Christmas in November at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is just around the corner, and in my excitement of the event, I was checking out Taste Of section featuring recipes from some of the presenters. I stumbled on a recipe for Gougères, baked savoury choux pastry, by Julie Van Rosendaal. I have a serious kitchen crush on Julie after she showed me how easy it is to make lemon curd at home during a culinary session at the Fairmont JPL in the spring.

I made her easy-to-follow Gougères recipe with gluten free flour and it was an instant hit at my dinner party. I decided to add bacon and the good times kept on coming. And so, my love and admiration of Julie continues. Her original recipe (with the addition of bacon) is below.

Bacon Gouda Gougères
Adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal’s Gouda and Gruyère Gougères recipe

For pâte à choux:
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp. salt (if using unsalted)
1 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all purpose flour)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated old Gouda cheese
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a saucepan bring water and butter to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to low and add flour all at once, then stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from side of pan.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and beat in the eggs one at a time with an electric mixer on high speed, beating well after each addition. The batter should have the consistency and colour of thick pudding; thicker than cake batter but thinner than cookie dough.

Preheat oven to 375°F and spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper. Stir the cheese and bacon into the pâte à choux and spoon about a tablespoon at a time an inch apart on baking sheets. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until puffed, golden and crisp. Gougères keep, chilled in sealable plastic bags, 2 days or frozen 1 week. Reheat gougères uncovered in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes if chilled or 15 minutes if frozen. (You must serve gougères warm!)

Makes about 2 dozen.