Cheddar Cheese Puffs

I am feeling a bit cheesy! By that, I mean that I am looking for a snack with cheese in it! I found what I was looking for when I saw the picture perfect cheddar cheese puffs on Confabulation in the Kitchen.  My cheddar cheese puffs definitely look a lot more rustic as I did not use a pastry bag to pipe small mounds. They were tasty nonetheless!

Cheddar Cheese Puffs
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, combine 1 cup water, the butter and salt, and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough starts to pull away from sides of pan and form a lump. Set aside, without stirring, 5 minutes.

2) Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. With each addition, dough will look glossy and slick at first; let it come together before adding next egg. Mix in mustard, cayenne and cheese. Dough will be quite loose and sticky.

3) Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of dough and use another spoon to scrape it onto lined pan; it should form a mound about an inch in diameter. Alternatively, use a pastry bag or thick plastic bag with one corner cut off, to pipe small mounds onto pan. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving 1/2 inch between puffs.

4) Bake until puffy and golden, about 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Remove from oven and serve immediately, or turn oven off and open door slightly to keep puffs warm up to 1 hour.

Yield: About 36 puffs.