Put softened butter, water and salt in a saucepan and boil just briefly, stirring constantly. (The butter must be melted before boiling).
Take the saucepan off the heat, immediately add flour and mix briskly with a wooden wooden spoon until a large ball of dough has formed.
Put the saucepan back on the stove and heat the dough, stirring and turning constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 1 minute, until the dough has separated from the bottom of the saucepan as a dumpling, leaving a white layer of starch there.
Take the saucepan off the heat, transfer the dough to a clean mixing bowl and let it cool to lukewarm.
Stir eggs into the batter, one at a time, until it is shiny and clings to the wooden wooden spoon in peaks. It is best to whisk the last egg in a small bowl and add just enough of it to the dough until it has the right consistency. The batter should be creamy, definitely not runny or firm.
Fill the dough into a piping bag with a hole nozzle or star nozzle and pipe small dough dots and / or slightly larger dough rosettes onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, leaving enough space between them.
Bake the cream puffs in a preheated oven at 200 °C for about 20 - 25 minutes until golden brown. Let the small cream puffs cool completely. Cut off the tops of the larger profiteroles while they are still warm and let them cool completely as well.