Easy Cheese Puffs (Gougères)

These delicious & easy to make choux pastry Cheese Puffs or French Gougères are light, cheesy and super moreish. Perfect party nibbles to accompany drinks, impressive appetizer or just something little to snack on - you decide! 

If you are looking for quick and easy yet impressive and most of all delicious little appetizer or party food to serve with drinks then you've come to the right place. I can assure you that these classic Cheese Puffs or French Gougères will tick all your boxes and make your guests very happy indeed!

What are Gougères?

These little cheese puffs are French in origin and are simply savoury choux pastry rounds/puffs/ bites flavoured with cheese (mainly Gruyère, Comté, or Emmental). They are perfect served at room temperature with wine as an appetizer or warmed as a first course. These delicious cheese puffs come in different sizes from tiny bite-sized morsels to larger ones which are brilliant for filling with even more creamy cheeses, pâtés or light salads.

Ingredients for making Cheese Puffs

What I love about this cheese puffs recipe is that you only need a handful of ingredients to make them and it's highly likely you already have them in your kitchen.

Water - There are recipes that call for milk or mixture of milk and water but I have been using just water which in my opinion gives you the lightest cheese puffs.

Plain (All-Purpose) Flour 

Large Eggs - Make sure they are at room temperature.

Butter or Baking Spread - I have been using unsalted butter to make my cheese puffs for years until one time I run out and decided to use baking spread instead and see what happens. It worked perfectly fine and nobody could tell the difference. These days I tend to use whatever I've got in the fridge.

Cheese - I love the flavour of French Gruyère and Comté cheeses which are perfect for these cheese puffs. For more budget friendly option, feel free to use mature cheddar which works really well and makes cracking Gougères! For added cheesiness feel free to sprinkle a little grating of parmesan on top of each cheese puff before they go in the oven!

Salt & Pepper

Herbs & Spices - I like to add some smoked paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper to my cheese puffs for that extra touch but you can keep them super simple seasoned with nothing else but salt and pepper or try adding some chopped chives to the dough for a bit of colour and that cheese and onion flavour, soo good!

Storing and freezing Cheese Puffs (Gougères)

These little cheese puffs are best eaten on a day they are baked, still slightly warm or at room temperature. However, they do freeze beautifully both baked and unbaked so not only you don't need to worry about the waste but they are also perfect to make ahead and store in the freezer for when you need them.

To freeze them unbaked, simply scoop or pipe them onto the baking sheet lined with baking paper and pop in the freezer. Once frozen transfer them to freezer friendly bag for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen adding couple of extra minutes baking time.

To freeze baked cheese puffs simply put them in a freezer bag as soon as they are cool and place in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, reheat them (from frozen) in the oven preheated to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 6-8 minutes. Let them cool slightly on a cooling rack and serve immediately.

Just two more tips

1. You can make your cheese puffs look really pretty and uniform if you pipe them onto the baking tray.
2. Hand blender or stand mixer come really handy when it comes to beating the eggs into the dough although you can achieve the same result by vigorously beating them with a wooden spoon. Always look for smooth, silky and glossy finish.

How to make Cheese Puffs (Gougères) - Step-By-Step Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
• Put water, butter, salt and pepper in a medium size saucepan and bring to boil.
• Add flour and any spices you're using and mix vigorously with wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a nice big lump. Flatten it in a pan to make it cool down quicker and set aside.
• Once your dough had couple of minutes to cool start adding your eggs one at a time and mixing them in with a hand blender/stand mixer (or by hand using wooden spoon) until your dough becomes smooth and glossy.

• Once you've mixed in all the eggs it's time to add the cheese. Mix it in with your wooden spoon until incorporated.
• Scoop a heaped tablespoon of dough onto prepared baking sheet making sure that you leave 4-5cm (2inches) between portions to allow the cheese puffs to rise and expand.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, lower temperature to 180C/350F/ Gas Mark 4 and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until puffed up and light golden.
• Remove from the oven, cool slightly on the cooling rack and serve immediately!

📋 Recipe

Print Pin

5 from 9 votes

Easy Cheese Puffs (Gougères)

These delicious & easy to make choux pastry Cheese Puffs or French Gougères are light, cheesy and super moreish. Perfect party nibble to accompany drinks, impressive appetizer or just something little to snack on – you decide! 

Course Appetizer, Party Food, Snack, Starter

Cuisine French

Keyword Cheese Puffs, Gougeres

Equipment

• Saucepan*
• Wooden Spoon*
• Hand Mixer*
• Stand Mixer*
• Square Baking Tray 26cm/10inch*
• Baking Paper*

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 24 cheese puffs

Calories 76kcal

Author Jo Allison

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

• 250 ml water see notes
• 75 g unsalted butter or baking spread
• 125 g plain (all-purpose) flour
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 125 g grated cheese (mature cheddar, gruyere, comte)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika optional
• pinch of cayenne pepper optional
• freshly ground pepper
• freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle on top of cheese puffs before baking optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
• Put water, butter, salt and pepper in a medium size saucepan and bring to boil.
• Add flour and any spices you’re using and mix vigorously with wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a nice big lump. Flatten it in a pan to make it cool down quicker and set aside.
• Once your dough had couple of minutes to cool start adding your eggs one at a time and mixing them in with a hand blender/standing mixer (or by hand using wooden spoon) until your dough becomes smooth and glossy.
• Once you’ve mixed in all the eggs it’s time to add the cheese. Mix it in with your wooden spoon until incorporated.
• Scoop a heaped tablespoon of dough onto prepared baking sheet making sure that you leave 4-5cm (2inches) between portions to allow the cheese puffs to rise and expand.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, lower temperature to 180C/350F/ Gas Mark 4 and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until puffed up and light golden.
• Remove from the oven, cool slightly on the cooling rack and serve immediately!

Notes

• Nutritional information is approximate, per cheese puff and should be treated as a guideline only.
• Some recipes use milk or mixture of milk and water instead. I find using just water produces the lightest cheese puffs.
• I like to add some smoked paprika or pinch of cayenne pepper to my cheese puffs for that extra touch but you can keep them super simple seasoned with nothing else but salt and pepper or try adding some chopped chives to the dough for a bit of colour and that cheese and onion flavour.
• You can make your cheese puffs look really pretty and uniform if you pipe them onto the baking tray.
• Hand blender or standing mixer come really handy when it comes to beating the eggs into the dough although you can achieve the same result by vigorously beating them with a wooden spoon. Always look for smooth, silky and glossy finish.

Storing and Freezing

They are best eaten on a day they are baked, still slightly warm or at room temperature. However, they do freeze beautifully both baked and unbaked so not only you don’t need to worry about the waste but they are also perfect to make ahead and store in the freezer for when you need them.

To freeze them unbaked, simply scoop or pipe them onto the baking sheet lined with baking paper and pop in the freezer. Once frozen transfer them to freezer friendly bag for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen adding couple of extra minutes baking time.

To freeze baked cheese puffs simply put them in a freezer bag as soon as they are cool and place in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, reheat them (from frozen) in the oven preheated to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 6-8 minutes. Let them cool slightly on a cooling rack and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Easy Cheese Puffs (Gougères)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 76 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 3g15%

Cholesterol 47mg16%

Sodium 95mg4%

Potassium 24mg1%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 192IU4%

Calcium 44mg4%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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