Cheese Puffs

snacks · corn · food science · cheese

Made from corn dough. Cheese puffs start as corn dough that gets heated up and pushed through special molds called dies. This process makes them puff up and get light and airy inside.

Cheesy coating on top. After the corn shapes come out of the mold, they get dusted with a powder that tastes like cheese. This powder sticks to the warm puffs and gives them their yummy cheesy flavor.

Many different shapes. Cheese puffs can be round balls, curly spirals, straight tubes, or even weird lumpy shapes. Manufacturers choose different dies to make whichever shape they want.

Heat makes them puff. The heating process is the magic that makes cheese puffs so light and crunchy. The hot corn dough fills with air bubbles, which is why they puff up instead of staying flat.

Similar cousin snacks. Puffcorn is basically the same snack as cheese puffs, except it has no cheese flavor at all. It's just the puffed corn by itself.