French Cheese Puffs (Gougeres)

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5 from 1 vote

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Calories: 174kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Baking sheet
Baking parchment
#40 disher (looks like an ice cream scooper with a spring handle) optional or piping bag

Ingredients

2 ounces unsalted butter
½ cup milk
½ cup gluten-free flour blend or white whole wheat flour
1 pinch sea salt
2 large eggs
2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese plus extra to top if desired
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Instructions

Ready all ingredients and tools before you start as this goes quickly. Pre-heat oven to 400° for wheat flour or 350° for gluten-free flours. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place butter in a medium saucepan and melt over low heat. When butter is melted, add the milk, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. When the milk and butter get to a full boil, dump in the flour and salt all at once. Turn heat down to medium-low and stir like mad with a wooden spoon. Stir, beat and fold until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, 1-2 minutes. Move the dough to a medium bowl and cool 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add eggs, one at a time to the bowl, stirring like mad after each one until completely incorporated. It will look like a slimy mess for the first minute but keep stirring. The dough will come together. Lastly stir in the cheese and chives.
With a #40 disher, piping bag with plain tip or tablespoon, drop portions of pastry onto parchment lined baking sheets. Sprinkle a little extra Parmesan on top if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Check the puffs early and watch them as ovens and timing vary. Allow puffs to stand for a few minutes after baking. Serve immediately or cool completely and place in an airtight container. Puffs can be made a day ahead and served at room temperature or warmed in the oven for a few minutes.

Notes

Flour Options:

I've made gougeres with white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, gluten-free flour blend or homemade gluten-free blend (see note at end). I prefer organic flours for baking.

Homemade GF Flour Blend

If you want to blend your own GF flour, here is my recipe for using with gougeres. With a digital scale, weigh out 40 grams brown rice flour, 35 grams sweet rice flour, 25 grams quinoa flour, 20 grams cornstarch and 24 grams tapioca flour.

Whisk together until well blended. You can do it all in one bowl using the tare feature. I used all Bobs Red Mill flours. This makes enough for several batches of gougeres.

Use 72 grams for whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour blend.

Nutrition