Nearing the end of the week, I’m sure we could all use a chill pill to decompress going into the weekend. Well, I like my chill pills in the form of desserts, so I made a set of chill pill ECLAIRS!! Every bit of these simple eclairs are edible, including the letters on top! More on that below. I kept these eclairs nice and small, so they’re perfectly bite sized…which means you can easily eat ten of them. After making my hot dog eclairs a while back, I couldn’t wait to make more eclairs, and they’re already the perfect shape for making chill pill eclairs! It was clearly meant to be.
Sharing my chill pill duffel bag had me thinking about chill pills again, and when I realized eclairs were the same shape, I know I had to make them happen. But how?? The real key to making these chill pill eclairs a reality was the coloring and the letters. To make half of the eclairs pink, I used pink food color spray (I love this stuff). For the letters, I used a black sugar sheet and cut out the CHILL letters with my Cricut Explore Air!! Not sponsored, just love my Cricut. You can also cut letters with a stencil and craft knife, but if using a cutting machine like a Cricut, I recommend placing the sugar sheet plastic side down, mirroring the letters and cutting them on the iron-on setting. I did have some problems with tearing because sugar sheets are fragile, but I tried multiple settings, and this was the best. Play around with it!
Scroll down for the full recipe card! 👇🏼
These simple eclairs are one of my new favorite things to make though. I mean, I LOVE making cakes, but it’s been fun playing around with new types of desserts, and eclairs are surprisingly easy to make. Now that I’ve made them twice, I feel like I learned more. This second batch baked much better than the first because I underbaked them the first time. You live, you learn! Luckily, as the weather cools down, I’ll get to bake more and more.
OK, now I’m off to chill with the rest of the chill pill eclairs! Keep scrolling for the recipe below.
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter, cold
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp milk
- Pink food coloring spray
- Black sugar sheets
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside
- In a saucepan, heat the water and butter over med-high heat until the butter has melted
- Reduce heat to low and add the flour in one clump, mixing with a large spoon as the flour absorbs the moisture
- Stir until the mixture is one lump of dough (about one minute) and remove from heat
- Move the batter to the bowl of your mixer and beat with a paddle attachment for about one minute to release the steam and cool the batter
- Once slightly cool, add one egg and mix until it incorporates the batter, repeating with each addition until the batter is smooth and does not appear curdled
- Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with just a coupler attached and pipe lines of batter about 4 inches long on the prepared baking sheet
- Bake the eclairs for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 minutes until golden
- Allow eclairs to cool before filling or icing
- Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl
- Add a little milk at a time, whisking until smooth and glaze is very thick
- Use immediately or place a damp towel over the bowl
- Use a stencil or a cutting machine to cut small CHILL letters out of the black sugar sheet
- Fill eclairs from the bottom with your favorite whipped cream or creme pat recipe
- Dip tops of the eclairs in icing mixture and allow excess to drip off. Set on lined baking sheet to set at room temperature
- Once icing is slightly hardened, use a piece of paper to shield half of the eclairs. Spray the pink food coloring over the other half and remove the paper
- Lightly press the CHILL letters into the icing
- Serve fresh, refrigerate for up to two days or freeze for up to 1 month in an airtight container
Indya | The Small Adventurer
Oh my goodness, I had planned to decorate some finger buns as pink chill pills, but I’m so glad I didn’t because they wouldn’t have turned out anywhere near as pretty as these 😂 Not to mention eclairs are FAR more delicious, they’re one of my favourite baked goods of all time – and that’s saying a lot! You really did an awesome job on these. They’re *almost* too pretty to eat 😍
Holly Wade
Indya | The Small AdventurerThanks Indya!! You should absolutely still make them though! And send pictures 😊