Cheese Board Shortbread Cookies
Is there anything better than a cheese board? All the different cheesy options, crunchy crackers, sweet jams or dried fruits – it’s the most fun way to eat! My family makes a cheese board as an appetizer before every holiday meal, and it’s one of my favorite traditions. We love to have a variety of cheeses on our cheese boards, but sharp white cheddar is required; it’s perfectly tangy and salty and ideal for pairing, and it slices cleanly. Cabot Creamery makes some of the best sharp cheddar around, so I was thrilled when they asked me to develop a special recipe using their cheddar cheese!
A balance of sweet and salty is essential on a good cheese board. Anyone who’s been following me for a while knows that I especially love shortbread, so I developed a shortbread cookie that belongs on a cheese board! The dough comes together within minutes in a food processor and includes chunks of Cabot Seriously Sharp white cheddar cheese. The shortbread also includes oats and hazelnuts, which gives the most addictive nubbly texture.
A little bit about Cabot Creamery: not only do they make incredibly delicious cheese and butter, they’re also a company who really lives up to their values. They’re a cooperative owned by farm families throughout New England and New York, and 100% of Cabot’s profits go back to the farmers. In addition, Cabot is a certified B Corp, which means that in addition to making cheese, they also work for the betterment of their employees, communities, and environment. Y’all know I believe that food is so important in how we build healthy, happy communities, so I love the work that Cabot is doing!
Cheese Board Shortbread Cookies
All dinner guests love a cheese board, but if you really want to impress them next time you’re hosting, you can level up and make your own crackers! These cheese board shortbread cookies are the perfect hybrid of cookie and cracker. They’re savory and a little bit sweet, flavored with salty cheese, toasted nuts, and a touch of brown sugar. They’re buttery and crumbly like a classic shortbread, and pair perfectly with a slice of cheese and a dollop of jam.
Cookies in 5 minutes flat
In addition to being delicious, these cheese board shortbread cookies also come together incredibly quickly. First, you’ll add cubed Cabot cheddar cheese, brown sugar, oats, toasted nuts, and butter to the bowl of a food processor. You’ll blitz that until the butter is well blended and the nuts and cheese are chopped. Then you’ll add flour and salt and pulse until a dough forms. Then you’ll form a log and pop it in the refrigerator to chill. That’s it!
(Now throw the entire food processor in the dishwasher because everyone knows that cleaning a food processor is the worst.)
Building a Cheese Board
New to the world of cheese boards? It’s all about balance. Here are some recommendations for a delicious, interesting, attractive appetizer!
- A variety of cheeses: aim for a range of hard and soft, mild and funky, aged and fresh cheeses
- Multiple cracker types: something sweet and crumbly (aka these cheeseboard shortbread cookies!), something salty and crisp
- Dried fruit, jam, or preserves. Fig jam is especially good!
- Something sweet, like chocolate covered pretzels
- Fresh fruit: apple slices, grapes, strawberries, etc
- Toasted nuts
- Pickles! Think something bite-sized, like gherkins or slices of pickled veggies
Cheese Board Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 50 grams brown sugar
- 70 grams old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cook oats)
- 50 grams Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar cheese, cubed or your favorite Cabot flavor
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 113 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 120 grams all purpose flour
- 70 grams toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine 50 grams brown sugar, 70 grams oats, 50 grams cubed cheddar cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 113 grams butter.
- Pulse the food processor until the butter is mixed in with all the other ingredients and the cheese and nuts have been broken into smaller pieces.
- Add the flour and toasted nuts to the food processor.
- Pulse until the flour is beginning to incorporate into the butter mixture. Stop the food processor and scrape down the sides and bottom with the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Continue pulsing the processor until the flour is fully mixed in and a ball of dough is forming in the bowl of the food processor.
- Scrape the dough out of the food processor and onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Form the dough into a log about 2" in diameter. Wrap in parchment and place in the refrigerator.
- Refrigerate dough log for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Remove the dough log from the refrigerator. Using a sharp kitchen knife, slice the log into 1/4" thick slices. You'll get 16-20 slices.
- If the cookies aren't as round as you'd like, you can gently press them into shape at this point.
- Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet (pro tip: you can reuse the parchment paper used to wrap the dough log in!). The cookies won't spread very much, so you can put all 16-20 on the same baking sheet, leaving as much room between cookies as possible.
- Bake the shortbread for 18-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. When finished, the shortbread will be golden brown at the edges and very fragrant.
- Let cool on the baking sheet completely.
- Cheese board shortbread cookies will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Did you make these? Leave a comment or tag me on Instagram!