These are addictive little cheesy breads that are great to put out for your guests. This dough, called a Pate Choux is a pretty common one in France. Feel free to change up the cheese sometimes, such as Gruyere or your favorite kind of cheese.
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups Sharp Cheddar cheese
2 TBSP minced fresh chives
Preheat you oven to 350 deg F. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Put water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt butter. Once butter is melted, increase heat to high and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and add the flour, stirring until flour is cooked through and beating mixture until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. Take the pan off the stove and set out onto a counter or hot pad. Let it cool, without stirring for about 5 minutes.
Once cooled for 5 minutes, start to beat in your eggs, one at a time, adding each egg in once the previous one has been beaten in and incorporated into the mixture. With each addition, your dough should look glossy and keep pulling away from the sides of the pan before you add the next egg. Once eggs are all incorporated, add the dry mustard and cayenne pepper and stir. Add the cheese and stir. Finally add the chives into the mixture.
Using 2 spoons, scoop a heaping teaspoonful of your dough to form a small bowl and place onto your parchment lined baking sheet. Continue to form small mounds in rows leaving about an inch in between each one. The dough should fill up almost 2 baking sheets. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, switching the positions of the 2 pans about halfway through cooking. Enjoy!