These gluten free and keto cheese puffs (i.e. gougères) are pure cheesy bites of heaven at just 0.3g net carbs a pop (!!). Scrumptious, yet simple!
Gluten Free & Keto Cheese Puffs 🧀
i.e. Gougères
These low carb cheese puffs are a real delight, yet a little different from the original. Mainly they’re softer and less puffy. But while trying different permutations (and trying to make them crispier), I found that their delight actually was in their lightly crisp exterior and soft center.
So I opted for playing up their ‘weakness’ (i.e. softness), and the resulting keto cheese puffs are truly delicious in their own right. Think a lightly crisp exterior paired with an incredibly soft and cheesy interior.
Ideal to devour solo, or filled with a myriad of options (think whipped goat cheese!).
The Method
The method for this grain free version is akin to tradition, with it essentially being a choux pastry (used to make anything from eclairs to churros). But this is just a fancy way of saying that you first boil together water with butter and salt. Adding in the flour and cooking it until it forms into a ball. And step three, mixing in the eggs and cheese off the stove.
Now, when you mix in the eggs the dough will be very stiff and take a bit of mixing to incorporate fully (job best done using a mixer). The final dough will be very elastic (courtesy of the eggs and xanthan gum).
The Main Ingredients
Almond flour. You truly need a super finely ground almond flour here, as if you use meal your cheese puffs will turn out dense and oily. Super fine almond flour brands include Anthony’s , WellBees and Bob’s.
Flaxseed meal. You’ll want to use golden flaxseed meal (we use Bob’s), and regrind the flakes in your (very dry!) bullet or blender until finely powdered. Great way to avoid slimy breads. You can substitute with coconut flour, just keep in mind that we do like flaxseed best.
Whey protein isolate. This one lends structure and adds a little extra crispness. Keep in mind that this ingredient varies tremendously from brand to brand, and we’ve only tried (and are super happy!) with Isopure’s Zero Carb Unflavored. You can alternatively use psyllium husk powder, but expect slightly less crisp results.
Xanthan gum. Borrowed from molecular cooking, xanthan gum is the binding agent which makes your toothpaste jelly-like (and your cream cheese, well cream cheese-like). And it’s also the most common gluten-replacer in gluten free baking.
The ‘Choux Pastry’ Recipe Video 📽
If you’ve never whipped up a choux pastry, then checking out the recipe video is a must. Keeping in mind that we like the cheese puffs best with flaxseed meal and whey protein (rather than coconut flour and psyllium).
Gluten Free, Low Carb & Keto Cheese Puffs
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For the gluten free & keto cheese puffs
- 36 g almond flour
- 21 g golden flaxseed meal finely ground (or coconut flour)*
- 4 g whey protein isolate or psyllium husk*
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 80 ml water
- 28 g grass-fed butter or coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika optional
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder optional
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder optional
- 90 g gruyere or cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- See recipe video for guidance on the 'choux pastry' methodology!
- Preheat oven to 450°F/220°C. Line a baking tray with a baking mat or parchment paper.
- Whisk together in a medium bowl almond flour, finely ground flaxseed meal, whey protein and xanthan gum. Set aside.
- Heat up water, butter and salt in medium pot (or Dutch oven) until it just begins to simmer. Lower heat to low and add in flour mixture, mixing constantly to incorporate. Continue to cook and stir until the dough pulls away from the pan and forms into a ball, 1-3 minutes.
- Transfer dough back to the bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes. The dough should still be warm, but not hot enough to scramble the eggs.
- Add in one egg at a time, mixing with an electric mixer until fully incorporated. Mix in baking powder and spices (optional, but highly suggested!). Mix in 3/4 of the grated cheese (about 70g), the dough should be very elastic.
- Spoon dough into a piping bag or plastic bag (no tip needed). Cut out bottom of piping bag 2 cm (3/4 inch) wide. Pipe out 'cherry tomato-sized' rounds onto prepared tray, you should get about two dozen. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until deep golden all over. Serve right away! And keep in mind that these guys are always best served warm, but they do re-warm quite well.
- Optional: prepare the filling while the cheese puffs are in the oven, and know that you can play around here quite a bit. We love, however, to whip up some goat's cheese with a little sour cream and add a touch of freshly parsley. Simple and delicious.
