Parmesan Fennel Shortbread
This parmesan fennel shortbread is one of the few savory foods you will ever see on this site, but that should be an indicator of how freaking amazing these are! They're buttery, slightly sweet, and salty.
Ingredients
- 227 g unsalted butter, room temp
- 56 g powdered sugar
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 75 g freshly grated parmesan
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, slightly ground
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch square pan with two pieces of parchment paper to create a sling on all sides for easy removal.
- Beat the butter until completely smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat until fully combined.
- Then, add the flour, salt, pepper, and parmesan and mix until fully combined, but do not over-mix!
- Transfer dough to the prepared pan and pack in using a piece of parchment paper and the back of a measuring cup (as shown in the pictures above). Once the dough is evenly packed in, place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Toward the end of the freeze time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Take the dough out of the pan and cut the block in half, and cut each section into 8 equally sized pieces (a little over 1 inch per piece).
- Place the shortbread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about one inch apart. Sprinkle fennel seeds on top of each and bake for 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges.
- Let shortbread cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy!
Notes
- Beat the butter until smooth before adding in any other ingredient. This will ensure everything is incorporated evenly and you don't have big pieces of butter throughout your dough.
- Do not over-mix the dough once you add the flour! Over-mixing develops the gluten in the flour and will make your shortbread very tough.
- Freeze the dough for at least 30 minutes. If you are not baking all of the dough at once, be sure to keep them in the freezer until they are ready to be baked.
- To grind up the fennel seeds, I used a mortar and pestle.
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 1shortbread | Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 150mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 392IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg
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