Desserts
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[Photograph: @sstiavetti]

It was Saint Agur's melt-in-your-mouth texture that first led me to think of baking with it. I began to envision crumbly, buttery, undeniably French sablés, doctored to share a hint of that spicy blue love I'd grown to crave nearly every waking moment. Being such a strong cheese, the first batch of cookies I made was way too flavorful, with the blue notes drowning out every last bit of delicate butter that make the cookies such a lovely experience. After a bit of experimenting, I found the perfect balance of butter and blue.

If you don't like blue cheese, these cookies might not change your mind. Their personality is every bit as blue as the cheese itself, though there are a few other properties here that play well with Saint Agur's somewhat intense flavor profile. These sablés are as sweet and buttery as you'd expect them to be--but with an edge, care of this ridiculously rich blue cheese. If you're a fan of the blue, then you stand a good chance of being a fan of these cookies, too.

Note: These cookies are super strongly flavored with blue cheese when they come out of the oven, but their flavor mellows overnight.

About the author: Stephanie Stiavetti is a writer and cookbook author in San Francisco. Her food blog, The Culinary Life, is a repository for all things comfort food related, from savory dinners to transcendental desserts. She also publishes a monthly culinary newsletter full of stories, review, and helpful tips. Stephanie's cookbook, Melt: the Art of Macaroni and Cheese, celebrates America's favorite dish by recreating it with specialty cheeses. Available for preorder now.

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 18 tablespoons (about 9 ounces) butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (about 8 ounces) Saint Agur blue cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (about 3 1/2 ounces) sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cups (about 11 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

Procedures

  1. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat together butter and cheese until they are completely blended, about 1 minute. Add sugar and salt to the butter and cheese, beating just until they are well mixed and creamy, about one minute longer. Do not overbeat.

  2. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating each just until completely mixed in. Stop beating once you have a cohesive batter. Stir in flour with a rubber spatula, stirring just until there is no dry flour left. The dough should be sandy but form a ball when pressed. Roll into a 2-inch thick log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerator for 4 hours.

  3. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the log into 1/2-inch thick cookies and place them 1-inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake until the edges are light brown, about 18 minutes