Gougères (French Cheese Puffs)
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Gougères are savory French cheese puffs—the perfect appetizer to enjoy with sparkling wine or cocktails.
Oh so French, gougères are savory cheese puffs made from pâte à choux, or cream-puff dough, with a generous amount of cheese folded in. Slightly warm with a crisp shell and a cheesy, pillowy interior, they’re the perfect little bite to pop in your mouth between sips of sparkling wine or cocktails. This version comes from Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan. Dorie, who lives part-time in Paris, writes that gougères have been her signature nibble for guests for 20 years: “It’s a testament to their goodness that I’m still crazy about them after all the thousands—truly, thousands of them—that I’ve baked.”
Gougères are best served warm from the oven, so Dorie suggests keeping the scooped dough in the freezer, ready to bake. You can slide them into the oven straight from the freezer before your guests arrive; just allow a few extra minutes in the oven.
What You’ll Need To Make Gougères
- Low-Fat Milk (or Whole Milk + Water): Helps create a lighter dough that puffs up beautifully in the oven.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds richness and flavor, making each puff tender and flaky.
- Salt: Enhances the overall flavor and balances the richness of the cheese.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the structure of the dough, giving the puffs their signature texture.
- Large Eggs: Provide moisture, structure, and help the dough rise for light, airy puffs.
- Egg White: Adds extra lift to make the puffs light.
- Dijon Mustard: Adds a subtle tang that complements the cheese.
- Grated Cheese (Comté, Gruyère, or Cheddar): Gives the puffs a rich, cheesy flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, bring the milk, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat.
Add the flour all at once. 
Lower the heat to medium and start stirring energetically with a wooden spoon.
The dough will form into a ball and there will be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another two minutes or so to dry the dough: Dry dough makes puffier puffs.
Turn the dough out into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon and elbow grease).
Let the dough sit for a minute to cool. Then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating on medium speed until each one is incorporated before adding the next.
The dough may look as though it’s separating or falling apart. Just keep going, and by the time the egg white goes in, the dough will be beautiful.
Beat in the mustard, then add the cheese. 
Mix to combine.
Give the dough a last mix-through by hand. Scoop or spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized balls of dough and drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds.
Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375°F. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the gougères are puffed, golden, and firm enough to pick up, another 15 to 17 minutes.
Serve immediately — these are best directly from the oven.
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Gougères (French Cheese Puffs)
Gougères are savory French cheese puffs—the perfect appetizer to enjoy with sparkling wine or cocktails.
Ingredients
- 1 cup low-fat milk (or ½ cup whole milk + ½ cup water)
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 cups coarsely grated cheese, such as Comté, Gruyère and/or sharp cheddar
Instructions
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bring the milk, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat to medium and, using a wooden spoon, immediately start stirring energetically. The dough will form into a ball and there will be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another two minutes or so to dry the dough: Dry dough will make puffier puffs.
- Turn the dough out into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a minute to cool, then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating on medium speed until each one is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as though it's separating or falling apart -- just keep going, and by the time the egg white goes in, the dough will be smooth. Beat in the mustard, followed by the cheese. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.
- Scoop or spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized balls of dough (I use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop), and drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds. (The scooped dough can be frozen on the baking sheets.)
- Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375°F. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the gougères are puffed, golden, and firm enough to pick up, another 15 to 17 minutes. Serve immediately -- these are best directly from the oven. Storing: Although the puffs are best served hot out of the oven, they are still nice (although flatter) at room temperature that same day. If you want to keep baked puffs longer, freeze them and then reheat in a 350°F-oven for a few minutes.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer Instructions: Scoop the dough and freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then pack them in an airtight container. You can bake them straight from the freezer; just give them a few more minutes in the oven.
- Note/Variation: Dorie adds ⅔ cup walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted and chopped, to these gougères. My family prefers them without nuts but it's a nice variation to try. Add them along with the cheese.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (30 servings)
- Serving size: 1 Gougère
- Calories: 92
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 82 mg
- Cholesterol: 43 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Just another top notch recipe. It was my first time to ever make a pate a choux dough before and it turned out great for our Christmas celebration at the in-laws.
Your recipe says to bake and serve right away…I would like to bake them and take with me to a dinner party, total time from oven to table 20-30 mins…would they be ruined or okay?
Thank you!
Hi Donna, they are best right out of the oven. They will still be good after 20 – 30 minutes – they’ll just be a bit flatter. Hope you enjoy!
So easy, yet so elegant. Great addition to our dinner party!
I made these last night and served them with tomato soup instead of bread. Delicious!
I just made these. They fell flat and were incredibly salty. I followed the recipe exactly.
Hi Judy, So sorry you had trouble with these. I’m curious, what type of cheese did you use? I made them a few times with gruyère and didn’t find them to be too salty, however I did notice that the recipe calls for more salt than Dorie’s other gougères recipe in her previous book, Around My French Table). I have reduced the amount of salt just in case. The key to making them puffy is drying out the dough on the stovetop, so next time give them a little more time. Hope that helps!
Will 2% milk work?
Yep!
Do you think there would be any problem making these with plain soy milk?
Hi Erica, I think soy milk will be fine. Enjoy!
Can I use a hand mixer for these?
Sure, Tracey – you’ll just need to increase the mixing time a bit.
I have a holiday party coming up and these will be perfect! If you can’t find Comte or gruyere cheese in your local grocery store and you want a similar flavor profile what would you recommend besides sharp cheddar?
Hi Victorie, You could try emmental or jarlsberg but I think sharp cheddar is the best option.
Can I use almond milk instead or low fat or whole? Thanks!
Hi Simone, I haven’t tried this with almond milk, so I can’t say for sure, but I suspect it should work. Please LMK how they turn out if you try them!