Blue Cheese Walnut Shortbread Crackers

Delicate, crunchy with intense salty, cheesy, nutty flavor.  Just the perfect thing to nibble on with a glass of wine while you chat with friends. 

There are lots of variations of this recipe online, and the funny thing is that they all credit Bon Appetit November 2002 and I cannot find the original anywhere!

Makes about 24 shortbread crackers 

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

3 Tbsp. butter, room temperature

1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/3 c. walnuts, finely chopped

Blend blue cheese and butter in a processor until creamy. Add flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add walnuts and process just until moist clumps form.

Gather dough into ball. Roll out dough between sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thickness.

Transfer wrapped dough to a baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes (they're much easier to cut out and handle when chilled).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners. Using a small biscuit cutter (or other shape cutter), cut out crackers.
You could also free-hand cut them into squares and skip the cutter altogether- - which is what I did!

Transfer cutouts to prepared baking sheets. Gather dough scraps and re-roll (and chill); cut out additional crackers. Transfer to prepared baking sheets.
Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool.