Lion House eclairs!

For my birthday today, I'm going to share one of my most favorite recipes ever! :)

Eclairs have got to be one of my most favorite desserts! Especially these ones from the Lion House! They are to DIE for! It's a party in your mouth. :)

You ready for another keeper recipe?! This is a revised version by my mom, who made it even more delicious with her frosting!

These can be made into cream puffs or eclairs.

Shells:

1 cup flour--- 1 tsp salt (mix in bowl and set aside)

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup water

4 eggs

Put butter and water in pan on stove top on medium heat. Bring to a boil. Add flour. Turn heat to low. Stir for 2 min. Take off heat. Let cool about 5 min. Add eggs ONE at a time. Mix well after each one. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Force dough through decorating tube in small walnut size balls or 1"x3" form. Or spoon on. Bake shells for 25 min. at preheated oven of 400 degrees. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR WHILE BAKING. Take out, cool, cut very top of each eclair off. Fill and replace top and ice with icing.

Filling:

1 large box instant vanilla pudding

4 oz. softened cream cheese

1 1/2 cup cold milk

8 oz. cool whip

Mix pudding with cold milk. Add soft cream cheese. Fold in cool whip. Let set in refrigerator.

Makes a lot and you will have some left over. Make 2 batches of shells if you want to use it all up!

Icing:

Mix sugar and cocoa first.

3 cups powdered sugar

4 T cocoa

Then add--

3 T melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 T milk

Depending on how much you pack on the icing, you'll have some left over of this too.

This is what the filling and icing look like. Look at the creamy puffy yumminess of that filling!

These are a good size, but I like mine a little bigger.... wanna get more filling in the middle

These are the outcasts. Flat and no puffiness whatsoever. These are fickle little things. My mom noticed that for some reason they don't turn out as well on cloudy days as they do on nice, sunny days.

Weird, eh.

Maybe that was my problem, my first batch it was cloudy and getting ready to rain, and they came out flat. The next batch I put in, the weather was sunny again (the shells are as fickle as our weather) and turned out with much puffiness!

Here we go, my kinda size. Who doesn't agree that bigger is better?! :)

SO delish and just melts in your mouth!

They're really easier than you think, just make sure to follow shell recipe exactly and don't double it! If you want to make more, do it separately. Go make some! You won't regret it. I don't regret one bit the 7 that I hoovered down today! :) :)