- Note: deflated cheese puffs are a common occurrence, whether regular or gluten free (though worry not, they'll still be delicious!). The usual culprit is too much liquid, so make sure you use large eggs not extra large. Also be sure your oven is hot enough, and that you're using dry cheeses (think sharp cheddars or gruyere). And if all else fails, add a couple more tablespoons of almond meal.
Notes
Nutrition
I cant wait to get the right ingredients to make these. Like the idea of the little ham sandwiches. I just started keto & sandwiches I miss most. Reading about pecan pie – another thought in addition to sugar free pancake syrup, there’s also a sugar free honeys out there, (check Amazon) I like Honey Tree’s flavor & thickness… That brand is sold at my local Walmart as well
Hi Paola,
These gougeres were the bomb, especially warm out of the oven but still so a couple of hours later. I left the filling as more of a dip on the side as I didn’t want them to get soft. Used sourcream, cream cheese, lemonzest and some crumbled feta. Next time will also add some dill. In any case they were wonderful and very similar to gougeres I used to make, though obviously not quite as l light.
I have made the churros and used that batter to also make DanishÆbleskiver, little round pancake balls with success. Now will try making non cheesy cream puffs with them ( like the ones you can buy in a huge bucket at Costco) and fill with cream , dip in chocolate. gnomgnom! For dessert once zi made the chocolate icecream but did not freeze it and served as a moussse instead. Folded in some toasted almond slivers and served with a red currant and raspberry sauce from my garden that I had frozen in summer. It was so good.
I also made the chili and Butterchicken recipe over the holidays, all to great acclaim by my nonketo friends and family. I did add a couple of tins of black soybeans( only 3 g net carbs per can) to the chili to lengthen it a bit for a birthday dinner crowd.
I always look to your recipes first when I am trying to make something and they always turn out! I join your legion of followers in thanking you for all your dedication and hard work in making the keto lifestyle sustainable and delicious. Wishing you a happy 2019 and looking forward to more favulous recipes!
I made these for our family Christmas this past Sunday and they are amazing! They puff up like crazy. Never in a million years would I have though that little blob of dough would increase in size as much as it did! Despite my decidedly not round piping, they also miraculously came out of the oven almost perfectly round. And they taste fantastic! You can’t eat just one!
I’d like to know what you have in the cheese balls? Your piping something in the balls and I’m not able to find it anywhere
Thank you,
Denise
Literally tells you in the recipe.
This is a late answer but, it is in step 8. I missed it skimming through quickly the first time! Jesse must be new to Keto and still feeling the sugar withdrawals judging by her cranky answer 😁
It was helpful, not rude.
Oh, my! I was just trying to figure out how to best do these! I mean, last night, then again, this morning! You SOOO ROCK! Thank you, for this!
Hello!
I tried these today but they turned out very flat (about 1/2 and inch thick). I used about a golfball size for each, made about 18. They have a great flavor, but are very dense and do not look round like your pics.
I did use psyllium for both the whey protein and xamthum gum. Only change. What did I do wrong?
Brent
Brent you can’t just sub keto flours on a whim that’s why they didn’t turn out… you didn’t make the actual recipe 😉
For our family Christmas we usually have a spread of hors d’ouvres, a pot of gumbo, pecan pie, fudge and cookies for dessert. I’ve been trying to find alternatives to our old carb loaded menu and I think this one is going to make the cut! Hits all the right notes, delish and rather easy to make. I know I’m not the first to say this but….you are a genius!!!!!! Now, let’s talk pecan pie 😬
lol totally blushing reading all your comments Cat thank you! Pecan pie is unfortunately still giving me some problems (the texture just lacks without the corn syrup so far 🙈)
I was afraid of that. There doesn’t seem to be a suitable replacement for the syrup. I’ve tried several non maple keto syrups but the taste and texture is just off, usually they are quite runny even after refrigerating. I was hoping with your magical skills and knowledge you might have a suitable alternative. The only thing I haven’t tried is using a golden pancake syrup from a recipe on another blog to replace the corn syrup (I know, I’m such a traitor:). If I add xanthan gum to that syrup recipe it doesn’t separate when it is refrigerated, it’s actually quite thick until it’s reheated. I’ll try it this weekend and let you know if it’s successful. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 And you deserve every bit of praise from me and everyone else. I swear you must live in the kitchen! I only have weekends to get in the kitchen and that’s to get meal prep done for the coming week since I’m working out of town (hotel room with mini fridge and microwave). Thanks for doing all you do and sharing it with the rest of us!!! xoxo
Funny your reply about the syrup ended up in the gougeres post 😂!! I am working on one, but it’s not ready yet (because yup, I totally get you proper syrup is something I’m missing too!). Will def share as soon as it’s done!
