Ingredients :

• Butter — Unsalted preferably — semi-salted works too, but make sure you don’t add extra salt. 80 grams is precise. Don’t reduce the quantity: insufficient butter results in a dry dough that won’t puff up correctly during baking.
• Eggs — Size M, and take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before. Size really matters here: one large egg too many and the dough becomes too liquid to be shaped. Cold dough receiving cold eggs also shrinks — room temperature prevents this.
• Pearl sugar — This is what provides the crunch, the sound, the identity of the chouquette. Don’t replace it with powdered sugar — it will melt during baking and you’ll get a sticky, smooth surface. Pearl sugar resists heat and stays on the surface; that’s its one and only job.
• Flour — All-purpose or pastry flour (T45/T55), both work. T45 gives a slightly finer dough, but the difference is almost invisible in the final result. Any pantry flour does the trick perfectly.