Treat yourself to these delicious and easy-to-make cheese sablés. Made with Pecorino cheese and fresh rosemary they're perfect for both party platters and everyday snacking.
If you’re looking for a little homemade nibble to serve with drinks before or after dinner, then may I suggest these cheese sablés? Buttery and crumbly cheese sablés are shortbread cookies’ more savory cousin. They’re the perfect party platter partner, alongside some roasted olives and spicy rosemary roasted nuts. These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cheese sablés are easy to make and disappear quickly!
What are Cheese Sables?
In French shortbread cookies are called sablés (which means sandy) thanks to their classic sandy texture. And while both share that delectable melt-in-your-mouth feel, cheese sablés are an entirely savory treat. These particular cheese sablés are rich with salty pecorino cheese and a sprinkling of fresh rosemary.
Easy but elegant, the sablés go especially well with champagne and sparkling wine, which makes them right at home around the holidays. And thankfully making your own sablés is much easier than you might think! If you can bake cookies, you can make these cheese crackers. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredient Notes:
(Here are a few notes about the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. As always find the full list of ingredients and directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Flour – We’re using a combination of almond flour and arrowroot for these sablés.
- Butter – Use your favorite butter.
- Cheese – We’re using Pecorino for the sables. Buy a chunk and grate your own for the best results.
- Rosemary – A little fresh rosemary compliments the salty flavor of the Pecorino nicely but feel free to use thyme instead if you’d prefer.
How to Make Cheese Sablés:
(Here are the basic steps and some helpful tips on how to make the recipe. Find the full directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- The easy dough is made by combining the almond flour, butter, pecorino cheese and rosemary together in a bowl. Everything is mixed together by hand so this is a good one to get your kids involved with as they’ll get a kick out of pinching the butter into the flour and cheese with their fingers.
- What you’ll end up with is a nice ball of dough that’s then rolled out between two sheets of parchment and left to chill before cutting into rounds with a cookie cutter.
- The little disks of cheesy, buttery goodness are then popped into the oven until lightly golden around the edges and left to cool until crisp and crumbly.
You can make the dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight (or freezer for longer) then bake them off shortly before your guests arrive. They also keep well for a number of days in an airtight container so consider making a batch on the weekend to get you through the week.
Happy Holidays!
More Homemade Crackers:
Cheese Sablés
These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth gluten-free cheese sablés are easy to make and disappear quickly!
Ingredients
- 1 cup/112g almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons/18g arrowroot
- 3 Tablespoons/ 42g chilled salted butter, cubed
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4oz/112g Pecorino Romano cheese, very finely grated on a micro plane
- Leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients except for the cheese and rosemary. Using your fingers, a dough cutter or a fork, work the butter into the flours until a crumbly dough forms. Add the cheese and rosemary and continue to work the dough with your hands until a ball of dough forms adding ½ a teaspoon of water if necessary to help dough come together.
- Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to ¼ inch thick. Place in fridge or freezer and chill until firm.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from fridge and remove top parchment sheet. Using a cookie cutter cut chilled dough into rounds. Combine scraps by hand, place between parchment and re-roll. Continue to cut out rounds until all the dough is gone.
- Place the sables at least an inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until just golden around the edges. Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
22Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 79Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 134mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
James says
I used this recipe as a pie crust for a zucchini tart. Doubled it all except the cheese and rolled it out as a crust after chilling. 15 minute blind bake before adding the filling. Worked like a charm! Thanks 🙂
Jacqui says
Just made these for Christmas! They are so good. My mom is going to love them! And they are so easy to make.
Sylvie says
Terrific! Glad to hear you enjoyed them.