Spicy Cheese Shortbread Food

PARMESAN SHORTBREAD BISCUITS

Steps:

• Process the butter, flour and parmesan in a food processor until a wet crumbly dough; OR
• Alternative method: Place the flour and butter into a bowl and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until a crumble dough forms. Then add the parmesan cheese and use your fingers to rub it into the mixture.
• If you are making rosemary biscuits, add the rosemary at the same time as the parmesan cheese.
• Lightly flour a surface and turn the dough out onto it. Knead to bring together, then shape into two logs with a diameter of around 3 cm / 1.2" and about 15cm/6" in length.
• Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. (Note 2)
• Preheat oven to 180°C/350F. Line 1 large baking tray or 2 ordinary baking trays with baking paper (parchment paper).
• Remove the log from the fridge and use a sharp knife to cut the log into 7mm/ 1/3" thick rounds.
• Place the biscuits onto the baking tray at least 2cm / 1" apart.
• Bake biscuits for 12 minutes or until light golden.
• Stand on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

CHEDDAR SHORTBREAD BITES

Steps:

• Combine flour, butter, salt and red pepper in bowl; beat at medium speed until dough forms. Add cheese; mix until ball forms. Shape dough into disk; wrap in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. (It will be hard to roll at first, but will soften. Press together any cracks that form on edges of dough.) Cut dough with 1 1/2-inch cookie cutters or pizza cutter into desired shapes. Place onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Beat egg white and water together in bowl. Brush cut-outs with egg wash; sprinkle with seeds.
• Bake 14-16 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Immediately loosen from pan; let cool on pan.

CHEDDAR CHEESE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk together salt, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper and set aside.
• Mix cheese and butter with a stand or hand mixture until smooth.
• Whisk the spice mix into the flour.
• Add flour/spice mixture 1/2 cup at a time.
• Knead the dough for a few minutes until all the little pieces that were at the bottom of the mixing bowl come together.
• Roll dough into small balls, place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment or a non-stick baking pad.
• Press each small ball with a small glass or a shot glass to flatten and make a consistent size.
• Chill to dough balls for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Bake for 16-19 minutes until they are golden brown.
• Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

SPICY CHEESE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Toss together cheese, flour, mustard and cayenne.
• Mix in butter.
• Knead with your hands to form a dough.
• If the dough feels very dry, add a tablespoon of water.
• On a floured surface, roll out half the dough to a thickness between 1/8- and 1/4-inch.
• Cut into squares.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned on the bottom.
• Remove to a rack to cool.

SAVORY SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Add flour and cayenne pepper to the bowl of a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
• Add cheese to the food processor; pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
• Using a fork, stir in milk and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Have ready several pieces of parchment paper.
• Form mixture into two 1-inch-diameter logs, and wrap in parchment. Transfer the logs to the refrigerator, and chill until very firm, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove logs from refrigerator, and cut each one into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on prepared baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
• Bake the shortbread until golden, about 12 minutes, rotating baking sheets between shelves halfway through baking.
• Transfer shortbread to wire racks to cool. Bake remaining dough. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days.

SPICY SHORTBREAD BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a small bowl whisk together paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon cayenne and set aside.
• In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl whisk together remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, flour, curry powder, and cumin. Beat flour mixture flour mixture into butter until just combined.
• On a lightly floured surface knead dough about 8 times, or until it just comes together. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. On a sheet of wax paper roll each piece of dough into a 3/4-inch-thick log. Sprinkle one quarter of spice mixture along the length of each log and roll in mixture to coat completely.
• Wrap each log in wax paper. Freeze dough just until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Shortbread dough may be made 1 week ahead and frozen. Before proceeding with recipe, remove dough from freezer and let stand about 15 minutes, or until slightly softened to facilitate slicing.
• Remove logs carefully from wax paper and slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds 1/4 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake in batches in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until browned lightly.
• Gently loosen shortbread bites with a spatula from baking sheet (do not remove from sheet) and cool completely. Carefully transfer shortbread bites to a serving dish (they will be fragile) and serve as an hors d'oeuvre.

SCOTTISH SHARP-CHEDDAR SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Using electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat together butter, salt, black pepper, and cayenne at low speed just until blended. Add Cheddar and flour and mix at low speed just until smooth (do not overmix). Shape dough into disk, wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper, and chill 30 minutes.
• Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4- to 1/8-inch-thick round. Using 1 1/2- to 2-inch round cutter, cut out rounds and arrange 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Reroll scraps if desired (rerolled scraps will be tougher).
• Bake shortbread until lightly golden and beginning to brown on edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.