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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I made these for Thanksgiving Appetizer last year, and WOW. I made them ahead of time, froze them, and used my toaster oven to cook them, keeping the oven free for the turkey. The whole family raved (granted, they were mostly drunk….but even completely sober these are exceptional). The next week my husband asked “how hard were those cheese puff things to make?” – a sure sign that he wants to eat them. We’ve kept some in the freezer on and off. They’re such an easy, fancy, comforting treat. Thank you for the clear instructions, informative pictures, and excellent recipe.
This review made me laugh. Thank you! Sounds like my family around the holidays 🙂
Can I use mozzarella instead? I just have mozzarella left in my fridge.
Hi Chia, Technically, it will work, but they won’t be nearly as flavorful.
I made this as an appetizer for our 34th anniversary dinner. Usually we would go out, but this year that’s not possible. This was as good as, or better than any restaurant appetizer I would have had, ond really not a lot of trouble to make. I beat it by hand because I couldn’t be bothered to get my stand mixer out, and it didn’t take long to come together. I use smoked old cheddar for the cheese and we really liked the flavour. Thanks for a great recipe!
First time I made these and they were perfect! Easy to follow directions. I froze them and cooked them frozen according to directions and they were crispy on the outside and moist and perfect inside. New favorite go-to recipe!
I made these for my daughter’s wedding shower. I was able to freeze the puffs and bake the day of the shower. Fantastic! Guests all wanted to know where I bought them! A very impressive bite served with bubbly. Festive and delicious 😋 thank you.
I just made these, and my husband and I enjoyed a couple fresh out of the oven with a glass of wine. They are superb! I could eat more, but I’ll be good.
Jenn, I have been making these since before you were born, but I forgot about them. So easy and so good. I put the dough in my food processor and I actually have frozen them both baked and unbaked. If unbaked, just defrost for 15 minutes and then bake for 30 minutes. Can’t remember, but I think that they might be better this way,
Thanking you for ths recipe, I tried making them but the minute I noticed the gougeres started puffing up nicely, they sunk miserably afterwards; what did I do wrong? I hadn’t opened the oven door.
Thanking you so much in advance!
Hi Veronique, Sorry to hear you had a problem with these. While these don’t rise super high (to about the height of a thick cookie) they shouldn’t deflate while still in the oven. If you try these again, you may want to try it with King Arthur all-purpose flour. I find I get the best results when baking with it. Or, if you don’t want to buy additional flour, you can use your current all-purpose flour but add few more tablespoons. Hope that helps and that you have better luck the second time around!
Hi. I just finished cooking these for 15 min on the top rack and for 12 to 13 min on lowest rack at back of rack. They puffed up nicely and were dark on the bottom almost but not quite burned. They tasted really good but how doughy should they be inside? I’m wondering if perhaps in spite of being nice and golden and dark on the bottom they may have been undercooked as my cook time on the bottom rack was less than you suggested. I’m wondering if I should reduce heat to 350 and bake a bit longer? I have some in the freezer that are raw that I plan to cook for company in a couple of days so would really appreciate your advice.
Hi Lesley, These actually do have kind of a doughy, eggy texture inside, so they may not have been undercooked. That said, if the outside was a little brown for your liking and you’d like them to cook a little more slowly, feel free to reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees.
Hello Jenn
I live in the UK and I would love to make the French puffs. Are you able to tell me how much milk in fluid ounces or millilitres. Many thanks Gail
Sorry about not including that, Gail — you’ll need 236 ml. (I just updated the recipe.) Hope you enjoy!
These were divine!! I’ve made gourgeres before, but these were the best I’ve done so far. I did tweak things a bit (like I usually do!); omitted the mustard and added about a heaping 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg. Sprinkled a tiny bit of the grated cheese on top before baking. Served them with a bourbon fig compote.