😂 The comment about the golden pancake syrup was as a replacement for the corn syrup in a keto pecan pie. I guess I should have made that a little clearer but it was early and I was drinking my first cup of coffee when I typed that. I also have the advantage of replying to your reply to my original comment and seeing the entire thread. 😏 I am going to try the keto syrup recipe in a pecan pie this weekend to see if it works. But, truthfully, if you can’t ketofy a pecan pie I’m not sure anyone can. At any rate, I have some wonderful recipes for our Christmas hors d’ouvres, including these cheese puffs, even if the pecan pie doesn’t happen.
how do you store them after
Oh my goodness, these came out PERFECTLY, just like the gougeres my mom used to make me!! I made the recipe exactly as written, with no substitutions. You’re a wizard in the kitchen! Thank you so much 🙂 Have you ever tried ketofying pao de queijo?!?!
Could you please send the ketofying pao de queijo recipe?
I know others already said it, but a “ketofied” pao de queijo recipe would be LIFE CHANGING! I have tried myself but I can’t did anything that recreates the texture of tapioca flour. If anyone could do it, I bet it would be you 🙂
Oh man now I feel the pressure lol!! Honestly haven’t even tried, but maybe with kobjac root we can bring in some of the tapioca resemblance! I’ve added it to the lust for when I’m back up and cooking!!
These are delicious! Couldn’t stop eating them!!!
Lol that’s so awesome to hear Tess! xo!
Oh my god! I’m making these tonight! I always made these foe the kids (before keto) and they disappear instantly. I think their children will love these!
Ooooh hope you enjoy them Jacky! xo!
These checked all the boxes! Easy, delicious and kid approved!! I made them with my daughter and her friend and we polished the lot as little ‘ham and cheese’ sandwiches. We’re convinced you’re a wizard!!
I wanted to add that my daughter was diagnosed with coeliacs this past fall and we struggled so much as a family until we found your blog. After removing just gluten, we also found that she was highly sensitive to grains in general, which is how we came across your blog. We do cook your recipes with raw organic cane sugar as we’re not keto and everything we’ve made has been just plain delicious.
So we (the entire family!) want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing your delicious recipes with all of us. You have made the transition a breeze! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Sara this is SO wonderful to hear!! And I get you guys, when I was first diagnosed with Celiacs myself I didn’t go completely grain free but I still had lingering inflammation and autoimmune symptoms- all of which are mostly gone since going grain free. Your comment means a lot- thank you for sharing 🙂 xo!
Thanks! These sound wonderful! Do you think I could omit the seasoning, add a little sweetener and make cream puff shells?
Hi Chris! In all honesty I haven’t tried yet. You would need to keep the cheese to keep them crisp, so I’m not sure how that would play out. Though it could be great and a sort of ‘fat head’ cream puffs sort of thing? Maybe try with a milder cheese such as a drier mozzarella (as in not buffalo) xo!
Thanks for a salty snack which I crave on keto-eating. By the way, I’m guessing it’s okay to up the ante on the salt in this recipe? Since you consume a lot of salt on a keto diet, I think these would even be better (for someone who craves salt like I do) to add more to it. Do you have a number in mind?
Also, I noticed that the recipe says, just beneath the title, that it serves one. Then in the instructions, it says to pipe 24. Is one serving 24 puffs or just one puff? I was just wondering. Thank you.
Ok, nevermind on the second comment I made previously. I see that one batch is 24 puffs, not one serving. 🙂
Hi Judy! Yes, you can up the salt- just keep in mind that dry cheeses are already on the salty side (as is the garlic and onion powder). Also thanks for catching the 1 cream puff yield, I forgot to change it 😉 xo!