Crab Puffs

Crispy on the outside with a soft, flavorful filling in the center, crab puffs might be the first bite-sized appetizer to disappear at a party or potluck. The combination of crabmeat, hard-boiled egg and cream cheese sandwiched in a delicate-yet-simple homemade pastry has that much appeal. They’re perfect for large and small gatherings, from springtime brunches to New Year’s Eve bashes.

This party favorite starts with a homemade choux pastry (aka pate a choux), similar to the one used for sweet cream puffs and fried pastries like homemade churros. Don’t let the baking TV shows fool you: Choux is pretty easy to master. You simply mix flour, butter (or oil) and water (or milk) in a pot on the stove. Then add eggs to the dough and combine until it becomes soft and supple. There’s no rising agent, but the dough has such a high moisture content that the steam trapped inside makes it puff up as it bakes. These little puffs are perfect for containing the cool, creamy crab filling, making fantastic poppable bites.

Ingredients for Crab Puffs

• Water: When you make choux pastry with water (instead of milk), the puffs turn out light and crispy without over-browning in the oven.
• Butter: We prefer unsalted butter for this dough because the recipe adds salt separately. If you only have salted butter in the refrigerator, go ahead and use it, but cut back on the extra salt you add.
• Flour: All-purpose flour works best in this style of pastry. It has enough protein to make strong gluten strands that keep the dough from tearing as it steams and rises, but not so much gluten—like in bread flour or other types of flour—that it becomes chewy.
• Eggs: You’ll use raw room-temperature eggs for the pastry and hard-boiled eggs for the crab filling.
• Crabmeat: Be sure to drain canned lump crabmeat; it comes packed in a salty, often preservative-heavy brine that would make the filling overly salty and watery. Canned crabmeat is already cooked, so you don’t need to heat it before you eat it.
• Cream cheese: Cream cheese gives this savory filling structure to support the weight of the crabmeat. Let the cheese come to room temperature so it mixes with less effort.
• Mayonnaise: A little mayonnaise helps thin out the cream cheese without making the filling watery. It also adds a soft richness.
• Onion: Dice the onion finely to distribute it evenly in the crab filling.
• Horseradish: A dab of horseradish gives these crab puffs plenty of spiciness. Whether you buy a jar or prepare it at home, horseradish comes packed in a vinegary brine, so drain it well.

Directions

Step 1: Make the dough

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Add the flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove it from the heat and let it stand for five minutes.

Step 2: Mix in the eggs

Add the eggs to the dough, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth and shiny.

Editor’s Tip: Be sure to let the warm dough ingredients cool slightly before you beat in the raw eggs so that they don’t scramble. Then, keep mixing them in until the thick paste loosens to a workable consistency—but not so long that the dough becomes tough. A good way to tell if your choux is done is by running a spatula through the mix and lifting it up. Your choux is good to go if the mix drops off in a nice V shape.

Step 3: Bake the puffs

Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the greased baking sheets. Bake them until they’re golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes.

Editor’s Tip: Although you can make smaller or larger puffs, teaspoonfuls of dough are more likely to have a central, cup-like air pocket. Baking the dough in batches in the lower third of the oven will help it rise more evenly from the bottom heat. If you make fewer, larger puffs, leave another inch of space around each so that they have room to expand. Bake them a few minutes longer, until they’re crisp on the outside.

Step 4: Prepare the puffs for stuffing

Remove the puffs from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack. Immediately split the puffs open, remove the tops and set them aside. Discard the soft dough from the inside and let the puffs cool.

Step 5: Fill the puffs

In a large bowl, combine the crabmeat, cream cheese, mayonnaise, onion and prepared horseradish. Just before serving, spoon 1 teaspoonful of filling into each puff and sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Replace the tops.

Mark Derse for Taste of Home

Crab Puffs Variations

• Adjust the filling ratios: For a stronger crab flavor, reduce the amount of hard-boiled egg and cream cheese in the filling. If you reduce either significantly, you may need to add more crabmeat, mayonnaise or both to fill the pastry cups.
• Alter the seasoning: Choose green onion or chives for a lighter onion flavor, then add a couple of drops of soy sauce and fresh lemon zest. Use minced capers or cornichons instead of horseradish, or add Dijon mustard or cayenne pepper for some spicy heat. Mix in a little finely grated Parmesan if you cut back on the cream cheese.
• Use smoked salmon: For another seafood variation on this crab puff recipe, replace the crabmeat with 4 ounces of smoked salmon (approximately the drained weight of a 6-ounce can of lump crabmeat). You could also make the filling with shredded or diced cooked chicken.
• Make them vegetarian: For a vegetarian version, cook and drain mushrooms or spinach and add them to the filling in place of the crab.

How to Store Crab Puffs

Store leftover crab puff pastry and filling separately. Let the prepared pastry cups cool completely so they don’t sweat or become damp. Set them in a single layer in an airtight container to protect their shape, then place the container in the refrigerator. Refrigerate the filling in a separate airtight container.

How long do crab puffs last?

When stored in separate airtight containers, the baked pastry and crab filling last for up to four days in the refrigerator. If the filling separates, stir it well before filling the pastry shells. Once combined, let crab puffs sit for a maximum of two hours, ideally serving them immediately to avoid sogginess. If you decide to fill them early, put them in the refrigerator; for safety, the crab and egg should sit at room temperature for no more than two hours—or a single hour amid a summer heatwave.

Can you make crab puffs ahead of time?

If you prepare crab puffs ahead of time, it will develop a soggy bottom. However, you can make the pastry and filling three to four days in advance and refrigerate them in separate airtight containers.

You can also make the pastry puffs ahead of time and freeze them for two months. To do this, freeze the shells on a baking sheet and then load them into a freezer-safe container so that they keep their shape. Let them thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes, then reheat them in the oven at 350° for five minutes or until they’re crisp before adding the filling and serving the puffs.

Crab Puffs Tips

Can you make crab puffs with another type of pastry?

You can make crab puffs with frozen puff pastry or phyllo dough. Each has a slightly different texture than choux pastry shells, but they work well with the crab filling—especially if you don’t have time to make the pastry from scratch. Make phyllo or puff pastry cups in mini muffin tins and fill them, or fill the dough then fold and crimp it before baking. You can also use frozen crescent dough, like these crab crescent triangles.

How do you keep crab puffs from getting soggy?

Three things might make crab puffs soggy: trapped steam after baking, not draining the crabmeat or prepared horseradish, and letting the filling sit too long in the puffs. Split the puffs and remove their tops as soon as you pull them from the oven so the dough quickly cools and firms up. And don’t fill them with the crabmeat mixture until just before serving.

What can you serve with crab puffs?

Crab puffs taste best when assembled at the last minute, so serve them alongside party appetizers like Chinese meatballs (dished straight from a slow cooker), crudites and dip, and an antipasto platter or cheese board. They look great with other one-bite holiday snacks like Moroccan stuffed mushrooms, avocado goat cheese truffles and million-dollar deviled eggs. Don’t forget the bottle of bubbly!