• 1½ cups whole milk
• ½ stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1½ cups bread flour
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded Gruyère cheese

Special Equipment

• stand mixer with paddle attachment
• baking sheets
• parchment paper
• pastry bag & ½” plain round tip

Start Pâte à Choux

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Combine milk, butter, salt and cayenne pepper in a pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat
3. Stir in the flour, lower heat, and cook on medium, stirring constantly for about 1-2 minutes until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pot
4. Put the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed until the dough is no longer visibly steaming, but still warm. (Alternatively, mix the dough with a wooden spoon by hand until it stops producing steam)

Add Eggs & Cheese

1. Add eggs, one at a time, waiting for each egg to be completely absorbed by the dough before adding the next and mix until dough becomes a smooth well-mixed paste consistency
2. Fold cheese in by hand with a spatula so as not to break threads of the shredded cheese

Pipe Dough & Bake

1. Place the batter into a piping bag fitted with a ½” plain round tip. Pipe 1½” rounds onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, at least 1½” apart. You may need to use 2 cookie sheets, or bake them in 2 batches (15 gougères will generally fit on a standard sheet). If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, scoop the batter with 2 wet spoons onto the parchment, keeping the balls as round and uniform as possible
2. Wet the tip of your finger and push the point of each gougére down
3. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until dark golden-brown