Manchego and Marcona Almond Shortbread Crackers ~ these savory shortbread crackers are an easy slice and bake recipe that goes beautifully with wine and cheese.
Savory shortbread is an easy and elegant appetizer
My Asiago Lemon Thyme Shortbread was a big hit around here, and, as promised, I have experimented with other versions of this great go-with-a-glass-of-wine cracker. Today I made it with lots of buttery Manchego cheese and Marcona almonds, with their delicious salty skins still on.
Make up the shortbread dough ahead and refrigerate or freeze it until you’re ready.
If you keep a couple of logs around, you’ll always be ready for surprise guests, although, I don’t know about you, but we don’t really get a lot of ‘surprise’ guests around here. The true beauty of having the dough on hand is that you can bake them up fresh when you’re in the mood…true luxury.
Both the Manchego and the almonds come from Spain, and bring a gutsy flavor profile to these shortbreads. They’re rich, and I like to nibble them slowly between sips of a nice chilled glass of wine.
MANCHEGO CHEESE
- a semi-hard Spanish cheese made from the milk of Manchego sheep. It’s aged and has a lovely nutty flavor.
MARCONA ALMONDS
- plump Spanish almonds that are extra buttery and delicious. They’re my favorites!
Mix and match different nuts and cheeses in this recipe
You can easily change this recipe up with a different cheese, or even different nuts. Use the same proportions, and then let your imagination run with it. I recommend hard, aged cheeses like Gruyere, Parmesan, Asiago, etc.
I had meant to photograph (and enjoy) these outside on the deck, but it’s been raining all day. Oh well, wine tastes just as good inside, as do these savory shortbreads.
more savory shortbread to try
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Manchego and Marcona Almond Shortbread Crackers
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F
- Put the flour, salt, pepper, and almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until the almonds are finely chopped.
- Add the butter and cheese to the bowl and pulse the processor for about 10 times, and check to see if the dough holds together when you squeeze it between your fingers, process it further if necessary.
- Remove the dough and form into a 9 inch log. Work the dough briefly with your hands to bring it together if it seems too crumbly.
- Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap, twisting the ends to secure, and refrigerate for an hour or more.
- Slice the dough just like slice and bake cookies, about 1/2 inch thick.
- Bake them on a parchment lined baking sheet for 23-25 minutes until just lightly browned. Let them cool on the baking sheet.
Nutrition
These look AMAZING! I would LOVE it if you shared this recipe with us at Cast Party Wednesday tomorrow!
Thanks,
I hope to see you there!
Susan—thanks! At the moment I can only seem to get good shots when the sun’s out…and it’s been raining for days! I’m doing an online tutorial, hopefully it will help me out 😉
Louise—I think any cheese that’s fairly hard would work. You need to be able to grate it, and it should be sharp, or the flavor will get lost. Pecorino would be perfect. I didn’t know the BC had a recipe for blue cheese and walnut, that sounds great to me, although every time I bake anything with blue cheese it gets kind of grey and unappealing.
looks wonderful, shortbread is one of my favorites 🙂
Oh my goodness these look delicious…I must try them!
Great combination!
How awesome! I’ve never made homemade crackers before but these look great!
Wow, those look incredibly delicious!! I saw a similar recipe in one of the Barefoot Contessa books for a blue cheese & walnut cracker, but I don’t like blue cheese. However I love manchego, so this sounds perfect. Thanks for sharing this! Do you think pecorino would work in place of manchego?
Yes, absolutely.
What a nice recipe. Cheese and almonds, yum!!I love your photography, every photo is so crisp and clear.
I happen to adore manchego cheese and Marcona almonds…I can’t wait to try this. I love how you’ve adapted the recipe. It’s so great that you can store them, bring them out, slice, bake and open a bottle of wine. It’s the perfect thing to have on hand.