Why You Should Never Buy Frozen Choux Pastry At The Grocery Store

When it comes to cooking and baking, using store-bought ingredients can save time and money. Food Network favorite, Ina Garten's famous catchphrase, " Store-bought is fine," has helped countless home cooks in making elevated meals. Garten takes her own advice and often uses her favorite store-bought pasta sauce for her eggplant parmesan and lasagna. Garten isn't the only celebrity chef that often relies on pre-made ingredients. According to Food Network, Sunny Anderson loves Jiffy cornbread and Ree Drummond can't live without Hellman's mayonnaise.

While pre-made or store-bought ingredients can be a lifesaver, there are some drawbacks to using ingredients that are not homemade. Certain things, like salad dressing, should never be store-bought due to all the preservatives and excess sugar added to the bottles. Woman's Day advises people to steer clear of pre-made pancake and waffle mixes. While it is convenient, it could be loaded with tons of oils and additives. Oftentimes dessert items, like frozen pie crusts or puff pastry can be as good as homemade, but there is one sweet treat that definitely should be left in the case.

While store-bought ingredients can come in handy, certain items are better when homemade. According to Eat This, Not That, when chefs were asked which foods to not buy frozen, it was clear that choux pastry desserts should be avoided at all costs. Choux pastry is the basis for desserts like eclairs, cream puffs, and churros. The issue with frozen choux pastry is the dough simply doesn't hold up well after being frozen. Part of what makes choux so delicious is the light and fluffy, but crispy exterior crust. Head pastry chef, Sarah Gunderson said, "Frozen cream puffs are 'NOWHERE' near as good as fresh." She added that instead of being crisp, the frozen version is soggy and not representative of what a fresh cream puff should taste like.

If you find yourself hankering for a choux pastry, it's simple enough to make at home. A classic cream puff recipe involves making pate a choux and fresh whipped cream. The pate a choux pastry is made by mixing flour and water, butter, and milk. Eggs are added off the heat then the mixture is put into a piping bag. The choux pastry puffs up when baked in a hot oven, which gives the pastry its crispy, delicate shell (per Serious Eats). If cream puffs aren't your jam, once the choux pastry is made it can be turned into Paris-Brest, profiteroles, or a croquembouche (via BBC Good Food).