Black Pepper–Manchego Cheese Puffs Recipe
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Technically called gougères, these French cheese puffs are normally made by folding lots of Gruyère into choux pastry dough for fluffy, light, cheesy bites. We changed it up by using aged Manchego, Parmesan, and a bit of black pepper, for addictive bites that will be a hit at your next cocktail party.
Game plan: The cheese puffs can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored at room temperature.
This recipe was featured as part of both our Academy Awards Cocktail Party menu and our Bar Snacks photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup shredded aged (3 to 6 months) Manchego cheese (about 3 ounces)
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange racks in the upper and lower third. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Combine milk, butter, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, add flour all at once, and stir vigorously until well incorporated. Cook, stirring constantly, until dough feels dry to the touch and is no longer sticking to the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes. (The dough will form one large ball.)
- Transfer dough to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in eggs one at a time on medium-low speed, letting the first one completely incorporate before adding the next. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the shredded Manchego cheese. Add remaining Manchego and Parmesan cheese to dough and mix on low until incorporated.
- Drop tablespoon-size rounds of dough on the prepared baking sheets, about 1/2 inch apart. Evenly sprinkle reserved Manchego cheese over top. Bake, rotating halfway through baking time, until puffed and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
I made these and they turned out more like pancakes than puffs...still a big hit though.
The manchego got lost in the mix. I think next time I will ditch the manchego all together and add more parm or maybe some other hard Ital. cheese.
I'd like to serve these as an additional appetizer for my guests on Christmas but the rest of my meal pairs perfectly with Pinot Noir and as far as I know, Pinot Noir and manchego don't really go well together. Could I use Edam instead of Manchego or would that throw the whole thing off because of the consistency?
These sound sinful. I'm in.
Great tips from everyone. I went with 1t of salt, used all of the Manchengo in the dough, did an egg glaze, and sprinkled the parm and some smoked salt (fume de sel - my favorite) on top. The tip to smooth the shape with wet fingers was a winner. I use an ice cream scoop to make the size uniform and the finished product was beautiful. I'd eat them every day if I could.
I made these last night -- they were perfect. And I'm not a baker. I didn't have to cook it too long on the stove, though. I had no problem with the recommended 1 tbsp of salt.
I'd like to use other cheeses, though (manchego can get pricey or tough to find). But you would definitely need to adjust the salt, depending on what you used (that aged gouda is a great idea).
Yum! Made these for my annual Xmas party this year and they never quite got out of the kitchen. People kept drifting in and noshing before I could get them on the buffet, so I just left them there!
I didn't get the usual shiny choux dough - not enough patience on the stove, I think? And I agree about the salt. I used 1-1/2 teaspoons, and the next time I think I'd use just 1.
thanks aida! you came through again. I resorted to Kosher salt... IMO was the way too go, just had to cut down about 1/4 of what recipe called for. You come through with some amazing recipes for cocktail, evening parties! I cannot get enought!
If they were "breadier" than you expected I suspect that you did not have enough egg. But then I am no expert.
If you are looking for a book, may I suggest "La Varenne Pratique" by Anne WIllan. Despite the French title it is in English.
My dough was smooth, but sticky. Too much egg? And, I didn't shape them, but dropped them off the spoon. The rose very nicely, but were "breadier" than I expected. I may have to do some reading and experiment with different techniques.
cuccubear, if the bigger ones resembled small biscuits there is a problem with the amount of egg. My gougere bible states, "If too little egg is added to the dough, it will not rise well. If too much egg is added to the dough, it cannot be shaped".
It also states: "Perfect choux dough should be like this: once the eggs have been beaten into the mixture, it should be smooth and shiny and just fall from the spoon".
I made these last night. Mixed with a wooden spoon and elbow grease and they turned out great! Dropping by spoonfuls made them irregularly shaped, some of the bigger ones resembling small biscuits. For my oven, I need to bake them longer, maybe 40 minutes. Very tasty addition to my “repertoire”.
After a few batches, I've had the best results from:
- subbing some water for milk (I've gone about 2/3 milk, 1/3 water)
- propping the oven door open for the last 15 minutes with a wooden spoon
They come out crispier on the outside, and they puff up better. I've been adding chives, too... yummy.
After the last batch, I froze half of them after baking. A few minutes at 350F wakes them right up. Have to be careful not to overcook when doing that though.
As a response to aldente1. I have frozen Gougeres many times and then just popped them in the oven to bake right before I'm about to eat them. I have also frozen baked Gougeres and then reheated. Both of these methods work, but I prefer the first method.
