Stilton & Poppy Seed Sables

Delicious little savoury cookies, very moorish. These make great Christmas presents.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Yields: 30 cookies

Ingredients

• 100  g plain flour
• 85  g  cold butter, diced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1  tablespoon polenta
• 1  tablespoon poppy seed
• 100  g Stilton cheese, crumbled
• 20  g Stilton cheese, crumbled to top the cookies

Directions

1. In a large bowl, rub together the flour, butter, mustard powder, cayenne, polenta (if using), poppy seeds, stilton and a pinch of salt, using your fingers and hands, until the mixture forms a pastry dough.
2. Knead the dough briefly until it really sticks together and is very lightly speckled with tiny bits of cheese. You can be quite heavy-handed.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a sausage shape with your hands, about 25cm long and 4cm in diameter.
4. wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour. (The pastry can now be chilled for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. The pastry can be sliced and cooked from frozen but you need to cut it slightly thicker.).
5. To bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/ fan 170°C
6. Slice the dough into rounds just under 1cm thick.
7. Lay the rounds a couple of centimeters apart on a baking sheet (or two, if you are cooking all the biscuits at the same time).
8. Put a very small piece of stilton in the middle of each biscuit.
9. bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are starting to go golden and the cheese is bubbling.
10. Leave to cool slightly before serving.
11. The biscuits will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight tin.