Cheese Sablé

I make this recipe from time to time, freezing half the mixture in order to bake some more of these delicious little biscuits at a later date. They make a perfect accompaniment to a Manhattan.

For this recipe you will need,
150g of plain flour
150g of cheddar cheese (mature is good)
150g of parmesan cheese
140g of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Begin by placing the cheese, cut up into chunks in a food processor along with the flour and spices. Process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the butter and continue to process until the mixture comes together to form a dough. I store half of this mixture wrapped up in clingfilm in the freezer. It keeps well for a month or two. Roll the remaining half out into a long log roughly 30 centimeters by 2-3 centimeters. Slice 1 centimeter thick discs off the log and place on a lined baking sheet. The sablé will spread during cooking so do leave some space in between. I press the discs down onto the sheet with my finger, but I think this makes not one jot of difference to the finished thing. Bake in a hot oven 200C for 8 minutes or until the sablé are golden brown, cool and serve.
 

Notes:
You can vary the flavour of these by adding such things as Nigella seeds, or cumin seeds.