These bite-sized French cakes will quickly become a family favorite. Keeping them in the freezer and serving these when you don't feel like cooking will help eliminate processed food from your family’s plate. They're also ideal for entertaining, school lunches, and picnic dinners at the soccer field. This recipe is made with cheese and bacon, but you can add or substitute any ingredients you like, such as roasted red peppers, olives, spinach, or chorizo. See the notes below for more ideas.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder or 1 packet of French baking powder
1 cup of whole milk - grass-fed recommended
2 eggs -farm-fresh are always best
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 1/4 cup of fresh Comté or Gruyere cheese
3 1/2 oz bacon, uncured and grass-fed recommended
Optional: 2 sprigs of fresh thyme or other fresh herbs like chives or chervil
1 tsp of sea salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Dice the bacon. Dice or grate the cheese.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, milk, and oil. Add the cheese, bacon, thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
4. Butter mini muffin pans. Tip: Save your butter wrappers and use them to butter the muffin pans. You can also use muffin liners to avoid buttering the pan.
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tins.
Tip: To save time, you can also bake this in a loaf pan and slice it to serve. Freeze the individual slices, then you can grab them from the freezer when you need them.
Serve these bite-sized savory cakes for an apéritif, school lunch, picnic, weekend lunch, or entertaining. They are also perfect for an on-the-go dinner for kids between activities. Warm them before you go; they are fine at room temperature and are a healthy and delicious alternative to chicken nuggets.
Once you have this basic recipe, you can modify the ingredients, adding ham, sausage, blue cheese, or goat cheese. In addition, you can make these with leftovers such as roast chicken. The possibilities are endless!
Making Bouchées can be a family activity. Make a double batch of the batter and then divide and add different ingredients. Your kids can add what they like, and you can get some help stocking the freezer. This recipe is also easy enough for a young chefs to make on their own. Enjoy!
