Cheese cookies

What a cold cloudy Saturday evening we`re having here! I remember telling you all in my previous post how I was ready to welcome the spring, but what really happened for these past two weeks was snow still occasionally came to cover everything in white. Like these. 

Regardless of that chilly whiteness, I know the spring and sunshine will come to us eventually (they have to!), and in the mean time, let`s check out how I made my easy-peasy cheese cookies. The recipe is actually a modification from an English chocolate biscuit recipe in Nigella Christmas, which is a very good crispy cookie recipe that I keep making again and again. As I ended up having too much sweetness, I thought I wanted something savory this time. I actually have posted a cheese cookie recipe before, but this time I made it eggless, simpler, with much less salt content, but still with amazing result. 

Now, savory cookie lovers, are you ready?

Grate cheddar cheese and set it aside. I llllove red cheddar. Just look at that color!

Due to my super low kitchen temperature, I usually soften my butter in the microwave. If you too use microwave, heat and check it every few seconds. Just be careful not to overheat it because you don`t want completely melted butter here. I do sometimes have my butter a bit melted at the base, but I just go on and the cookies turn out fine.

So, soften your butter and cream it in a mixing bowl until it has turned pale and much creamier.

Fold in the grated cheese now.

Sift in flour and baking powder until the mixture has turned into dough consistency.

My dough here looks very crumbly, but I learned that it will turn into a nice dough when I use my hand for the final mixing. I guess the heat from my hand helps resoften and melt the butter and thus combine with the flour.

Shape the dough into logs with equal sizes, wrap with a cling wrap, and keep them in refrigerator for at least an hour.

My kitchen counter and fridge don`t have large space, so I always make the logs short. Mine in the picture were about 4-cm in diameter and 10-cm long. If you`re in a hurry, though, you can just roll out the dough on the counter and cut it up with a cookie cutter like making sugar cookies. But for those of you who have the same space problem like me and don`t mind with simple coin shape, I think you`ll find this log-cool-cut method very helpful.

After an hour or so in the fridge, cut the dough into fat coins. Mine were about 2-cm thick here.

Cutting up a cold dough always makes me feel really good! By the way, you can keep the dough in the freezer for a longer storage time and bake later when you want. I usually make 4 logs, bake 2 logs, and keep the other 2 logs in the freezer.

Arrange the coins onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 170 C for 20 mins.

Your kitchen and home will smell really great during the baking!

These cookies will melt in your mouth and you will have difficulty to stop after having one.

Oh I`m having a serious drooling problem and I guess I just have to make these again now. 

Happy weekend!

Print recipe

CHEESE COOKIES
Makes about 3 dozens

Ingredients:

200 g unsalted butter, softened

80 g cheddar cheese

240 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Grate the cheddar cheese and set aside.

2. Cream softened butter in a bowl until it has turned paler.

3. Fold in grated cheese, sifted flour, and baking powder.

4. Shape the dough into logs (about 4-cm in diameter). 

5. Wrap the logs with cling wrap and keep in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or until the dough is firm enough.

6. Open the wrap and cut up the dough into fat coins (about 2-cm thick).

7. Arrange the coins on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

8. Bake at 170 C for 20 mins.

Note: For a smaller baking batch, you can keep the leftover dough logs in freezer and bake them anytime you want to.