Blue Cheese Cookies with Fresh Fig Jam

Now we all know that fresh fruit and good cheese can make a fabulous dessert. And we all know how great figs and blue cheese are together. With fig season in full bloom, I’ve been wanting to make some figgy type cookies. There are so many incredible things to do with figs, but I thought a simple blue cheese cookie that is a little savory with a balance of sugar and salt would be great to pair with a simple fresh fig jam. An obvious but nonetheless delicious thought. It’s similar to the approach I took with my Fig & Goat Cheese Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, which I highly recommend. But this time I decided to bake the cheese into the cookie. It’s a fun alternative to every day cookies and reinforces the cheese and fruit dessert loveliness.

Use your favorite blue cheese in this cookie. It should be fairly assertive to stand up to the fig jam. And although I haven’t tried it, I think these sandwich cookies would go well on a lazy sunny afternoon patio with a nice petite syrah or a chilled Semillon or Monbazillac.



Bench notes:
- Substitute a mild honey for the sugar in the Fig Jam if you’d like. I also sometimes add a few fresh raspberries.
- Cook the fruit slowly on very low heat to preserve the full flavor. Use a splash of fresh lemon juice to perk up fruit if the taste seems a little flat.
- The next time I make these I would definitely press some finely chopped walnuts into the surface of the cookie.
- The cookies would probably also taste great with cherries poached in port or poached pears and walnuts.
- The cookies without the filling can be kept in an airtight container. I highly recommend waiting until the next day to serve them. I think it gives the cookie a chance to meld all the flavors together beautifully. Once you fill them with the jam, they will soften.
- Other great fig desserts and pastries to create now are A Provençal Sundae, Fresh Fig Raspberry Galette and Panna Cotta with Fig Compote and Orange Granite.


Blue Cheese Cookies with Fresh Fig Jam
Makes about 24 2” cookies or 12 sandwich cookies

Blue Cheese Cookies

6 oz blue cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
1/4 C + 2 T granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 C flour

Blend blue cheese, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor until creamy. Add flour and pulse until mixture just starts to come together and forms a clump. Gather dough and place on a piece of plastic. Flatten into a disk and place another piece of plastic over the top. Roll out the dough between the two sheets of plastic to about 1/4” thickness. Slide the dough in the plastic onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and gently lift off the top sheet of plastic. Use a 2” cookie cutter or a sharp knife to cut out cookies. Transfer to the baking sheets. You want the dough to remain cold, so work quickly.

Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden, rotating baking pans halfway through. Cool on a wire rack. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.

Fresh Fig Jam

1 pint of fresh figs
2 – 3 T water
1 - 2 T sugar, to taste

Chop the figs and place in a saucepan with the water and sugar. Cook on low heat until the figs are soft and juicy, stirring to prevent scorching. Add a bit more water if necessary as it cooks and taste to adjust sugar. Pull off the heat and cool.

Assemble the cookies and serve immediately.