The Missing Lokness

Easy Everyday Recipes

Gruyère Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

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Gruyère Gougères (Cheese Puffs) 2| The Missing Lokness

It is just one week away from Thanksgiving. As an early planner like me, I can tell you that I am not prepared at all. At this moment, I am still waiting for a head count. Oh my goodness… I hope I will find out by tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I am slowly coming up with ideas for our potluck dinner. If no one takes on a potato side, my loaded mashed potatoes from last week can definitely be one. This week, I got the bread/appetizer ready. These cheesy and fluffy puffs are all you need. These are French little goodies, called “gougères”. They are the savory version of cream puffs without the cream. These can be made ahead to freeze. Right before your guests arrive, bake them and serve. If you don’t have enough oven space, bake these a couple of hours ahead and serve them at room temperature. I promise your guests won’t miss the traditional bread rolls and can’t stop eating these cheese puffs.

Gruyère Gougères (Cheese Puffs) 1| The Missing Lokness

These gruyere gougères are fairly easy to make. Boil the water and butter. Add the flour and stir everything into a dough. Mix in eggs and there is your dough. Scoop or pipe them on baking sheet. Bake for just 30 minutes, your delicious cheese puffs are ready. You can also easily customize them by adding additional ingredients, like herbs and bacon. My blogger friend, Monica from Playing with Flour made some kick-ass cheddar-bacon gougères. If you are looking for a fancier and meatier gougère recipe, check out Monica’s version. I am keeping mine simple as there will be many other flavors on the Thanksgiving table.

Now, ready to bake some cheese puffs? I will be making mine this Friday and baking them on Thanksgiving day. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! I will be taking a week off next week, which gives me some time to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. 🙂

Gruyère Gougères (Cheese Puffs) 3| The Missing Lokness
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Gruyère Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Makes 24 – 28 small puffs
Course Appetizer
Cuisine French
Keyword appetizer, cheese puffs, Christmas, gougeres, gruyere, holiday recipe, snack, thanksgiving
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Author Lokness

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (diced)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder (optional)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 1½ cups grated gruyère (6 ounces)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450˚F (230˚C). Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment papers.
  • In a medium saucepan, add the water, butter, salt and mustard. Bring to a boil over high heat.
  • Once butter has melted, remove the pan from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and pulls away from sides of pan, about 2 minutes. Return the pan to medium-low heat. Cook and continue to stir vigorously, until a dry film forms on bottom and sides of pan, about 3 – 4 minutes. The dough is ready when it has a shine.
  • In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the hot dough. Beat the dough on a medium-low speed for 2 minutes until it is just warm to touch. With the mixer running, add the beaten egg in four additions. Make sure the egg has been absorbed and the dough is smooth out before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. The dough should be smooth and creamy at the end. Mix in cheese.
  • Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip. Pipe about 1 tablespoon dough on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 1-inch apart. To smooth out the sharp tops, push down slightly with a wet finger.
  • Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350˚F (180˚C). Bake for another 20 -25 minutes, rotating the pans once during baking for even cooking. The gougères should be puffed and golden. They should be dry in the center and sound hollow when tapped. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

  1. If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, just use a Ziploc bag or spoon.
  2. The unbaked gougères can be freeze directly on the baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer storage bag or container. Bake them straight out of the freezer. It will just take a few minutes longer.
  3. Store the leftover in the fridge and bake in a 350˚F (180˚C) oven to re-crisp.
(Adapted from The Splendid Table)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lily says

    Hi i think I’ll try this for thanksgiving too. Do toy know I’d you can freeze the dough instead? I don’t have a large enough freezer to fit the baking sheet.

    Reply

      • Lokness says

        Hi Lily! You mean you want to freeze all the dough together? I haven’t done that and I am not sure how that would thaw out. The other option for you is to freeze the finished cheese puffs and re-crisp them in the oven when using. I haven’t tried this either, but I am sure it would work perfectly as it was mentioned in the original recipe. Let me know if you have any other question. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

        Reply

  2. Wendy says

    Your gougers are beautiful, Lokness! So perfect and even in size! The lovely thing about cheese gougers, it that they can serve as the bread or an appetizer. Either way, I find it hard not to just keep popping them in my mouth. 😉 I hope you find out your head count so that you can not be as stressed. Breathe and enjoy! Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

    Reply

    • Lokness says

      Thanks a lot Wendy! You really can’t stop in just one! I say at least half a dozen!
      We got the final head count last night. We are trying to figure out who is making what. Oh, I know we will make it. 😛 Enjoy a warm Thanksgiving with your family!

      Reply

  3. Monica says

    Hi there, my friend! Thank you so, so much for the shoutout. It’s so nice of you to mention the version I made recently. Honestly, yours are simply perfection! They look absolutely perfect and you just can’t go wrong with gruyere cheese flavor-wise! I know you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving gathering. Hope the headcount and everything comes together soon…most importantly, I hope you all have a wonderful time and eat/drinks lots of great things. Your gougeres are bound to be a hit! Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Lokness says

      You are very welcome, Monica! I adore your bacon gougeres recipe. I know we would love it! No doubt I will be trying it for my next party. Thank you for the inspiration!
      We have finally figured out the head count, and we are now working on dividing the dishes. I know everything will come together and we will have a good time. Wishing you a sweet and warm Thanksgiving too!

      Reply

  4. Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says

    Oh don’t remind me! I feel so unprepared this year! But I’m totally loving these little cheese puffs – they’ll make for a perfect appetizer! The only problem is, I can totally see pigging out on these and leaving no room for dinner! 😉

    Reply

    • Lokness says

      Are you staying in SF for Thanksgiving or heading home? It is hard not to be stressed out. But you know everything will come together and it is going to be a great Thanksgiving! 😉
      I know I will want to eat all the cheese puffs before the guests arrive! I am thinking to hide them and serve them as bread along with the dinner. 😛

      Reply

  7. Kylee @ Kylee Cooks says

    I was going to make blue cheese gougeres to serve with steaks a few weeks ago, then I freaked out because I didn’t know if I could pull it off.

    However, reading this – I love your instructions – looks easy!

    Reply

  10. Kathrina says

    These look so light and delectable! These would be great for Thanksgiving. By the way, I tried your loaded mashed potatoes from last week and they were absolutely fantastic. We are making them again for Thanksgiving!

    Reply

    • Lokness says

      Woo hoo! I am very happy to know that you enjoyed the mashed potatoes! They will be a hit during Thanksgiving. 😉 You will like these little cheese puffs too. They are fun and beautiful bread rolls/appetizers to serve!

      Reply

  14. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

    Am I too late for ravp? 😀 We usually travel to Asia this time but not this year and I feel like I’m not coordinated well with everything. I bet you will make wonderful thanksgiving meal! 🙂 I saw this sometimes but this is the first time I actually spent time reading the recipe and I’m quite surprised! Pretty simple! I can imagine myself not being able to stop eating… 😉 They look absolutely wonderful!!!

    Reply

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