Savory Shortbread Cookies

Over the holidays, Mai-yan brought a beautifully wrapped package of stilton and rosemary shortbread from the Coach House Shortbread Company to my house. She bought it at a marketplace on her recent trip to Canada. It was hands-down the most delicious shortbread (savory or sweet) that I’d ever had. The flavors were perfectly balanced, but the best part was that it was so tender. I’ve since been inspired to create my own savory shortbread, and my efforts have been successful. This version is made with a mix of parmesan and blue cheese, but I suspect you could make it with lots of different kinds of cheeses. Along with a nice bottle of wine, this would be a perfect treat on a picnic.

savory-shortbread-log

savory-shortbread-slices

Savory Shortbread Cookies

Yield

24 cookies

Prep Time / Cook Time

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Activity Guide

Car Camping, Day Trip, Picnic

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup blue cheese
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
  • 1 cup (120 grams) flour
  • 1/2 cup (56 grams) cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

Tools

  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • Large bowl
  • Mixer
  • Parchment or plastic wrap

Method

  1. Cream together blue cheese, parmesan cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and rosemary and mix just until combined.
  2. Shape the dough into a log and wrap it in parchment paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until chilled. You can freeze the dough at this point and bake it later.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the log crosswise into 1/4-inch wide slices, and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned.

12 thoughts on “Savory Shortbread Cookies

    1. Hi Heather- I haven’t tried using different cheeses, but I’ve been meaning to. I have a feeling it would work really well!

  1. Question: any clue how long these would keep if sealed in plastic?
    i’m just getting some ideas for “foods to bring camping this summer” and wondering how long they keep after being made.
    thanks

    1. Honestly, we’ve always eaten them really quickly when I’ve made them before so I’m not sure how to answer this. I’d guess about a week, but if you wrap them in plastic and freeze them, they’ll keep for at least a month.

  2. I’ve just made these and found the mixture way too dry. I added extra butter and cheeses and thankfully they’ve come out beautifully. I’m not sure what went wrong. Has anyone else actually used this recipe?

  3. I made this recipe as written and it was terrible. So dry and crumbly I could not get good slices. And I did bake it and tasted it and it was just terrible. Tasted like soap. Will never make them again

  4. It sounds like some folks are having some trouble with this recipe. I’ve made these countless times and haven’t ever had a problem with them being too dry, but I wonder if it might have to do with the moisture content of the blue cheese, since I think that can vary quite a bit. Another potential problem could be in measuring your flour. King Arthur Flour has some good tips on properly measuring flour, and I’ve also added a weight measurement to the recipe in case you have a scale. As for the soapy taste, blue cheese and rosemary are pretty strong flavors, so make sure you like those flavors before making this recipe as written! Hope that helps.

  5. Yeah, I just made this recipe as well. I failed. Threw them away. Super dry and way too crumbly. They were crumbly from the start despite my best efforts to press the log together. They would’ve been crumbs/powder after a few miles on the trail. I’m not an expert in making shortbread so maybe there was some technique that needs to be included for novices (overmixing? temperature of the ingredients?) And yes, I weighed the cornstarch and flour. I used Gold Metal Unbleached AP Flour. I did leave them in the oven for about 10 minutes longer because they weren’t brown and still extremely soft at the end of 14 minutes. Non convection oven. 35% humidity.

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