Clemson Blue Cheese Savories

It's Labor Day, and my husband has now been at his new job at Clemson University for a month! Clemson has been making blue cheese on campus since 1941. It even has its own website. N- brought home crumbles to try, and while we enjoy them in the various places we typically put blue cheese, I wanted to find a recipe that would better feature the cheese. These little round savory cracker-cookies topped with fig jam would be perfect on a cheese plate or at a tea - the perfect balance of savory and sweet. They come together quickly. I made a few changes in that I rolled the dough in plastic wrap and chilled it 15 minutes, then sliced and baked. I didn't get quite as many as 3 dozen, but thought that would be easier than rolling them out.

Blue Cheese and Fig Savories
(recipe from Food52)

Makes about 3 dozen

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
• Ground black pepper
• Fig preserves, about 3 Tablespoons

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the flour, butter, blue cheese and a few grinds of black pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the dough just comes together and starts to form a ball.
3. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to pull the dough together. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin. Cut rounds out of the dough with a floured 1-inch cutter and transfer the rounds to the parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Using the back or a round half-teaspoon measure or your knuckle, make an indentation in the top of each dough round. Spoon about ¼ teaspoon of fig preserves into each indentation, using your finger to push the preserves as best as possible into the indentations.
5. Bake the savories for 10 – 14 minutes, until the preserves are bubbling and the pastry is light golden on the bottom.
6. Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes, the remove to a wire rack to cool.
7. You’ll find fig preserves at the grocery – it may be shelved with the “fancy” jams and jellies. You can make these a day ahead and keep them in two layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container.