This Pecan Shortbread with Stilton Filling has made me fall in love with savoury short breads! This recipe was part of our 2015 Holiday Dinner Wine Pairing. The original recipe was in the LCBO 2015 Holiday issue. The original recipe was in the LCBO 2015 Holiday issue. (See the wine notes with the full menu in the link above).
These cookies make a substantial serving because they are served as sandwiches with a rich stilton filling. So – keep your cookie size reasonably dainty – think French macaron size.
You might also like this Lemon Thyme Savory Shortbread
or this Savory Goat Cheese Shortbread
Wine Pairing with Pecan Shortbread with Stilton Filling
This Pecan Shortbread with Stilton Filling pairs well with port and especially white port.
Try the Lemon Thyme Savory Shortbread with Sauvignon Blanc and the Savory Goat Cheese Shortbread with a Southern Rhone (GSM blend) .
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/3 cup icing sugar sifted
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup Stilton finely crumbled (about 2 1/3 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Place oven racks in top and bottom third of oven. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.
- Stir flour and salt in a bowl. In a larger bowl beat the butter until very creamy, at least 2 minutes. Gradually beat in icing sugar and beat 2 minutes more. Use a wooden spoon to stir in flour and nuts. Use floured hands to incorporate the last of the flour and nuts.
- Gather dough into a ball. Divide dough in half and form halves into discs on floured surface. Roll out dough to 1/4 thick. Dust rolling pin with flour as needed to keep it from getting sticky. Use a 1 1/2 - 2" cookie cutter, cut out cookies. You should get about 18 cookies. Place on parchment sheet about 1" apart. Repeat with 2nd disc.
- Bake in top and bottom thirds of oven about 15-17 minutes. Switch sheets about half way through. You do not want cookies to brown.
- Cool on sheets about 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Cookies can be stored in a sealed container for up to a week. (They also freeze well).
Filling
- Pulse cream cheese and Stilton in a food processor til creamy. If making ahead cheese filling will store up to a week in the refrigerator but back to room temperature before filling cookies.
- Use about 1 Tbsp of filling for each cookie. Spread over 1/2 of the cookies, then top with the remaining half of the cookies. Cookies will get soft as they sit so best to assemble an hour or so before serving. I filled mine a couple of hours before serving but put them in the fridge and then gave them 1/2 hour at room temperature before serving.