Gruyere Puff Recipes

GOUGèRES (FRENCH CHEESE PUFFS)

Steps:

• Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Bring the milk, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat to medium and, using a wooden spoon, immediately start stirring energetically. The dough will form into a ball and there will be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another two minutes or so to dry the dough: Dry dough will make puffier puffs.
• Turn the dough out into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a minute to cool, then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating on medium speed until each one is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as though it's separating or falling apart -- just keep going, and by the time the egg white goes in, the dough will be smooth. Beat in the mustard, followed by the cheese. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.
• Scoop or spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized balls of dough (I use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop), and drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds. (The scooped dough can be frozen on the baking sheets.)
• Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375°F. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the gougères are puffed, golden, and firm enough to pick up, another 15 to 17 minutes. Serve immediately -- these are best directly from the oven. Storing: Although the puffs are best served hot out of the oven, they are still nice (although flatter) at room temperature that same day. If you want to keep baked puffs longer, freeze them and then reheat in a 350°F-oven for a few minutes.
• Make-Ahead/Freezer Instructions: Scoop the dough and freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then pack them in an airtight container. You can bake them straight from the freezer; just give them a few more minutes in the oven.
• Note/Variation: Dorie adds ⅔ cup walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted and chopped, to these gougères. My family prefers them without nuts but it's a nice variation to try. Add them along with the cheese.

GRUYèRE PUFF

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt and pepper in bowl until smooth. Stir in cheese.
• In 9-inch ovenproof skillet, melt butter. Swirl to coat all sides. Pour in batter. Transfer to oven. Bake until puffed and dark golden, 30 minutes. Sprinkle with salt, serve hot.

GRUYERE CHEESE PUFFS (GOUGèRES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• , cut the butter into small cubes. In a medium saucepan, pour water, milk, place the butter and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat. Once the butter is melted, remove the pan from heat and stir in the sifted flour. Stir the flour in with a wooden spatula until the mixture is smooth. Bring the pan over medium heat and stir the preparation with the spatula to dry it out. Once the mixture easily comes away from the sides and the saucepan's bottom, it is ready to remove from heat. Transfer the pate a choux to a bowl of the stand mixer with a flat beater attachment and let it cool for 1 to 2 minutes. Using the low speed, add eggs, one at a time. Before adding the next one, wait until the first egg is well incorporated into the dough. Add cheese and season with pepper and nutmeg. Mix well.
• Place the pate a choux dough in a pastry bag with Ateco plain pastry tip 806 and pipe about 28 mounds. Using a silicone brush, brush puffs with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with the grated cheese on top of each puff and bake the gougeres for 25 to 30 minutes.

GRUYERE-MUSHROOM PUFF PASTRY BITES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray cups of two 12-cup mini muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until the edges of the onion begin to brown and caramelize, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, and cook until mushrooms are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer vegetables to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon.
• Roll out puff pastry sheet into a horizontal rectangle on a large, lightly floured cutting board. Use a pizza slicer to cut pastry into 4 rows horizontally and 6 rows vertically so that you have 24 (2 1/2-inch) squares. Press each dough square into each mini muffin cup and prick with the tines of a fork.
• Divide mushroom mixture amongst pastry cups. Top with shredded Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle with thyme.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is puffed up and the corners are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 3 minutes before transferring the bites to a serving dish.

GRUYERE CHEESE PUFFS

Steps:

• Adjust rack in lower third of oven; preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour a large baking sheet. Cut the cheese into/4-inch cubes.
• Bring the water and butter to a rolling boil in a saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture is smooth and comes together in a ball. Transfer mixture to a bowl to cool slightly. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the bacon, parsley and cheese cubes.
• Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip and pipe out small mounds, 1-inch in diameter (about 2 teaspoons each), on the prepared baking sheet. Leave about 1-inch space between each mound to allow for expansion. (Or spoon small mounds onto prepared baking sheet.).
• Bake 25 to 35 minutes, or until golden. For crisper puffs, pierce sides with tip of paring knife, return to oven and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer.
• Serve hot. Or cool on wire rack, store in a sturdy plastic container with a tight-fitting lid and freeze up to 2 weeks.
• To recrisp, place frozen cheese puffs on a baking sheet in a preheated 325-degree oven until hot, about 10 minutes.