Blue Cheese Bacon Gougeres

By Adell Shneer and The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

89 people added this to their Recipe Box

This recipe makes 48 servings

Nutritional Info
Per piece:	-
cal	4343 cal
pro	1 g1g pro
total fat	3 g3g total fat
sat. fat	2 g2g sat. fat
carb	3 g3g carb
fibre	00 fibre
chol	24 mg24mg chol
sodium	62 mg62mg sodium
potassium	16 mg16mg potassium
% RDI:	-
folate	55 folate
vit A	33 vit A
calcium	11 calcium
iron	11 iron

Savoury choux-paste puffs are excellent served warm or at room temperature. For easy piping, crumble the cheese and bacon into pieces smaller than the opening of the piping tip.

Ingredients

1 cup (250 mL) water

1/2 cup (125 mL) salted butter, cubed

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

Dash hot pepper sauce

1-1/4 cups (300 mL) all-purpose flour

4 eggs

2 slices bacon, cooked and finely crumbled

3/4 cup (175 mL) finely crumbled blue cheese (about 3 oz/90 g)

Glaze:

1 egg

1 tbsp (15 mL) water

Preparation

In small heavy saucepan, bring water, butter, salt and hot pepper sauce to boil; remove from heat. Add flour all at once; stir vigorously with wooden spoon until mixture comes away from side of pan in smooth ball.

Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring constantly, until coating begins to form on bottom of pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; stir for 30 seconds to cool slightly.

Make well in centre of flour mixture. Using wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat in eggs, 1 at a time and beating well after each addition, until smooth, shiny and pastry holds its shape in bowl. Stir in bacon and cheese.

Using pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch (1 cm) plain tip or using spoon, pipe mixture into 1-inch (2.5 cm) mounds onto 2 parchment paper–lined baking sheets.

Glaze: Beat egg with water; lightly brush over pastry mounds, flattening tips and ensuring glaze doesn't drip onto paper.

Bake in 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F (190°C); switch and rotate pans. Bake until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Turn off oven; open door and let stand in oven for 10 minutes to dry. Let cool on pan on rack. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 24 hours; recrisp in 350°F/180°C oven for 5 minutes.)

Additional information : Cost: $6.40, or $0.13 per piece
Splurge: Use a Canadian artisanal blue cheese, such as Bleu Benedictin or Ermite.

Source : Canadian Living Special Issue: Holiday Best 2009