Comté shortbread and Provence herbs

Comté aperitif shortbread, seasoned with Provence herbs, easy and quick to prepare and even better than store-bought aperitif biscuits.

These homemade shortbread cookies are the perfect aperitif biscuits for your evenings with family or friends. I suggest you choose a good Comté AOP and Provence herbs as your cheese. Don’t hesitate to explore various seasonings to personalize your aperitif biscuits and impress your guests with unique flavors.

Serve as a biscuit with all kinds of homemade sauces or dips: Provençal pepper sauce, ultra-delicious salmon rillettes or well-flavored mackerel rillettes, lemony hummus, seaweed tartare like in Brittany…

Preparing the shortbread

Sprinkle the flour seasoned with the herbs and the cold butter

The principle is very similar to making homemade shortbread, for your tarts, tarte tatin, rustic tart or other. The rendering is stated in its name, sandblasted. Mix the ingredients with your fingers until you obtain a shortbread texture, a little grainy but of a fine enough grain so that all the ingredients are mixed. For a pie crust, mix flour and very cold butter. Here we start in the same way, flour and cold butter having mixed the Provence herbs with the flour, and then add the finely grated cheese. Using your fingertips because you don’t want to heat the iron which would then become soft.

Yeast? This is not necessary in my opinion.

You can make this recipe in a food processor, I sometimes do it with my KitchenAid Artisan, or in a Thermomix, Companion or other robot. However, be sure to do this quickly, without overworking the dough and stop as soon as you obtain a grainy texture.

Add the cheese

The best is to have very finely grated cheese. Use already grated Comté or better grate it yourself.

Then an egg

I use a whole egg, already beaten into an omelette or added as is and mixed into the batter. This is the wet ingredient that will clump the dough together and allow you to form a ball with your dough. If the dough is too dry and you cannot form a ball, you can add a small splash of water.

This recipe can be made without eggs and just water instead.

Shaping the shortbread

This is done in two stages, with a rest in between:

First you will shape a ball with your dough, then a fairly long sausage. Wrap it in parchment paper and roll it into a cylindrical shape. Make sure the ends are straight, not pointed.
Place your dough in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. The butter will cool and your dough will harden.
Finally, place your dough on a cutting board and cut slices, a bit like slicing a sausage, with a thickness of approximately ½ centimeter.

I got 3 dozen cookies about 4 cm in diameter with this amount of dough.

Cooking

Place your medallions thus obtained on a baking tray covered with baking paper and cook for 15 to 20 minutes in the oven.

The cooking time depends on the thickness of your shortbread. Check the cooking after 15 minutes and continue if they are not nicely browned and cooked through. Note, however, that they will harden a little as they cool.

Wait until the shortbread has completely cooled before eating.

Seasoning variations

To vary the pleasures, here are some ideas for seasonings to add to your basic dough:

Replace Provence herbs with other aromatic herbs

Thyme, rosemary, oregano, or other fine herbs, fresh or dried. You can decorate with a few leaves, it’s pretty but not particularly better and it takes time!

Spices

A pinch of Espelette pepper will add a spicy note to your shortbread. Cumin or curry will flavor them wonderfully.
What about salt and pepper? For my part, I don’t add salt because the Compté already brings a salty note, I think. But you can test. Better pepper than salt.

Sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Add it to the dough or sprinkle your shortbread with sesame seeds or poppy seeds before baking. This will no longer bring an aesthetic effect, however no or very little taste to your shortbread.

Nuts or other oilseeds

Add crushed walnuts, this will add a crunchy touch.

Mustard

a little hint of whole grain mustard will spice up your shortbread.

Don’t hesitate to be inventive or vary the pleasures according to your tastes. Just be careful not to use an ingredient with a wet texture which can make cooking more delicate.