Gougères Gruyère - French Appetizer Recipe

Gougères Gruyère is a French appetizer recipe that is not only a mouthful to pronounce but also a mouthful of cheesy deliciousness. 

Jump to:

• 🇫🇷 How to pronounce gougère and gruyère
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🤏 *How much is a pinch when listed under ingredients?
• 🍲 How to make it
• 🧺 Storage
• ❓ Why are mine not perfectly baked? They look like little pancakes!
• 📝 Recipe

When we think of finger food, French cuisine is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But when it comes to gourgères, even the French will make an exception.

But be warned, once you get the hang of making them, you'll always find an excuse to ask some friends over for a glass of bubbly with a side of savory gougères Gruyère. 

There's no translation for this addictive puff pastry. Instead, let's try a description: Gourgères are French cheese puffs, a doughy mixture of flour, butter, eggs, and cheese. They're easy to make, are best served warm, and can even be made in advance and reheated before serving. 

There are many local recipes for these tasty morsels. I like to use aged Swiss Gruyère and add a pinch of nutmeg. You can also use sharp cheddar cheese. 

A perfectly baked gougère should be crisp on the outside and soft and cheesy on the inside.

🇫🇷 How to pronounce gougère and gruyère

Because there's no English translation, we should probably try to pronounce gougère correctly (and might as well learn how to say Gruyère). Growing up in Switzerland, we learn French in school as our second language, plus Gruyère is also made in Switzerland, but for Viana, these two words sound like they’re coming from a part of your throat that's not used in the English language. Let's have some fun:

Gougère

Gruyère

🧾 Ingredients

• Milk
• Water
• Unsalted butter
• All purpose flour
• Eggs
• Gruyère cheese
• Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• Pinch of black pepper *
• Pinch of nutmeg * 
• Pinch of cayenne pepper *

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

🤏 *How much is a pinch when listed under ingredients?

A pinch of a dry ingredient (like spices or herbs) is the amount you pick up with your index finger and thumb. It's the equivalent of about ⅛ to 1/16 of a teaspoon. 

🍲 How to make it

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Cut the butter into small pieces and put in a saucepan with milk, water, and kosher salt. Bring to a boil. 

Add all of the flour at once, reduce heat, and stir with a wooden spoon.

After about 2 minutes, the dough will start drying out and pulling away from the pan. That's precisely what you want. This will make your gougères crispy on the outside. 

Scrape the dough into a mixing bowl and let cool for a couple of minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat them into the dough.

I like to use a wooden spoon, but you can also use an electric stand mixer. It might not look pretty initially (curdled), but no worries, it will all come together nicely in the end. Just keep beating those eggs. Mixing them with a wooden spoon takes a good five minutes and you'll feel the workout in your arm. 

That dough you just made also has a fancy name. It's called choux pastry. 

Once your dough looks happy, add cheese, Dijon mustard, black pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper, and mix again. 

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag with a ½” round tip and pipe tablespoon mounds two inches apart on the baking sheets. You can also use a spoon or a cookie scoop instead. 

Bake for about 25 minutes until they're nicely puffed up and golden brown. Gougères Gruyère are best served warm.

⭐ Tip: Most ovens tend to be hotter toward the back. I recommend turning the baking sheet(s) after about 15 minutes to ensure evening browning.

🧺 Storage

Once you make this French appetizer and are hooked, you can easily double or triple this recipe. Any leftovers can be frozen in a ziploc bag for a couple of months. Once the gougère craving hits you, heat some up in the oven at 350°F for a couple minutes.

❓ Why are mine not perfectly baked? They look like little pancakes!

If your gougères didn't turn out perfectly the first time, no worries, you probably made one of the following mistakes:

• Taking the dough off the heat while it's still too wet (patience, my friends)
• Adding the eggs before letting the dough cool down (scrambled eggs, anybody?)
• Adding too much egg (start by incorporating three eggs first - one at a time, then mixing well each time - to see if a fourth one is required)
• Adding too much cheese (yeah, I tried that...didn't work)
• Oven not at the correct temperature (pre-heat and have it at 400°F for a couple of minutes before adding the lined baking sheets)
• Making them too big (tempting, tried that one too...they turned out nicely golden brown and crispy on the outside but not so puffy on the inside)

Once you make this French appetizer and are hooked, you can easily double or triple this recipe. Any leftovers can be frozen in a ziploc bag for a couple of months. Once the gougère craving hits you, heat some up in the oven at 350°F for a couple minutes.

Do you love delicious food? Check out some more of our recipes now!

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• How To Make Homemade Bread
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Did you make these Gougères Gruyère? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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