1cupgrated sharp cheddar, plus another 1/2 cup for topping the gougères (4 1/2 ounces total)
scant 1/2 cup grated parmesan(1 ounce)
1cupfinely chopped chives (from 1 bunch)
Instructions
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the beer, milk, butter and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium. Dump in the flours and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together in a smooth ball. Keep stirring heartily for another 1-2 minutes until the dough looks shiny and smells toasty; feel the burn (but don't burn the batter).
Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, so that the eggs don't scramble when they hit the dough. (You can also do this in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). One at a time, stir in the eggs; the dough will break apart at first, but will come back together as you stir. Add 1 cup of the grated cheddar, and all of the parmesan and chives.
Scoop the dough onto the parchmented baking sheet, spacing the blobs at least 2 inches apart. A spring-loaded ice cream scoop works wonders. I used the red-handled (#24) scoop for the ones shown, which makes heartygougères; a #40 scoop (a generous tablespoomakes smaller, snack-sized treats. Sprinkle the tops with a bit of extra cheddar.
Put the gougères in the oven and bake for 10 minutes for large gougères, 5 minutes for small ones. Decrease the oven temperature to 375º. Bake the gougères until golden-brown all over, puffed, and set, 15-20 more minutes for large ones (less time for small ones), rotating the gougères toward the end of the baking time.
Gougères are best served warm from the oven, but they will keep at room temperature for a few days and can be reheated "to order."
Notes
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks.When you bake the gougères, be sure to let them brown all the way up the sides so they retain their structure and don't collapse into flat pancakes.Don't use extra-large eggs, or your dough will be too wet and floppy; large eggs should weigh 2 ounces in the shell.Feel free to play with additions here: caramelized onions, crisp bacon pieces, and different cheeses or herbs would all be excellent additions/substitutions.If you don't want to bake all the gougères at once, you can either: re-heat pre-baked gougères to order; reserve the dough for up to a day in the fridge, then scoop and bake (the dough will oxidize if kept longer than that); or scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, freeze, then store the frozen scoops in a double zip-lock bag and bake from frozen.Nutritional values are based on one of twenty four gougères.