Basic Cheese Puffs

Let these savory little puffs inspire you -- serve them plain or use a pastry bag to fill them, cream puff style, with a mixture of softened cream cheese, snipped chives and smoked salmon. This recipe came from a little book called Perfect Picnics. You'll want to double the recipe -- they freeze very well and are great to have on hand for company.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup butter, cubed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup water
• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 2  whole eggs, plus
• 1  egg yolk
• 1⁄2 teaspoon English mustard powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1⁄2 cup  finely grated well-flavored cheese, such as Cheddar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the butter, salt and water in a pan. Bring to a boil.
2. Sift the flour onto a sheet of waxed paper, then, off the heat, add it all to the butter and water mixture and stir it in very quickly to form a thick paste that leaves the sides of the pan clean.
3. Return the pan to the heat and beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for 1 minute to dry it. Remove the pan from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, then add the mustard, cayenne pepper and grated cheese. (I didn't have dry mustard so I used 1 teaspoon grainy, brown mustard. I also used a dash more cayenne for an extra bite.).
5. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto a nonstick baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cook for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and serve cold.