Buttery and crumbly dough, rich brie, tart cranberry filling, and aromatic rosemary meet together in these Cheddar Brie Cranberry Thumbprint Biscuits. These festive sweet&savory treats are perfect for the Christmas season.
Cheddar Brie Cranberry Thumbprint Biscuits
Hello everyone!
I would also like to welcome our American friends who celebrated Thanksgiving just a couple of days ago. I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and I certainly hope you’ve enjoyed some festive food (Can you still breathe?) Any turkey leftovers by any chance? If you happen to have some, you might consider making this delicious Turkey Cranberry Brie Flatbread. If you’ve already handled turkey leftovers, there’s no reason to be upset. I’ve brought you another lovely sweet&savary Christmas idea.
If you have been following my blog for some time, you might remember I have shared some sweet&savory cookies (biscuits). Also, you may remember that every time I shared those recipes, I indeed wasn’t confident about how to properly classify these creations. I tend to call them cookies even though I acknowledge the fact this might be confusing: most people associate cookies with something sweet. On the other hand, biscuits are something which is associated with gravy to me. There are also crackers but thank you. Nope.
I think I’ve finally made my decision. I am going to name these creations biscuits. While biscuits are often those fluffy things (Which resemble scones), this term is also a bit vague. It’s used for a variety of baked products, either sweet and savory, so I believe it’s a good way to describe these delicious things. I know what you may be thinking, “Ben, no matter how you name this, the most important thing is that that’s delicious!” I totally agree with you folks but as a food blogger, I believe recipe names shouldn’t confuse people.
Anyway, sorry for this boring intro. Let’s back to our festive mood and these Cheddar Brie Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies…I mean Biscuits. Basically, this idea was born from other recipes I have earlier created for you: these Cheddar Cranberry Walnut Rosemary Biscuits, Brie Lingonberry Jam Crostini, Cheese Lingonberry Jam Linzer Cookies, and above-mentioned flatbread. Yes, I am a very boring person with a lack of imaginations (Here I’d like to hear some compliments saying I’m wrong please haha), and I can play with a couple of same ingredients over and over again.
Despite the fact there were similar ideas featuring cranberries and brie before, I think these Cheddar Brie Cranberry Thumbprint Biscuits being another great twist on sweet&savory Christmas appetizers. They are buttery, rich, festive, and so delicious. Your family will appreciate some along with traditional Christmas cookies. Besides, Santa might be sick and tired of classic sweet cookies, and he won’t mind some change this year.
Cheers for now!
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar (Smoked cheddar would be great too)
- 2/3 cup (150 gr) melted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. dried herbs de Provance
- 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (if using dry, take only 1/4 tsp)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- about 1 and 1/4 all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup think cranberry jam/sauce (preferably not jello base)
- 120-150 gr.brie
- Egg wash: 2-3 tbsp. egg whites + few drops of cold water
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the cheddar, melted butter, and egg. Mix until combined.
- Stir in the flour (add 1 cup reserving the remaining), baking powder, salt, sugar, paprika, and herbs. Mix until all ingredients incorporated adding more flour if necessary. Mix until incorporated and dough comes together in a ball.
- Stir in the walnuts.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (320 F). Cover a baking sheet with parchment.
- Take small pieces of the dough and shape into balls (About 1 inch or 2-2.5 cm). Flatten the balls lightly with your palm then gently press your thumb of a small spoon into the center of each biscuit. Arrange on a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 4-5 minutes.
- Decrease heat to 170 C (340 F). Remove the biscuits from the oven. You will see that the thumbprints have balanced back.
- Working quickly, using the back of a small spoon, re-define the thumbprints. Fill with the cranberry sauce/jam. In a small bowl whisk the egg whites and water (egg wash) and apply this mixture on the top. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven again and place a piece of brie on each biscuits. Bake for 2-3 minutes more.
- Remove and let them cool.
- Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
These are brilliant Ben! I never thought to make a savoury thumbprint cookie! They look delicious!
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking recently posted…Orange Cranberry Kombucha Moscow Mule
These look like perfect canapés for serving at parties over the festive season Ben. And, as I’ve already said in one of your previous recipes Brie and Cranberry as such an excellent combination!
These look like biscuits to me! And they look freggin’ delicious at that, Ben!!!! I absolutely love the cheddar, cranberry and brie triple threat of yum happening here! I bet these are crazy addictive!! Cheers!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary recently posted…Easy Cheesy Baked Sundried Tomato Chicken
Ben, I’ve been looking for a recipe for “savory cookies” or “biscuits” and this one looks so delicious! I love the cranberry too! And, on the contrary, you are so creative with all your recipes! I don’t mind seeing ingredients repeated, since you use them in such unique ways, and because they are among my favorites, too!
Sounds like a great idea to use up Christmas leftovers!!
I think biscuits is a perfect name for these. I typically think of biscuits as being fluffy and tall, but British biscuits are more cookie-like right? And I’m glad to see another savory cookie recipe! You’re just so creative and I love anything with cranberries!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen recently posted…One Bowl Fruitcake Cookies
I agree that the biscuit vs. cookie naming can be confusing. I’m ok with biscuits here. Or mini-scones. (Although scones would make me think these would be for breakfast.) Either way, I love the flavors here, Ben! Cranberry + brie is a classic combo, and I love how you turned this into a fun baked dish! Happy Holidays, my friend!
David @ Spiced recently posted…Cheeseburger Rollups