Buttery, crumbly, beautifully cheesy, and just a little spicy, these beautiful chili cheese shortbread stars are dangerously easy to eat – and just as easy to make. Perfect for holiday entertaining or gifting, they’re basically the boujee, elegant version of a cheddar cracker.
Table of Contents
Savory Cheesy Shortbread Cookies, at a Glance
- ⏰ Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling time.
- 🍽️ Makes: Around 50 cookies.
- 🛒 Key Ingredients: All-purpose flour, butter, sharp cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere, chili flakes.
- 🎁 Perfect For: Grazing boards, elegant canapés, holiday gifting, or keeping in the freezer for last minute entertaining.
As a savory girlie through and through, these gorgeous, melt-in-your-mouth chili cheese shortbread stars are my idea of the perfect holiday cookie.
They truly tick every holiday hosting box:
- The dough comes together in minutes.
- You only need a handful of simple ingredients.
- They’re brilliant for prepping ahead – chill or freeze them, bake straight from frozen, or bake them ahead of time.
And turning them into cute little stars instantly elevates them into something special.
They’re fab on a grazing board (try them on this Christmas charcuterie wreath or as part of this Wicked themed grazing board), perfect with a glass of bubbly, and they’re a brilliant edible gift.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cheese. I’m using a mixture of sharp cheddar, Parmesan, and Gruyere. You can absolutely play around based on what you like – just stick to hard or semi-hard cheeses that you can grate easily. Colby Jack, Manchego, Asiago, or Pecorino Romano are great options.
- Cornstarch (cornflour). This helps the cookies keep their structure in the oven. This is less of an issue if you choose to make regular round shortbread.
- Butter. You want your butter to be cold when you add it to your food processor. Unsalted or salted butter is fine.
- Aromatics. You’ll need chili flakes, fresh rosemary, and za’atar. Za’atar is a gorgeous mix of sumac, sesame seeds, dried thyme, marjoram, and/or oregano. I LOVE it here, but if you can’t find it, swap it for dried thyme. Fresh rosemary can be switched out for fresh thyme or dried rosemary.
The recipe is easiest and quickest if you use a food processor to make the dough – but you can do it by hand if you prefer.
Step-by-Step: How to Make the Shortbread Cookies
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the cookies – the full recipe with ingredient quantities and instructions is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Grate your cheese – I like to do this in the food processor before adding the other ingredients, for ease.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, butter, herbs, chili flakes, and za’atar.
- Blitz into a lumpy dough.
- Transfer to a floured surface and form into a rough rectangle.
- Use a small cookie cutter to cut out stars from the dough. Re-roll the off-cuts to make more.
- Arrange your star shortbread cookies on a lined baking pan.
- Bake until golden and gorgeous.
- Let cool slightly, then serve and enjoy.
How to Prevent Your Cookies from Spreading in the Oven
This cheesy shortbread stars recipe has been designed to stop this happening, and they should keep their shape if you follow it, but there are a couple of tricks that make a difference:
- ❄️ Chill the cookies before baking. I know this is a bit of an annoying step, but it really does help. It means the butter is properly cold when it goes into the oven, which reduces any spreading.
- ⚖️ Use a scale to measure your ingredients. This is a big one. It’s very easy to over or under measure when you’re using cups. A scale ensures accuracy – if there’s too much butter in the dough, it’s much more likely to melt and spread in the oven. I use a cheap digital scale I picked up on Amazon, and it’s one of my most-used kitchen items!
- 🌡️ Keep an eye on your oven’s temperature. If your oven is too hot, it can cause the butter in the dough to soften and melt before the cookie can set.
- 🥣 Use the cornstarch. This is another fail-safe I’ve added to the recipe to add structure to the dough. It keeps them tender, but stops them from losing their shape in the oven.
Cheesy Shortbread FAQs
You’ll get the best results with hard or semi-hard cheese – basically anything that you can grate easily and has a nice, strong flavor.
My favorites are sharp cheddar, Parmesan, and Gruyere, but these will work well too:
– Pecorino Romano
– Havarti
– Colby Jack
– Monterey Jack
– Asiago
– Manchego
– Flavored cheddar (smoked cheddar, chili cheddar, or garlic cheddar are fab)
Avoid soft cheeses like brie, camembert, and fresh mozzarella – they contain too much moisture for these cookies.
The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for at least five days.
The world is truly your oyster here. Play around with this base recipe – just try to keep the ratios the same.
Swap rosemary for thyme or sage, Gruyere for more cheddar, more Parmesan, Manchego, or flavored cheddar.
You could turn them into cacio e pepe cookies by swapping the chili and za’atar for freshly ground black pepper. Smoked paprika is also an excellent addition, as are black sesame seeds or nigella seeds.
Yes! You can freeze the unbaked dough and unbaked, shaped cookies for up to 3 months. Then just bake the cookies straight from frozen when you’re ready, adding a couple of minutes onto the cooking time.
