Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (2024)

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Learn how to use pate a choux pastry to make this cheddar cheese puff recipe or gougere as they are classically called. Light and airy on the inside and a little crisp on the outside. Traditional gougere usesGruyerecheese, but I used sharp cheddar here. Anyshred-able cheese will do!

I feel like I need to start this post out with an apology. An apology that the week of Pate a Choux has turned into a week two of Pate a Choux. I had posts lined up for you last week that have now spilled over into this week.

Treats that had been made and photographed and waiting for me to edit and share with you. But time and energy just didn’t allow it. And I hope you can forgive me.

Just to give you a few excuses about why all the Pate a Choux didn’t get shared last week: it has something to do with the fact that I’m in school full time, while working, and trying to devote a lot of time to this blogging passion I have, and be a decent wife and cat mother.

But mostly it has to do with me trying to detox from caffeine. I say this to you while drinking a cup of coffee at 6pm. But me drinking coffee at 6pm IS me trying to detox from caffeine. Because I had gotten to the point where I needed several cups of coffee AND several energy drinks in one day to function. Which is not okay. Don’t do that.

Take my advice. And never drink a Rockstar Energy Drink, ever. That stuff is crack in a can. You drink a Rockstar and realize you FEEL like a rockstar and game over. Addicted. Just don’t. So I’ve cut back to just two cups of black coffee a day for now. I will cut back more, but so far this much is hell and my body isn’t happy about it. But I know it will be better soon.

Okay, excuses over. On to the Pate a Choux Part Deux!

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (2)

If you are just tuning into this series we are talking Pate a Choux and All it Can Do! Which is a lot! We’re continuing this week with a few more recipes about this amazing pastry dough and just how versatile it can be.

Check out the rest of the series here:

How to Make Basic Pate a Choux

Eclairs with Espresso Glaze and Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Homemade Beignets

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (3)

The last two applications with our pate a choux have been sweet. We talked about adding a few TBSP of sugar to the batter for sweet applications.

Today we’re going savory. This time we will leave out the sugar and add some salt, cheddar cheese, and fresh thyme to make these savory cheesy puffs. In France they call these gougère. I had no clue how to pronounce that and so I elected to call them cheese puffs.

But then I made google tell me how to say it and it sounds fancy. Click here to listen… So fancy. Also note the difference between how google says it in French and in English. Why is English google translate’s voice so much less sexy? We already have the less sexy accent. Can’t you just give us a sexy voice, google! Rude. I digress.

The French would probably roll their eyes at me for calling these cheese puffs, or even worse, cheese poofs! They might also tell me that these are traditionally made with gruyere cheese. Okay, I know! I know! But I had sharp cheddar in my refrigerator so that’s what we went with. Use whatever hard cheese makes you happy!

Side note: I can’t tell you how many times I wrote “cheese puggs” instead of “puffs” while writing this post. I promise we aren’t eating pugs. Not even cheese flavored ones.

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (4)

These are airy little bites of cheesy heaven. They would be the perfect substitute for biscuits or rolls as a side dish, or as a little snack all on their own. I think I may start making these more often than biscuits for dinner because I like how you don’t have to roll the dough out and get flour all over the counter, the floor, your shirt, in your hair… Is that just me? Probably.

You can use a pastry bag to pipe them out, or you can use a little scooper like I did and just scoop the dough. You could even use two spoons to drop mounds on the baking sheets. Crazy easy. And if you have a dinner party call them gougèreto your dinner guests and they will be super impressed. Especially if you use that sexy French accent.

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (5)

Yield: About 20 Cheese Puffs

Sharp Cheddar and Thyme Cheese Puffs (Gougere)

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time18 minutes

Total Time33 minutes

Learn how to use pate a choux pastry to make this cheddar cheese puff recipe or gougere as they are classically called. Light and airy on the inside and a little crisp on the outside. Traditional gougere usesGruyerecheese, but I used sharp cheddar here. Anyshred-able cheese will do!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (8 oz, 236.6 mL) water
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz, 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup (4.5 oz, 127 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 TBSP fresh thyme, finely minced

