Susan's Crab Puffs

Susan and Cori made these Crab Puffs one year for Christmas and they were really good. Made using Cream Puff dough (Pâte à choux, also called Choux pastry), they are a nice light appetizer. Some of us topped them with a little bit of Cocktail Sauce. They had a nice crab flavor, but you could try adding a little more crab for a stronger crab flavor, and use the juice drained from the canned crab.

FMM: When we made these we added 16 oz. crabmeat (we wanted to add a little more crab to add more crab flavor, but the 16 oz. can seemed like a lot more than 3 6-oz. cans - the little cans of crab meat are half water, whereas the bigger cans do not have much water added and that is probably the difference). They were definitely full of crab and crab flavor, but because there was so much crab in them they were not as poofy as in the picture. They had more ragged edges from all the crab. Great as an appetizer with cocktail sauce. Be sure to bake them until nicely browned all over so the dough cooks through - mine took about 20 minutes. Good both warm and at room temperature.

2 6-oz.cans crabmeat, drained [save juice for the Choux pastry] and cleaned [we added a 16 oz. can of crabmeat - perhaps a bit too much]
2 green onion, chopped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese [or 3/4 cup Swiss cheese]
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground mustard

Choux pastry:
1 cup water [could use the drained crab juice (omit salt) or seafood stock for more flavor]
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Combine the crabmeat, green onion, cheddar cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and ground mustard. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring to a boil the water [or crab juice or seafood stock], butter and salt.

Add the flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Continue beating until smooth and shiny.

Stir in crab mixture.

Drop by tablespoons on greased sheets 1" apart. [I used my cookie scoop]

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes (mine took 20) in a 400° oven until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature. We found Cocktail Sauce goes well with them.

4 dozen (using my ice cream scoop I got 3 1/3 dozen. This may have been with the extra crab. The last time I made them I followed the recipe exactly and got 32 using my cookie scoop and they were the perfect size (2 bites). I used all the crab juice without addtional salt in the dough and they had plenty of crab flavor.)

Freeze a batch up to 1 month before your holiday party, reheat in the oven, and serve warm without all the fuss.To reheat from frozen, bake puffs at 325° F. for about 10-15 minutes.