Blue Cheese Puffs

Ingredients

• 1/2
  
  cup water
  
• 3
  
  tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
  
• 1/8
  
  teaspoon salt
  
• 1
  
  pinch freshly ground black pepper
  
• 1/2
  
  cup all-purpose flour
  
• 2
  
  large eggs
  
• 1/2
  
  cup blue cheese, in very small pieces
  
• 2
  
  teaspoons fresh chives, chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425F. In a small saucepan bring the water, butter, salt, & pepper to a boil over medium-high heat. Quickly add the flour and stir until it forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and dump the flour mixture into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Let cool for a few minutes.
2. On low speed, incorporate the eggs one at time. Once the batter has smoothed out add in the blue cheese and chives and mix for a few more seconds until the pieces of cheese are broken up into the dough.
3. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a wide, round tip (or use a plastic bag with the corner cut off to create about a half-inch opening). Cover a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and pipe out the dough into small mounds, about the size of quarter, leaving about a half-inch space between each puff. Dip you finger into some warm water and gently press down on the peak of each puff to shape it into a round.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 425F, then turn down the oven to 375F and bake for another 10-20 minutes, until the puffs are golden brown. Serve hot. (You can also make the dough a few hours ahead of time, pipe out the puffs onto the pan and put it in the fridge until ready to bake.)