Goat Cheese, Pecan, and Fig Thumbprint Cookies
Here’s another idea for a little treat to serve when having friends over for “just a glass of wine.” Savory goat cheese thumbprint cookies. The goat cheese is baked into the cookie dough along with a hint of ground thyme. I rolled some in toasted pecans and others in slivered almonds. The pecan cookies were topped with fig jam and the almond with raspberry jam. It all comes together very easily.
I was generously sent some edible gold leaf flakes to try out from Barnabas Gold, and the jewel-like jam centers seemed the perfect – and perfectly unexpected – thing to top with a little gold leaf! I’d never used gold leaf before and I was really happy how easy it was to use. They provide bamboo tweezers along with the jar of gold flakes that make it really easy to apply just the right quantity in just the right place. My guests were definitely delighted by the “bling” on their cookies.
We enjoyed them along with some reds from a new local favorite Altisima Winery. Everything disappeared pretty quickly, which always makes this baker happy.
Look at those cute topping of gold leaf! (Photo by Daniel Marks)
Photo by Daniel Marks
Pecan, Goat Cheese and Fig Thumbprint Cookie Recipe:
Yield:
About 22 cookies
Difficulty:
Easy
Ingredients:
100 grams pecans or slivered almonds
150 grams unsalted butter, softened
68 grams goat cheese
2 TBSP granulated sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, separated
¼ tsp ground thyme
150 grams all-purpose flour
For the topping:
⅓ cup fig jam, raspberry jam (or both!)
Barnabas Gold Edible Gold Flakes (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment.
Toast the pecans in the oven for 5 minutes then remove and let cool completely. Chop small and set aside. If using slivered almonds you can skip this step.
Briefly beat butter on medium-high speed with the paddle attachment for about 30 seconds. Add the goat cheese , sugar, and salt, then mix until combined – about a minute or two – scraping down the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well blended. Add in the egg yolks and thyme and beat again until blended, another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix on low until blended, scraping down the bowl, until there are no visible spots of flour.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls, I used a small cookie scoop. The dough will be a little sticky. Dip the balls in egg whites, then roll in the chopped pecans. Place balls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Press thumb or the back of a measuring teaspoon into the center of each ball. (If using almonds, you can roll them in the nuts or simply place them in a ring around the thumb impression like I did.)
Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown, rotating the cookie sheets top to bottom. Or bake one sheet at a time. The cookie centers may puff up a little during baking, that's okay, you can press them back down once they're out of the oven. I found a wine cork works pretty well for this! Transfer cookies to a wire rack. Cool completely. Fill with jam and top with a little gold leaf, why not!
Adapted from a recipe in Magnolia Magazine
Photo by Daniel Marks
