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1
Heat oven to 400 and grease a baking sheet with butter.
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2
Put the butter and a pinch of salt in a saucepan over high heat; add 1 cup water and bring to a boil.
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3
Turn the heat to low and add all the flour at once; stir constantly until the mixture pulls away from the pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds.
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4
Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time; use an electric mixer if you like, and beat until the mixture is smooth.
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5
(At this point, you can cover the dough and refrigerate it for up to two days.)
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6
If youre planning on piping out the dough, scoop it into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip, or a plastic freezer bag with a corner cut off.
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7
Pipe the pastry onto the baking sheet, or just use two spoons to form your desired shape.
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8
Cream puffs should be circles about 1 inch wide and a little over 1 inch tall; eclairs should be 3-to-4-inch fingers, about 1 inch wide.
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9
Bake until the pastries are golden brown, nicely puffed up and sound hollow when you tap on them, about 30 minutes for cream puffs and 40 minutes for eclairs.
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10
Use a skewer to prick one or two holes in each one to allow the steam to escape; transfer to a rack and let cool to room temperature.
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11
To fill the pastries using a pastry bag, poke a hole into the pastry and pipe the filling into it, or cut off the top caps of each pastry, spoon in the filling, and close it up like a sandwich.
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12
(Eclairs can be slit open and filled, too.)
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13
Serve as is, or drizzle with chocolate sauce.
