Initially I had planned to wait and share this weeks recipe with you closer to the holiday season, but a time crunch and a touch of mental blockage have led me to speed things up. The holidays may not start for most of you for a while, but for me it is a different story.
This time of year it would seem that we are constantly finding things to celebrate and about every two weeks something special seems to happen. Usually our celebrations don’t start until Halloween, however this year they ramped up earlier than normal with the wedding of two dear friends in Boston last weekend*. We celebrate everything from our wedding anniversary to the birth of this website to the national holidays I love so much with several other celebration in between. This year I am armed with a few great new party dresses (not to mention a bridesmaid dress**) and am relying on this delicious new recipe to get me to the new year with ease and style.If you are not quite ready to discuss the more celebratory time of year, make these and invite a few close friends to open a bottle of wine with strong berry notes and serve it with these savory little cookies. Also, since we are nearing that time of year when socializing is the name of the game, these would also make a wonderful hostess gift. They are an easy elegant hostess gift for fall and the party season. Just whip up a few batches, store them in the freezer and bake them off as needed.
The chevre gives these cookies a rich, tangy flavor that acts as a platform for the flavors of the cranberry and walnut. When looking for cranberries, I checked the back of each package to ensure I purchased the ones with the least amount of added sugar. I really wanted the full flavor of the cranberry to come through, to often dried cranberries just come across like candy.
Enjoy!
Cookies
8 oz. Chevre (I recommend using a strongly flavored chevre. For the chevre haters out there feta will work)
1/4 cup Butter
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted (pepitas are a great substitute)
1/4 tsp Sel de Mer or other salt such as kosher
1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Pepper
1 Egg
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries, roughly chopped (dried apricots are a good substitute)
Combine the chevre and butter together using a stand mixer. When combined, add in the flour a little at a time alternating between it and the walnuts. When they are roughly incorporated add in the sel de mer, pepper, egg and cranberries. When the dough begins to come together turn off the mixer and finish bringing it together with your hands.
Using parchment, form your dough into a long cylinder, wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.Preheat your oven to 425F. Remove from the refrigerator and slice into rounds. I recommend using unwaxed, flavorless floss or even fishing line. I only had minty floss and no line, so I used a serrated knife which I don’t think produced the best results. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until lighly golden. Cool completely before storing or wrapping.
Note: You may think it odd that I have you alternating mixing in the nuts and flour, but there is a method to my madness. This dough is very thick and I found it helps work the flour in a little better.
* Oddly enough it was also the fifth anniversary of my appendectomy.
**My cousin is getting married this weekend in Portland and I am part of the wedding posse. Congratulations Heady!
i have done chevre cheesecake, so why not cookies?!?
these look so good!!
Thank you!
You know you’ll never get me to say a nice thing about goat’s cheese, let alone eat it and considering feta is still off the menu (and is goaty over here anyway) I’m wondering if Cheshire cheese might be an o.k. substitute; it’s semi-hard, with a moist crumbly texture and a mild salty taste… probably not, but I take my hat off to your creativity anyway!
Leslie, if it’s the Cheshire cheese I know then allow it to come to room temp and prepare this recipe using a food processor, blending the cheese first so it will blend better.
Can’t wait to try these! BTW, your recent comment on Clotilde Dusoulier’s blog about cooking mussels made me laugh out loud (“there was an incident”). I wish I knew what it was.
Happy Cooking
Thank you Gwendolyn, I hope you enjoy them.
I’m glad I could give you a laugh. My darling husband is not known for his culinary prowess, but he does try. I was at work one Saturday a few years back when he decided to watch Nick Stellino’s Family Kitchen and make me dinner. He tried so hard and did a wonderful job aside from one thing, the mussels were a bit. . . aged, therefore providing a most heinous flavor. Ever since then I can detect even the slightest hint of that shudder inducing flavor in a mussel, no matter how fresh. Now I tend to avoid them, unless I know they are straight from the water.
absolute genius!! i love, love, LOVE the combo of flavors here! i never would’ve thought to put chevre in a cookie. Great job.
Aww shucks . . . I wouldn’t say genius, but you can all you want! Thank you very much and welcome to The Endive Chronicles. I peeked at your site and it looks great. I’ll have to take a closer look later.
Oh, My! I can’t wait to do this! any reason to use goat cheese is reason enough to get me into the kitchen…well, it doesn’t take much to get me there i guess! There is a cookoff competition soon, I think i might try this one, Unique and impressive. Round one is tonight, I think i’ll be doing a chipotle baked shrimp, but i’m open to jaw dropping ideas….
love the blog!
Thank you Ellie and welcome! I hope your competition goes well, let me know how it goes.
Wow, this is so creative, Erin! They’re so pretty that anyone would be thrilled to receive a box of them. By far the most inventive cookie I’ve seen in a long time.
Thank you very much!
savory cookies -what a fantastic concept! Do you think you have to use cheeses with soft consistencies?
Bostonparties, It would be easier, but I believe you can grate and blend a room temperature hard cheese to change it’s consistency. I have not tried it in this recipe, but have done it for other things. I would not however use a hard cheese, you must have a certain level of moisture.
these look absolutely delicious! and so unique! I have been tasked with appetizers for Thanksgiving, and these could be a great addition. Thanks!
Thanks Jen, I hope you like them.
Erin, any idea of the diam of the ‘log’ and what your yield was? Sounds good, even ‘tho I am not a chevre fan, but my guests are!
Karen, I believe they were about 2 inches in diameter and the yield aroud 40. Thanks for your comment and welcome to The Endive Chronicles!
Made these with zattar flavoured feta and dried straberries – great combo!!
Anne, I bet that would be fantastic. Thanks for sharing it with me.