I would like to know if anyone has tried freezing these. If so, did you freeze them after they were cooked? Did you thaw them out to room temperature and reheat them in the oven? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Made them yesterday. Since I do very little baking, I try to treat it like science, without change at all. So here is where I changed it. I only had 2% milk, so I used it. I also cut the recipe in half, with 2 eggs plus one yolk. It all worked fine, they were great (they were done in about 25 minutes). I like the zip lock bag idea.
I'm new at this baking stuff, also. Just made these this weekend ( as practice for a party later this month-I'm tired of being the one who always brings the wine). The next time I will cut back on the salt (to one tsp- thank you Ora). And, per these suggestions, will use a plastic bag with the corner cut out to pipe out the dough. Main change: no cheese sprinkled on the top!
I make them with water too.
I sometimes stuff them after they are baked, with goat cheese, diced tomatoes, and tapenade.
Gah these sound good, but awfully salty even for me. I'm curious about the milk since I've always been taught to make puffs w/ water instead so as not to make the dough too soft.
RTMS---for cheese puffs without wheat flour, try making Brazilian pao de queijo. They are made with tapioca starch.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&am...
Wino, no you do not need to add sugar. You will get enough of a sugar buzz from the ice cream (home-made is best !) and the chocolate sauce (the best dark chocolate you can find combined with some whipping cream and some booze for wino-appeal :)
Do you need to add sugar to make that work?
BTW leave out the cheese and the salt and pepper, and bring on the ice cream and chocolate sauce..........and you have profiteroles.
Made these on Sunday. Substituted aged Gouda for the Manchego. They were delicious! Decided to blend in all the cheese rather than sprinkle on top. Next time I'll probably cut down the salt a little bit, not too much, and I'll make them a bit smaller (made them a bit too big this time).
I ended up using a combo of mixer & spoon/bicep. And I now understand why you add the last egg a little bit at a time...
My wife went out for a walk just as I was putting these in the oven. She came back right when I took them out. As soon as she opened the door the aroma hit her.... "oh, wow!" :-)
I normally use an egg glaze (beaten egg) on top, so they get nicely browned, before sprinkling the cheese. Also, even before the egg glaze, I smooth down any peaks with a finger dipped in cold water.
I sometimes stuff them with goat cheese, tomato, and tapenade.
I am surprised that the original recipe does not tell you to prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon after 15 minutes, to allow steam to escape. But if it works as is....
Thanks for the tips. I might also try just using a ziploc with the corner cut out to pipe the dough rather than using a spoon...
Depending on how these go I might try another version using some porcini/black truffle paste.....
Wino, use the regular beaters, not the dough hook. I have made gougeres many times, and have always used a wooden spoon and biceps. That way I can control the texture of the paste; I add the last egg a little bit at a time.
I sometimes mix in some chives or green onions
I made this for a party last weekend. My first time ever making (not eating) gougères and it was easy and delicious. I have to say though that I did cut down the salt and wish I had not. Stick to the original recipe. I did add a few more cheeses like gruyere and monterey jack.
Also did not have a paddle mixer, so used a regular hand mixer (with the whisk attachment) and good ole wooden spoon powered by biceps.
Being a bit of a newbie to this kind of thing - I have a hand mixer, which does not have a paddle attachment. It comes with dough hooks and regular beaters. I'm assuming the dough hooks would be a decent substitute for the paddle.... would this work???
If you substitute olive oil, you probably want to do an olive oil/water mix. Butter is 20% water, so switching to straight fat would definitely throw off the amount of liquid in the final product. I'd do about 91g of oil and 23g of water.
I say leave the salt as is and you have EPIC beer snacks to pair with a nice red or ipa. I'm gonna try these. Thanks!
I have made gougeres lots of times, but don't like peppery-hot stuff. I use chives (or scallions) in mine. Adds a nice flavour variation.
Gourmandadventurer, I have not tried it but imagine that substituting olive oil for half the butter would be no problem. Just thought of something else - you could also try it with a touch of truffle oil.
Kosher and sea salt are a lot different from table salt ... but I agree you could cut it down to 1/2T
I can't see why so much salt is suggested in this very cheesy recipe. I wouldn't use more than .5 tsp to 1 tsp salt!
These were excellent. I used much less salt than the recipe called for. And I added all the cheese to the batter instead of using some as a topping. It was hard to stop eating them!
Knowing I'd eat half the batch I wonder if there's any way to use some olive oil instead of half the butter. Any experts on that to weigh in? This looks awesome. I'd use sea salt.
have to agree with souschef; both manchego and parmesan are pretty salty on their own. And I *love* salt.
I wonder what gougere with non-wheat flour would be like. Has anyone tried?
Sounds like way too much salt.