Gougères
Tags: Appetizer French
Yield: 12 people
- 1 c water
- ½ c unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- ½ c Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
- Preheat your oven to 450F.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour. Stir hard. The dough will clump and pull from the sides of the pan, continue cooking and stirring for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 2-3 minutes.
- Once the dough is warm, but not hot, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring hard or beating with an electric hand mixer after each addition to fully incorporate each egg before adding the next. (The batter will first become lumpy, but after a minute or two, it will become a smooth batter again.)
- Add the grated cheese. Stir or beat until well-mixed.
- On a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet, spoon or pipe roughly a tablespoon of batter. Wet your finger with water and pat down any peaks that form. (These will burn more easily.)
- Bake the Gougères for 10 minutes at 450F, then turn the oven down to 350F and bake for an additional 17-23 minutes, until they are nicely golden brown and feel firm when tapped.
- Let the Gougères cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. (The Gougères are best served warm.)
- To Reheat: If you want to make the Gougères ahead of time, you can warm them in a low (170F) oven for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- To Freeze For Later: Scoop the batter into individual Gougères on a baking sheet and freeze them for later. Once frozen, the Gougères can be removed from the baking sheet and stored in an airtight container. Thaw the Gougères on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before baking them per the recipe directions. They will need to bake an additional 5-10 minutes at 350F than indicated in the recipe above.
