These cookies are the perfect blend of sweet and savory, with a cheddar cheese dough and apricot filling. It’s very important to use SHARP cheddar cheese in this recipe for the cheese flavor to come through.
Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened (see note*)
1 cup (4 grams by weight) finely grated extra sharp cheddar cheese (see note**)
1-1/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift first, then measure)
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup apricot preserves
Directions
- Beat together the margarine and cheese until creamy, then blend in the flour and water. Chill the dough for 4 to 5 hours.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the preserves until the mixture boils, simmer until it reduces somewhat. Set aside to cool. (see note*** before for original vintage instructions)
- Preheat the oven to 370F.
- Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a 10 inch square, cut into 2-1/2 inch squares.
- Put a (very) scant teaspoon of the preserves in the center of each square, fold over diagonally to make a triangle and seal the edges by moistening with a tiny bit of water and sealing with the tines of a fork.
- Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 13 to 16 minutes or until edges start to brown slightly. (The original recipe states 8 to 10 minutes but on my insulated AirBake pans they needed 16 minutes to get crispy and flaky)
Notes
- * Like a lot of old recipes that hail from an era where butter was rationed, expensive or scarce, the original called for margarine. As a matter of fact, Grandma apparently couldn’t decide between butter and margarine because it calls for “oleo” in the ingredients and “butter” in the instructions! You can use butter if you like; the texture will change slightly but I have not done a side-by-side comparison.
- ** Did I mention the cheddar cheese has to be SHARP? Ideally, EXTRA SHARP. Like the sharpest aged cheddar you can get. Really they will be disappointing and bland if you don’t use a very sharp cheese.
- *** The original vintage instructions call for 1 cup dried apricots and 1 cup granulated sugar. You boil the apricots in some water, then drain the water. Add 1 cup sugar to the softened apricots, heat to boiling, stir until mixture is smooth, then cool. Use this as your filling.
Later, Grandma just penciled in “or preserves” next to “dried apricots” and I use that, thickening it up slightly first.