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats and set aside.
  2. Place water, butter, and salt in a sauce pot over medium high heat. Stir until butter is melted and everything comes to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Add flour into the mixture all at once while stirring quickly. Continue to stir and cook off the moisture in the dough until it pulls away from the sides and starts to form into a ball. This should take about a minute.
  4. Place dough into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl if using a hand mixer. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
  5. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add eggs in one at a time. Do not add another egg until the one before has been completely absorbed into the batter. The batter will look smooth and glossy when ready. (Alternatively, you can mix in the eggs by hand. This just takes a bit longer. Mix each egg until completely absorbed before adding the next).
  6. Mix in the cheese and the thyme.
  7. Pipe or scoop the batter onto prepared baking sheets keeping at least 2" apart. Place baking sheet in the oven and turn the heat up to 450F for 8 minutes (do not open the oven). Turn the heat down to 350F and continue to bake for 8-10 more minutes. They should be puffed and airy on the inside and crusty on the outside.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 89

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Puff Recipe Using Pate a Choux- Baker Bettie (2024)

FAQs

What does pate a choux mean? ›

noun. (ˌ)pä-tä-ˈshü : a very light dough used to make pastries : choux pastry. … the French pastry dough pate a choux, which is also responsible for cream puffs and eclairs.

What are cheddar cheese puffs made of? ›

Cheese puffs, cheese curls, cheese balls, cheese ball puffs, cheesy puffs, or corn curls are a puffed corn snack, coated with a mixture of cheese or cheese-flavored powders. They are manufactured by extruding heated corn dough through a die that forms the particular shape.

Is choux pastry the same as cream puffs? ›

Pate a Choux or Cream Puff Pastry--It's All the Same Simple Recipe. Whether it's called pate a choux, choux paste or cream puff pastry, the recipe is the same. This simple mixture of butter, water, salt, flour and eggs, when properly combined, bakes into golden brown cream puff and eclair shells.

What are the mistakes when making choux pastry? ›

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

What is the most important ingredient in choux pastry? ›

The essential ingredients are butter, water, flour and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.

What is the best flour for choux pastry? ›

I've written the recipe using plain (all-purpose) flour as it's the most accessible flour globally and one that most will have in their pantry. That said, choux pastry can also be made with bread or cake flour. Bread flour has a higher protein and gluten content, resulting in a sturdier pastry shell.

Why does my pâte à choux taste eggy? ›

Pâte à Choux is too Eggy

This is a problem if the recipes calls for too many eggs. The solution is make another batch with one less eggs to see if that fixed the problem. Also, if the puffs do not bake long enough, then they may taste slightly eggy because the insides haven't cooked long enough.

What does choux mean in slang? ›

Pronounced "shoo," the word chou can be used to describe a cabbage or as a term of endearment akin to "darling" or "dear."

What are cheese puffs called in England? ›

Wotsits is a British brand of cheese flavoured corn puffs sold first by Golden Wonder and now by Walkers Crisps. The most common form is the "Really Cheesy" flavour of corn puffs.

What do Americans call choux pastry? ›

Pâte à choux is a classic French dough that's used to make a wide range of pastries, from cream puffs to éclairs to cheesy gougères and more. Choux (pronounced like “shoe”) means cabbages in French; the baked puffs resemble small cabbages.

What is choux in English? ›

(ʃuː ) a very light pastry made with eggs, used for eclairs, etc. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Word origin.

What are 2 types of choux pastry? ›

Choux pastry dishes
NameTypeOrigin
Cream puffSweetU.S.
CroquemboucheSweetFrance
ÉclairSweetFrance
GougèreSavoryFrance
17 more rows

What 3 things do you look for to tell if your choux pastry is ready? ›

Your dough should be shiny and smooth.

You will know it's ready when the pastry has a consistency that slowly closes in on itself once the spoon has passed through. Your choux ball is ready when you have a skin at the bottom of the pan, which takes about 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

What is the best consistency for choux? ›

Pour in the final addition of beaten eggs very slowly. Stop adding when the choux pastry has reached the desired texture: shiny, thick, and smooth with a pipeable consistency. I usually leave a few teaspoons of beaten egg behind, which can be used with the egg wash.

Is choux pastry better with water or milk? ›

In many instances you can use one or the other in the same choux recipe without issue, though it can be useful to take advantage of a milk-based choux's enhanced browning when baking smaller pastries like chouquettes and éclairs, allowing you to achieve a good level of color development without risk of over-baking the ...

How do you keep choux crispy? ›

Shelf-life & Refeshing your Choux

You can keep the Choux in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They will feel soggy when you take them out so it's important to put them in a 175°C oven for about 5 minutes. That will dry and crisp them back up. ..But I suggest to use,the same day you make them, so much better.

References

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