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.
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)
Makes 24 – 28 small puffs
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 cup grated gruyère (6 ounces)
Directions:
- 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.
Tips:
- If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, just use a Ziploc bag or spoon.
- 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.
- Store the leftover in the fridge and bake in a 350˚F (180˚C) oven to re-crisp.
(Adapted from The Splendid Table)
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.
Sorry i meant “do you know if…”
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!
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!!
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!
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!
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!
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! 😉
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. 😛
these are absolutely getting adding to my thanksgiving menu. one of my fav cheeses!!
Right? Gruyere is the best! Hope you will like them as much as I do! Have a great Thanksgiving!
These sound absolutely amazing! Would be the perfect thanksgiving roll
Thanks Sarah! I don’t know how the potluck Thanksgiving dinner will turn out, but I am certain that everyone will love these cheese puffs. 😉
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!
They sound fancy and intimidating, but they are actually fairly easy to make. The end result will make it all worth it! Hope you will try it someday.
Yes please! These look and sound amazing!!
Thank you Bonnie! They are really great for party! 😉
I have always wanted to try these! On the menu for Thanksgiving! Thanks!
Thanksgiving will be a great time to try them! Your guests will go crazy for them! 😀
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!
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!
These look amazing!! Trying them soon
Thanks Chris! Hope you will like them!
Wow!! I will be making these for an upcoming Holiday party! I can’t wait – YUM
Thank you Diane! Your guests will love them! 🙂
Such gorgeous gougers!
Thank you Matthew! 🙂
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!!!
Sorry for the typo rsvp*
Hahaha!! You can come to my house any time! Party or not! 😀 I am sure your Thanksgiving dinner will turn out amazing too!
Yes, these cheese puffs look fancy, but they actually easy to make. Let me know if you tried them. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Oooh I love these! First of all your pictures are great! Second, these are so perfect for entertaining, but when I make them I never want to share. So yummy!
Thank you very much Heidi! Haha, true! They are too good to share. I hope I won’t eat them all before my guests arrive on Thanksgiving! 😛
Gruyere gougères are the best aren’t they!?! I remember these being one of the first recipes I made when I first got a DSLR camera for my food blog! Ah they;re so GOOD!
They are heavenly little bites! So good!
These are my favorite! Tiny, too, so you can eat a bunch!
Yes, one is no way enough! I had almost a dozen last time. 😛
Yum, I absolutely love these! They look perfect – just want to pick one up and bite into it.
Thanks Tina! They are so cute and tasty! I can’t wait to have some again on Thanksgiving day. 😉
These gougeres look delicious! Your pictures are stunning. I cannot wait to make these soon! 🙂
Thanks so much, Jess! Have fun and enjoy! Let me know how they go if you try it. 🙂
Oh mercy these look good! I’ve honestly never heard of cheese puffs, just cream puffs. They look great!!
Thank you Sarah! These are exactly like cream puffs, just with cheese! So good! Everyone loved them during our Thanksgiving dinner.
Even the morning after a Thanksgiving feast, I’m SO ready for these. YUM!
Hahaha! Thanks Valentina! Good thing is that you can make them ahead and freeze them. That way, you don’t have to eat them now. 🙂