Staci’s Bake-N-Blog Part 2

It’s here – Staci’s Bake-N-Blog Part 2! This time around, we’re baking cookies from a great foodie website, Tastespotting. With 169 pages of decadent & delicious cookies, it was practically impossible to choose just one. I already have three kinds of cookies, four cupcakes, chocolate cake, and pumpkin bread in the freezer, so I really didn’t need more sugar! I came across a recipe for Herb & Cheese Savoury Cookies with Balsamic Vinegar, and I had a winner!

The ingredients are pretty simple, and I had everything on hand except the fresh rosemary (I’m sure you could use dried rosemary, just add less of it).

Cookies
1 cup of flour
2 tbsp of fresh rosemary
1/4 cup of butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of sour cream
Salt and pepper

Balsamic Syrup
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of light flavoured honey

They’re really easy to make – all the cookie ingredients go into a food processor. First, put in the flour, rosemary, and butter and pulse until combined.

Add the parmesan and sour cream. My favourite parmesan is Reggiano, but use whichever kind you like :-)

Pulse until the dough comes together (more or less).

The dough was pretty sticky. Not sure if it was me or the recipe – I probably should have added a bit more flour, but I like to stick to the recipe the first time I try a new one.

Roll the dough into a log.

Wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. Because the dough was so sticky, I put some olive oil on the cling wrap to keep the dough from sticking to it.

I made the balsamic syrup, but I cooked it too long and it went hard when it cooled. I was serving the cookies with BBQ ribs, so I decided to forego the syrup – already enough sticky sauce on the ribs. But here’s the sauce, bubbling away in the pot (just ‘cause the picture is kinda cool).

The next day, I brought the dough with me to the cottage and baked the cookies there. I forgot to take a picture of the cookies before they were baked, but I cut the log into slices about 1/4” thick. I probably got about 2 dozen cookies out of the dough. Here’s the final product, ready to go out to the deck for supper:

The verdict? Everyone gave the cookies the thumbs up :-) They look crispy, but they actually came out soft. Not sure if that’s because the dough was sticky or if they’re supposed to be soft. Either way, the taste was great, and the whole plate of cookies was gone by the end of supper.

This is a really versatile recipe – you could probably use any herb(s) that you want, and I’m sure dried herbs would work fine if you don’t have fresh. And lots of cheeses would work – cheddar, monterey jack, swiss… any shredable hard cheese. Next time I make them, I’m going to try replacing some of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and the sour cream with Greek yoghurt.

If you’re looking for an easy and yummy recipe for a savoury cookie, try this one out :-) And if you’re looking for an ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie (or pretty much any kind of cookie!), head over to Staci’s blog and check out what all the Bake-N-Blog participants have been busy baking.