People beg me to make these now and they are so easy! I remember the recipe as "Three 4's and a 1" and you can use any tpe of cheese you like. Gruyere mixed with parmesan turns out especially well.
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup whole milk
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
1/2 cup of any cheese or cheese mixture you like plus 2-4 Tbl extra for sprinkling
Heat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Heat milk and butter in saucepan over medium heat until butter is all melted and milk is scalded (steaming for a few minutes but not boiling). Dump in all the flour at once and lower heat to low-medium. Stir with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes until it all comes together and forms a sticky ball of dough.
Dump dough into a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Dump in all four eggs. Dump in 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Process until smooth and incorporated.
Handy but not necessary tool: a piping bag with large tip. If you have one, put dough mixture into piping bag and pipe out small mounds of the dough onto the parchment paper. I usually go about 1-1/2 inches wide and 1 inch tall (they do "puff" quite a bit when cooked). Dab your finger in water and press down the top of the mound so it's smooth. Sprinkle tops with extra cheese. Bake in over until golden brown (usually 15-20 minutes). If you don't have a piping bag just use 2 spoons. Scoop out dough on one spoon and use the other to mound it onto the parchment paper. A little water will help keep the spoons from getting sticky.
When you remove them from the oven, pierce them with a toothpick on top to release the steam. This keeps them fluffy and stiff. Otherwise, the steam inside can cause them to get gooey and collapse.
Enjoy!
P.S. This recipe makes around 20-25 puffs depending on how big the mounds are you make.
