Gorgonzola Cookies? Yes, Yes, Yes!

Among the lovely treats we received for Christmas this year, were Gorgonzola cookies. Sounds unlikely, doesn't it? I know I don't think of Gorgonzola in cookies. They were so wonderful that we had to have the recipe! These savory cookies have an almost melt-in-your mouth kind of texture.

The original recipe is by Julie Gunter and was published in Christmas with Southern Living 2001, by Oxmoor House. But our friend replaced the walnuts with pecans. Now, I have to say that I never would have thought about combining Gorgonzola and pecans, but she was so right – it turns out that they're fabulous together!

I made the cookies right away and plan to serve them on New Year's Eve with other appetizers. I suspect they'd be very popular at Bowl Game gatherings.

The recipe calls for the dough to be packed into two rolls, refrigerated, and sliced into cookies. They're quite charming that way. But I tried rolling them out. The dough was surprisingly cooperative, so I skipped the refrigeration. I rolled them out in small batches on parchment paper so I wouldn't have to add any flour. It worked beautifully. I used little leaf and acorn cookie cutters so that they're one bite cookies.

As an experiment, I dusted some with sweet Hungarian paprika for color. To be honest, I can't tell any difference in the flavor but it did dress them up a little bit.

Gorgonzola Pecan Cookies

based on a recipe by Julie Gunter

3/4 cup pecans
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
sweet Hungarian paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Toast the pecans in the oven for about 10 minutes. Using a food processor, grind the pecans until tiny. Add the flour, salt, and pepper and pulse to mix. Add the cold butter and pulse until integrated. Add the Gorgonzola cheese and pulse until the dough begins to stick together in clumps.

Either shape them into two rolls and refrigerate until firm enough to cut into 1/4 inch slices – or – roll out in small amounts on parchment paper and cut with a cookie cutter.

Optional: sprinkle with sweet Hungarian paprika.

Bake on parchment paper or an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Pulse until the dough holds together in clumps.

Roll out on parchment paper, or make rolls and cut into cookies.

Half are sprinkled with sweet Hungarian paprika.

Savory Gogonzola Pecan Cookies!