You sure can. Make the cookie dough up to 3 days ahead of time, and store it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap/clingfilm in the fridge until you’re ready to form the cookies.
Similarly, you can cut out your cookies, then cover them and pop them in the fridge on their tray for up to 3 days too.
Like this recipe? Try these easy edible gift ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
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Chili Cheese Savory Shortbread Bites
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 50 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Buttery, crumbly, beautifully cheesy, and just a little spicy, these beautiful chili cheese shortbread stars are dangerously easy to eat – and just as easy to make. Perfect for holiday entertaining or gifting, they’re basically the boujee, elegant version of a cheddar cracker.
I highly recommend you weigh your ingredients for this recipe for the most accurate results. I use a cheap digital scale I picked up on Amazon, and it’s one of my most used kitchen items!
Ingredients
For the chili-cheese shortbread –
- 100g strong cheddar (1 cup)
- 50g Parmesan (1/2 cup)
- 50g Gruyere (1/2 cup)
- 210g unsalted butter, cold and sliced into cubes
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon za’atar (or dried thyme)
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 220g all-purpose flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour)
Equipment –
- Food processor (you can make the dough by hand – I’ve given instructions in the recipe notes).
Instructions
- Grate the cheese. I like to do this in the food processor for ease. Slice the cheese into smaller pieces, then add it to the bowl of your food processor. Blitz until shredded.
- Make the dough. Add 220g all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of chili flakes, 1 teaspoon of za’atar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the cold, cubed butter, and the fresh rosemary leaves to the bowl. Pulse until the mixture starts to form a soft dough – it should clump together and look a little lumpy. PRO TIP: If it looks a bit dry, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of cold water to help bring it together. And if it’s a bit greasy, add 1 tablespoon of extra flour.
- Roll out the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top with a little flour, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a rough rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.
- Shape the cookies. Use a star cookie cutter (or any shape you like!) to cut the dough into little stars. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out your cookies until you’ve used all your dough. Place the cookies onto a lined baking tray. PRO TIP: If you’re finding the dough sticky at all, wrap it in plastic wrap (clingfilm) and pop it into the fridge for about 15 minutes to firm up a bit. This will make it easier to roll and cut out your stars.
- Chill the cookies. This is key if you want tidy cookies that keep their shape in the oven (this is less important if you’re just making round cookies). Pop the tray into the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or (if you have space), into the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies. While the cookies chill, heat your oven to 350°F (180°C fan). When ready, transfer the cooled cookies, still on their tray, to the oven, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until gorgeously golden around the edges. The tops will still be a little pale – this is what you want.
- Let them cool, and enjoy. Remove the tray from the oven, and leave the cookies to cool on it for about five minutes to firm up a little, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. They’ll still be a little soft at this point, but will crisp up wonderfully as they cool.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: You can make the cookie dough up to 3 days ahead of time, and store it tightly wrapped in the fridge until you’re ready to form the cookies. Similarly, you can cut out your cookies, then cover them and pop them in the fridge on their tray for up to 3 days too.
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: You can also freeze the unbaked dough and unbaked cookies for up to 3 months. You can bake the cookies straight from frozen – just add a couple of minutes onto the cooking time.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
HOW TO PREVENT YOUR COOKIES FROM SPREADING: This recipe has been designed to stop this happening if you follow the steps above – there’s a little less butter than a traditional shortbread ratio (to account for the fat in the cheese), and there’s a little more flour to add structure. Cornstarch also helps to add stability to the cookies. And, if you chill them before baking, they shouldn’t spread.
MAKE THEM YOUR OWN: You can play around with this base recipe – just try to keep the ratios the same. Swap rosemary for thyme or sage, Gruyere for more cheddar, more Parmesan, Manchego, or flavored cheddar. You could turn them into cacio e pepe cookies by swapping the chili and za’atar for freshly ground black pepper. Smoked paprika is also an excellent addition here, as are black sesame seeds, or nigella seeds.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: These lovely cookies are PERFECT for grazing boards – add them to a Christmas charcuterie wreath or pop them onto this Wicked themed grazing board. I love them as a boujee little bite with a glass of wine or a cocktail when entertaining, or you could use them as croutons in a salad, or on top of soups (they’d pair wonderfully with this roasted tomato and red pepper soup or roasted cauliflower cheese soup). And of course, they are fabulous for gifting, especially over the festive season, as an alternative to sweet cookies for fellow savory lovers.
NO FOOD PROCESSOR? In a large bowl, mix the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks sandy, then mix in the grated cheese, chili flakes, za’atar, cornstarch, salt, and finely chopped rosemary. You’ll want to knead the dough a little to bring it together, and that’s it.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: baking
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 cookies
- Calories: 177
- Sugar: 0.1g
- Sodium: 103mg
- Fat: 12.7g
- Saturated Fat: 7.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 10.8g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
