Serves: Makes about 90
This quantity of dough makes an awful lot of these little biscuits, but be in no doubt that they will be hoovered up by family and guests alike: they are quite simply cheesy, melt-in-the-mouth, little bites of deliciousness. There is always a lot of Stilton knocking around at Christmas and this is the perfect way to use up any leftovers that might have seen better days. You can keep the dough chilled in the fridge for about 10 days and cook the shorties to order or perhaps freeze half the dough to cook at a later date.
Ingredients
- 225g strong plain flour, plus extra for rolling
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 225g butter, cut into cubes
- 200g finely crumbled Stilton cheese
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ½ teaspoons celery seeds
Method
- Put the flour, baking powder and butter in a food processor and blend to a fine crumble mixture. Add the Stilton cheese, egg yolk and celery seeds and blend until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead two or three times to form a smooth ball. Press down with your hand to form a flatish disc and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
- Heat the oven to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, mark 6. Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment. Cut the dough in half (it is easier to roll out in smaller pieces) and roll out on a floured surface, to a thickness of about 3mm. Stamp out little rounds-mine are about 2cm diameter and place on the baking sheets.
- Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the shorties to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
