of the eclairs to release any remaining steam inside the shells. I also recommend leaving the choux pastry shells in the oven for at least 10 minutes after baking is done to ensure that the shells maintain their form.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Football Eclairs

• Author: Posh Little Designs
• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 25
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 15 1x
• Category: Baking
• Method: Eclairs
• Cuisine: French

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Description

Miniature eclairs decorated to look like footballs for Super Bowl Sunday. They have a smooth and creamy peanut butter filling and are topped with chocolate glaze and frosting, icing laces and gold leaf. Dairy free.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Eclair Choux Shells:

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or regular)
• 1/4 cup vegan butter (or alternative)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sifted flour
• 2 large eggs whipped

Peanut Butter Filling:

• 1/2 cup creamy organic peanut butter
• 1/4 cup organic shortening
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:

• 1 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp alternative milk (approximate)

Chocolate Frosting:

• 1 cup organic shortening
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Splash of alternative milk (if needed)

Royal icing football decorations:

• 1 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoons quality meringue powder
• 1.5 tbsp warm water

Additional supplies: 

• Star tip 6B (eclairs) 104 (chocolate frosting) 12 (peanut butter)
• Tipless piping bag for royal icing
• Gold leaf and gold glitter dust

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Instructions

Eclair Choux Pastry Shells

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prep a pastry bag with a star tip size 6B.
3. Pour water, milk, sugar, butter and salt into a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. Once mixture reaches a boil, and sugar has dissolved, remove the pot from the heat and quickly whisk in flour until it’s fully incorporated and forms a dough.
5. Place the pot back on medium heat and stir quickly until the dough pulls from the sides of the pot, no longer sticking to the spoon, about 3 minutes.
6. Transfer batter to a mixing bowl, turning a few times with a paddle attachment to remove some of the steam. Then add the whipped eggs in thirds to the eclair dough, mixing until fully combined in-between each addition. 
7. Turn mixer to medium high and mix eclair dough until the eggs are fully incorporated.
8. Transfer eclair batter to the prepped pastry bag and pipe 3 inch lines of dough on a 45 degree angle, onto the silpat mat.
9. Dust with confectioners sugar to caramelize the shells while baking in the oven.
10. Bake in the oven for 17 minutes, then, open the oven and quickly puncture one side of the eclair shells with a toothpick to release steam.
11. Then continue to bake the shells for an additional 4 minutes, or until golden brown.
12. Puncture the opposite side of the shells with a toothpick to release any remaining steam.
13. Then turn the oven off, leaving the eclair shells in for an additional 10 minutes to ensure that they do not deflate.
14. Remove shells from the oven and transfer shells to a cooling rack, once warm to touch.

Peanut Butter filling:

1. Mix the peanut butter, shortening, confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla together until combined.
2. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with round tip 12.
3. Set aside until ready to fill the eclairs.

Chocolate glaze:

1. Place confectioners sugar and cocoa powder in a shallow glass bowl and mix together until combined.
2. Pour in alternative milk 1 tsp at a time until the mixture is a thick dipping consistency. About 2 tbsp. 

Chocolate Frosting:

1. Place all ingredients into the bowl of a mixer. Mix together on medium high until fully combined.
2. Transfer frosting to a piping bag fitted with tip 104.

Royal Icing:

1. Combine water and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Whisk on medium high for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Mix in confectioners sugar until combined.
4. The icing will be very thick. Add warm water a few drops at a time until the icing is the consistency of toothpaste. This is for piping the football laces.

Eclair Assembly:

1. Eclairs will hollow in the oven.
2. Use the piping tip or a pairing knife to puncture 3 holes on the bottom of each of the eclair shells for filling with the peanut butter filling.
3. Fill each eclair with peanut butter filling and set aside.
4. Repeat steps for all eclairs.
5. Once eclairs are filled, dip the tops of the shells in the chocolate glaze.
6. Transfer the glazed and filled eclairs to the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
7. Then decorate the tops of the eclairs with swirls or strips of piped chocolate frosting.
8. Squeeze the frosting gently on the top of each eclair starting from left, to right to create the piped design.  
9. Dust eclairs with edible gold glitter and gold leaf.
10. Pipe a small line of royal icing in the center of each eclair, then pipe 4 lines across to create the football laces.
11. Pipe a horizontal line of icing at the top and bottom of each eclair. 
12. Set aside for eclairs to set.
13. Store in an airtight container and enjoy within 48 hours.
14. Eclair shells taste best when used within 24 hours. 
15. Empty shells can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
16. Prepare filing and frosting the day of, or night before filling the eclair shells.
17. Enjoy!

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Keywords: how to make eclairs, chocolate peanut butter eclairs, French pastry, football eclairs, superbowl desserts, dairy free eclairs, chocolate eclairs, easy eclair recipe

These football eclairs can be made 24 hours in advance of the Super Bowl and should be stored in the fridge until serving. 

Since they’re team neutral eclairs would also be a fun dessert option for any football and sports themed parties! 

Be sure to save, pin and tag me on over on social media if you give these eclairs a try! Also check the links below for other fun football and super bowl themed treats!

This post titled Chocolate Peanut Butter Football Eclairs was seen first on Posh Little Designs. All Rights Reserved. 2022