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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Made these for an ‘Apéro’ hour with new neighbors and they were fantastic. Your recipes are absolutely the best—every caution, alert, tip is always included which really helps the baker/cook know what to expect.
These are definitely best out of the oven. I might add just a little more cheese—and make them a tad smaller for one-bite consumption, but these are absolutely a keeper. Elegant, easy and impressive!
“Puffection” Thanks Jenn for the tip on drier dough for puffier puffs. First time making the gougères, friends were amazed at how puffy they turned out. I come from a family of bakers and this recipe turned out great. Recipe is a keeper!
Help!! I am baking these from the freezer and they are getting too brown well before the time is up and are not all the way done in the middle. I have lowered my oven temp and still getting too brown and less done in the middle than they were.
Hi Tracie, I’m sorry you’re having a problem with them! I’d loosely cover them with foil to stop the browning until they’re fully cooked in the center.
Once again, Jenn Segal shows us (if you follow her directions!) how easy and delicious her recipes are. Someone commented that theirs did not turn out right and another mentioned that the additional 2 minutes of stirring is the key to success. Jenn said that drier dough makes them fluff up better. So make sure and set your timer for 2 minutes and keep STIRRING. You can see the steam coming out of the dough and then it stops. But don’t skimp on those 2 minutes. Mine came out perfectly, were delicious and had those nice air pockets in them! I made the dough on Friday morning, put it in the fridge and made them in the evening for a dinner party. I have kept the left over dough in the fridge and today is Sunday and I made a few for lunch and it was so nice to realize that you can keep it in the fridge and they still come out great 2 days later!
I made these for company a couple days ago. Outstanding, delicious recipe. Very easy to make even though I do not have a stand mixer. Rave reviews from my guests. Have some left over in the freezer for future use. Perfect for entertaining. Thank you Jenn, love, love your recipes. Have told all my friends about your website.
I just made these, and I followed the instructions to a T and they turned out burnt tasting. Is this normal?
Hi Maddie, I’m sorry you had a problem with these! They shouldn’t taste burnt. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe? Did the exteriors appear to be overly browned?
Can these be served at the dinner table instead of dinner rolls or are they best as an appetizer? Thank you.
They’re definitely richer than dinner rolls, but it would be fine to serve them in that way.
Have you made these with gluten free flour?
I’ve never tried it, Sally – but perhaps other readers will weigh in if they’ve tried it.
I am getting ready to make these and I am curious why the recipe has the butter cut into 4 pieces? I didn’t see anywhere that suggested adding little at a time. Did I miss something?
Thanks.
Hi Donna, I only cut it into 4 pieces so it will melt faster. Hope that clarifies!
I wanted to make this for a snack but there are only two of us now, and I wondered if you think they could be made cream-puff size to fill with chicken salad or shrimp salad for a lunch. I’m so tempted to try using some of the dough that way.
I do that that would work — great idea!
These are the best . I’ve made them a few times . Really easy and lovely . However I just made them and for some reason this time they stuck to the parchment paper . I never had that problem before . Wonder why ?
That’s strange! Are you sure you used parchment and not wax paper?
Nope used parchment
That’s so strange as parchment should really be nonstick. Did you use a different brand than you’ve used in the past?