My Newest Gougères | Everyday Dorie

Dorie Greenspan latest cookbook, her 13th, is out. “My newest gougères” is from her new book, Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook. In this book, Dorie shares with us everyday recipes that are both practical and adaptable. She also encourages us to vary and personalize the recipes to fit our own style. That’s liberating. So this is an attempt to turn Dorie’s gougères into “my very own newest gougères.”

My intention is to lighten the recipe, which means reduced dairy and gluten. In other words, to make the gougères more wholesome and healthful. To that end, I substitute cow milk with almond milk. Use a 50/50 mix of whole-grain rye and all-purpose flour. There is every reason to believe the substitutions should work seamlessly. But you don’t know until you try it.

I’ve made a similar savory gourgères before. Like the way they look and taste. Similarly, I’m hoping that these cheesy gougères would be just as delicious. Dorie injects an interesting kick in the dough by adding Dijon mustard and chopped walnuts. Sounds delectable.

The gourgères do not puff up and smooth out as much as I’ve expected. It could be the way I shaped the gougères, the amount of cheese or the way I grated it. (I piped them instead of using a cookie scoop.) Moreover, I might have overbaked them since the crust was on the thick side with a slight burnt flavor. By all counts, these are not light bites. You get filled up rather quickly. Next time, I might vary in the direction of reducing the two cups of Gruyère by one half.

What I like about “my newest gougères” is Dorie’s suggestion of freezing and then baking the shaped puffs directly from freezer to oven. That way, I’d always have some wonderful gougères ready to be served in a moment’s notice. Once again, practicality prevails. I like the way Dorie is going with her new book.

Please see how our friends at Cook-the-Book-Fridays are celebrating the release of Everyday Dorie. There is tremendous excitement surrounding the inauguration bake. I’m grateful the administrators and the group are making it possible for us to compare notes and share the joy of cooking.

Sprinkle more Gruyère and cheesy goodness on top.

Print Recipe

My Newest Gougères

Serves: makes 60 gougéres

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup (120 grams) almond milk
• 1⁄2 cup (120 grams) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 cup (136 grams) 50/50 all-purpose flour and rye flour mix
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 large egg white, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (preferably French)
• 2 cups (170 grams) coarsely grated cheese, such as Comté, Gruyère and/or sharp cheddar
• 2⁄3 cup (80 grams) walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

Instructions

1

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2

Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat and immediately start stirring energetically with a heavy spoon or whisk. The dough will form a ball and there’ll be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes or so to dry the dough. Dry dough will make puffy puffs.

3

Turn the dough into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a minute, then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating until each egg is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as though it’s separating or falling apart but just keep working; by the time the white goes in, the dough will be beautiful. Beat in the mustard, followed by the cheese and the walnuts. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.

4

Scoop or spoon out the dough, using a small cookie scoop (1 1⁄2 teaspoons). If you’d like larger puffs, shape them with a tablespoon or medium-size cookie scoop. Drop the dough onto the lined baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each mound. (The dough can be scooped and frozen on baking sheets at this point.)

5

Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 375°F. Bake for 12 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 20 minutes. Serve immediately—these are best directly from the oven.

6

S T O R I N G : The puffs are best soon after they come out of the oven and nice (if flatter) at room temperature that same day. If you want to keep baked puffs, freeze them and then reheat them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes.