Gougères

Quite simply, these are savory cream puff shells. I used half a cup of blue cheese and a teaspoon of fresh thyme in place of the Gruyère as they are what I had in the house.

Next time I make this recipe I will double the amount of cheese and salt I used as I found the gougères slightly lacking in flavor – but nothing a little salt and extra cheese couldn’t fix.

ingredients.

½ c. unsalted butter
1 c. water
¼ tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. finely grated Gruyère cheese
2 tsp. Dijon mustard or 1 tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

directions.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan combine butter, water and salt over low heat, stirring until butter has melted. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Add flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wood spoon until dough comes together in a mass. Return pan to stove and, over medium heat, continue to beat dough another minute until a thin film appears on the bottom of the pan. (I wouldn’t exactly liken what forms on the bottom to a film. I’d say wait until it looks like the bottom is getting a bit dry and crusty.)
Scrape dough into bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed one minute to cool it a bit. Before adding the beaten eggs reserve about 1 tablespoon for a glaze. Add eggs in four increments letting each addition absorb completely into dough before adding the next. Mixture may look sloppy but it will magically come together in a very thick batter.
Add three-fourths a cup of the cheese, reserving the rest for garnish. Beat in cheese, mustard and pepper until well blended.
Drop by tablespoons onto parchment paper about 1 inch apart or use a pastry bag to pipe 1-inch mounds onto the baking sheet. Using your fingertip or pastry brush, lightly coat top of each puff with some of the reserved egg.
Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 10 to 15 minutes longer until they are golden brown. Immediately top each gougere with a few strands of reserved cheese. Return pans to oven to ‘set’ the cheese; it should take less than a minute. Serve warm.

It’s not at all necessary to use a stand mixer when making this recipe. I don’t when making cream puffs and I didn’t when making this recipe. As I didn’t use Gruyère cheese, I didn’t reserve any of the blue cheese to sprinkle over the top after baking.

Don’t let the directions deter you. These are actually quite easy to make. I do think you could bump this recipe up by another apple by filling the middle with a cream cheese/blue cheese/bacon/thyme combo.

Recipe rating: 