Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

I've posted the recipe for these delicious little bites of bread several times. They are perfect to serve to guests with cheese and fruit, to munch on when you're sipping wine, to eat by themselves by the dozens........seriously.

From Chocolate and Zucchini

6 T. unsalted butter, diced
½ t. fine sea salt
1 cup flour, sifted
4 large eggs
½ t. ground cumin
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups freshly grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Combine butter, salt and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Remove from heat, add the flour all at once and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until well blended. Return the pan to medium low heat and keep stirring until the mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well between each addition, until incorporated. Sprinkle with cumin and pepper and fold in the cheese. The batter will be thick. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to a day).

Preheat oven to 400º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the batter from the fridge and use two teaspoons to shape small balls of batter (about 1 inch in diameter) that you will plop onto the baking sheet leaving an inch of space between each.

Bake for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden. Do not open the oven door during the first 10 minutes or baking or they will not rise well. Turn off the oven after 20 minutes, open the oven door just a crack and leave puffs in for another 5 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack for 5 minutes and serve warm, or let cool and serve at room temperature.