Mini Chocolate Eclairs

Another kitchen experiment...and it turned out WONDERFULLY! I love chocolate eclairs, and I needed a snack to take to Bible Study (great excuse to bake, huh?) so I decided it would be fun to make tiny chocolate eclairs! But how? Hmmm....


Filling:
8 cups of pre-made sugar free vanilla pudding


Eclair pastry:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Frosting:

1 container pre-made dark chocolate cake frosting

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease baking sheets.
In a heavy saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, water and salt over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.





Pour in flour all at once and stir vigorously until fully incorporated and mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat, let rest 5 minutes. Mmm, it's resting... what a perfect opportunity to drink a glass of wine.






Then beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. The dough will be very wet - that's good, we want that. And be sure to explain the process to Tinkerbell and Buttercup as you go... because they love cooking too! That's why they watch. To them, you are Emeril. Nevermind the fact that Buttercup seems to be falling asleep...





Drop dough into twelve equal mounds on baking sheets. Spread each mound into a 4x1/2 inch rectangle.


Bake in preheated oven 35 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and make a one-inch slit in the side of each eclair. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Return eclairs to oven for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.








To assemble: Slice each eclair in half lengthwise. Spoon vanilla pudding into a plastic bag and cut off the corner to make a piping bag. Isn't pudding cute?



Pipe about 1 tablespoon vanilla pudding into the middle of each eclair. This can get messy, so be sure to lick your fingers a lot.

Replace tops and frost with chocolate icing, warmed up in the microwave for easy spreading. This is also messy, so get your man to help you ice the little guys. He doesn't have to ice them perfectly - chocolate is chocolate, no matter what it looks like! :)

Lick fingers again. Then.......chill until serving.