Our friends, Brittany and Jeff P, recently threw a Cookies and Cocktails party to celebrate the holidays. The invitation made it clear that cookies were the only food being served.
Knowing this, we ate dinner prior to coming to the party. I also thought I’d push the envelope a bit and make a savory cookie which was something new to me.
I loved the idea of incorporating cheese (one of my favorite foods) into a cookie and was pleased when I found this recipe for sablés. Think of sablés as France’s version of a shortbread cookie. Buttery and flaky or in this case sandy as ‘sablés’ translated into English is ‘sandy.’
Saint Agur is a French blue cheese that is made from wonderfully rich cow’s milk enriched with cream making it very smooth and creamy. It melts in your mouth unlike other blue cheeses (like Roquefort) which are more crumbly. Between the cheese and the butter, you might think these cookies are too rich but I assure you they are just right.
Given that the consistency of the cheese is important to this recipe, I would not substitute another form of blue cheese. Saint Agur is a popular cheese, so you’re likely to find it at a good cheese or grocery store. I found it at my local Wegmans in their wonderful cheese section.
The dough is a bit tough to work with but I was able to roll out two logs between plastic wrap. You need to refrigerate it for a minimum of four hours, so you may want to make it a day in advance. Once refrigerated it’s very easy to work with. It reminded me of making PIllsbury Chocolate Chip cookies as a child. But the flavors couldn’t be more different.
The best way to describe these cookies is a good shortbread with just a hint of blue cheese. When they come out of the oven, the blue cheese presence is stronger but it mellows overnight, so you may want to make them ahead of time.
Ed isn’t a blue cheese fan (which means more for me!) but he thought these cookies were quite good. I took it as a good sign that the cookies were sliding on the parchment paper after they came out of the oven due to the fat content of the butter and cheese.
I also brought everyone’s favorite, Chocolate Chip-Pecan-Oatmeal Cookies, to the party. But I was glad that I tried something new.
| Blue Cheese Sablés | Print |
- 18 tablespoons (2 sticks + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened (see Notes)
- 8 ounces Saint Agur blue cheese, softened (see Notes)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Using an electric mixer (stand or handheld), beat together the butter and blue cheese on medium-low until they are completely blended, about 1 minute.
- Add the sugar and salt and beat on medium-low just until well mixed and creamy, about 1 minute. Do not overbeat.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beat on medium-low until each is completely mixed in. Beat until you have a cohesive batter, about 30 seconds more.
- Turn mixer to low, slowly add flour, beating until there is no dry flower left.
- Continue beating on low, until the dough comes together. It may be a little crumbly or sandy, but when pressed together with your fingers, it will come together.
- Remove dough from the bowl and form into a ball. Split into two pieces. Place half of the dough on a long piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it around the dough, leaving the ends open and roll until you have a 2-inch thick log. Repat with the second piece of dough. This takes some finessing as the dough is sticky. I found it easier to roll in the plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Remove from the refrigerator and roll the dough log a bit to round out the bottom.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a serrated knife, slice each log into ½-inch thick cookies. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet 1-inch apart.
- Bake until the edges are light brown, about 16 to 18 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Let the cookie sheets sit on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack and let cool completely.
- Cookies keep, stored at room temperature for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
* I used regular grocery store unsalted butter for this recipe. I was tempted to use good quality European butter but thought that might throw off the recipe as the fat content is higher.
* Given that the consistency of the cheese is important to this recipe, I would not substitute another form of blue cheese. Saint Agur is a popular cheese, so you’re likely to find it at a good cheese or grocery store. I found it at my local Wegmans.
Source: Variation of a recipe from the Serious Eats
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