Savory Shortbread Cookies
Hey my dudes!
In the past year these savory shortbread cookies have become one of my absolute go to snacks when for when I have people over. This recipe takes traditional shortbread cookies and adds a savory twist with extra salt and cheese, making them irresistible. They are great for snacking, entertaining and gifting.
While any hard cheese will work for this recipe, I’m using Västerbotten. Västerbotten cheese is a hard cow’s milk cheese that originated in the Västerbotten region of Sweden. It has a rich and tangy flavor with a crumbly texture and nutty notes. The cheese is made using a traditional recipe that dates back to the early 20th century and is aged for at least 14 months. You can use any hard cheese for this recipe. I have made these with pecorino, parmesan and aged cheddar. Just make sure the cheese isn’t too soft as the high water content can make the cookies bake off weird.
I love to make these ahead of time for parties. Once you’ve made the dough and shaped it into logs, wrap each log in plastic and put in the freezer. It can live there for months. The day before you want to bake them off, take however many logs you want and place them in the fridge. Let them defrost over night. Then just proceed as usual.
While you could enjoy these savory shortbread cookies as is, they’re even better with a little extra pizzazz. I like to make a dill mayonnaise, by simply mix a dollop of mayonnaise with finely chopped fresh dill. A small spoonful of the mixture get placed on top of each cookie and garnish with a small piece of dill. This adds a beautiful touch of green and really gives them an elegant flair.
The possibilities with these cookies are endless, and the results are always delicious. You any hard cheese you want! Add chili flakes for a spicy kick! Add black pepper! Switch out the sugar for honey! Do whatever you want!
Savory Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Savory Shortbread Cookies
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 200 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 160 g grated hard cheese Västerbotten, cheddar, or Parmesan
- 20 g granulated sugar
- 10 g salt
- 20 g egg yolk about 1 large egg yolk
- 15 g milk
Dill mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp finely chopped dill
- 1/4 c mayonnaise
- Lemon juice to taste
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
Savory Shortbread Cookies
- In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, yolk, all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, unsalted butter, and grated hard cheese. Mix with a stand mixer on low speed, using the paddle attachment, for a couple of minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides, then continue mixing until the dough comes together and forms a cohesive mass.
- Transfer the dough to a countertop and knead it briefly to ensure all the ingredients are well combined. Shape the dough into a flat disk and cut into quarters.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Take one quarter of the dough and roll it out into a rope about the length of the short side of your tray. Repeat with the remaining quarters of dough.
- Place the dough ropes on the tray and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 175°C.
- Take the tray out of the fridge and cut the dough ropes into 1cm pieces. Place them on the tray, leaving some space between each cookie.
- Bake the cookies for 20 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown.
Dill Mayonnaise
- While the cookies cool mix together the chopped dill and mayo
- Season to your taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Final
- Spoon a small dollop of dill mayo onto each cookie
- Garnish with sprigs of dill
- Eat and enjoy!