White Cheddar Puffs with Scallions

These little puffs are what I served with the orzo soup from yesterday. Back when we had our holiday gift exchange, I ended up (won?) with a copy of the new Bon Appetit cookbook. Little did I know at the time, but the book was bought by Raulito who I now think purchased this book with me in mind...right, Raul? The book is massive with lots of great sounding recipes, but the one downfall is that the pictures are few and far between. As I think I have mentioned before, I benefit more from books where there are pictures on every page. No matter, this is one of the first recipes that called to me. I had plenty of white cheddar left from the mini burgers and I always have scallions on hand. I have only done a cooked dough like this one other time when I made zeppole (pre-food blogging), but it's pretty easy. I used my stand mixer, but it would be done just as easily with a hand mixer or with a whisk. Another good thing is that the dough can be done ahead of time and be refrigerated or frozen until you are ready to bake them. This is a deliciously simple recipe. The puffs are best when warm with a little bite from the onion and a lovely melted cheesy interior. I had an embarrassing number of these before the soup was even done. I will definitely make these again and I am thinking of some kind of sun dried tomato hummus or spread to go between them...


Did you watch the Grammys? Congratulations are in order to the "Best New Artist" and "Best Pop Vocals". The show was laughably horrible as I Twittered about, but her performance (minus Sugarland) and her awards were pretty much the highlight.

White Cheddar Puffs with Green Onions
(Adapted from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh)

Makes about 18 puffs

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (packed) extra-sharp white cheddar
1/3 cup green onions, minced

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring the water, butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Remove from heat; mix in flour. Stir over medium heat until the mixture becomes slightly shiny and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition to form a sticky dough. Mix in the cheese and green onions.

Using two teaspoons, form the dough into 1-1 1/4 inch ovals. Drop onto baking sheet 1 inch apart.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake cheese puffs until golden, about 30 minutes if using room temperature dough and 35 minutes if the dough is chilled or frozen. Serve immediately.