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Savoury Cheesy Biscuits (Peynirli Kurabiye)

This is my version of Turkish savoury biscuits Tuzlu Kurabiye, (it literally translates as salty biscuit/cookie). This is my cheese version (Peynir) & are perfect for pairing with your favourite cheese, but equally good snacked on alone. So ideal for New Year & parties.
Caro @ Caroline's Easy Baking Lessons
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Chilling Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Serving Size 4 Dozen*

Equipment

  • Scales or measuring cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Large spoon
  • Small measuring jug
  • 2 Small Bowls (to separate eggs)
  • Stand or Hand Mixer (not essential)
  • Baking trays/sheets (2-3 large)
  • Baking/parchment paper
  • Cookie Cutters (I used square and round ones about 4½cm (1¾") wide)
  • Pastry Brush (or Paint/Artist brush)
  • Palette knife, or butter knife
  • Cooling rack
  • Timer or Phone Timer

Ingredients

For The Dough

  • 125 grams Butter, unsalted, cubed & softened a little (1 stick + 2 tsp, 4½ oz)*
  • 120 ml Oil (4 fl oz, ½ cup, Vegetable oil or other neutral oil)
  • 1 ½ tbsp Cider Vinegar (Apple Cider Vinegar or white Vinegar)
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 10 grams Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda, 2 scant tsps- below level)
  • 1 Egg Yolk (medium or large) (Large or XLarge US, keep white for glazing on top)
  • 3 tsp Icing Sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 312 grams Plain Flour, approximately (2½ cups All Purpose Flour, 11oz approximately)
  • 90 grams Mature Cheddar Cheese, cubed (3 oz, ⅔ cup Sharp Cheddar, optional, for a whole batch)

For The Topping

  • 1 Egg white (from above with a splash of milk or water.)
  • Seeds of choice (optional – sesame seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, Nigella seeds)

Instructions

Before Baking

  • Begin by cubing the butter, & leave to soften & come to room temperature.  If you forget, or are in a hurry, try this hack I reviewed. Go to How To Soften Butter In About 12 minutes Video.
  • Also prepare your baking sheets/trays by lining with baking/parchment paper.

Prepare The Biscuit/Cookie Dough

  • When the butter is softened, (see video on how to test if butter is ready for baking), beat a little with a hand/stand mixer until soft & spreadable. Add in the icing/powdered sugar & salt, beat again but only just until incorporated. (See Photo 1 below). Then mix in the egg yolk & oil.
    4 photo collage of mixing the wet ingredients for savoury bat cookies - photo 1
  • Next add the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to vinegar in a small bowl, (but not too small as the mixture will react and fizz). Be sure to be ready to quickly add this to the main mixing bowl, before giving it a mix through till incorporated.  See Photo 1 above.
    4 photo collage of adding the flour to the savoury bat biscuit batter - photo 2.
  • Gradually add the flour, until a smooth dough comes together. I usualy add in about 125g (1 cup) of flour at a time. You might need more or less flour. Different types of flour, where & how it is milled, results in a variation in how much liquid it will absorb. So there can be no exact amount of flour to add with lots of recipes.  For the correct consistency, roll a smooth ball of the dough & flatten it with your hand.  If you do that without it falling apart or sticking to your hand, it is ready. You can also swap over to a wooden spoon/spatula or use your hands, towards the end of bringing the dough together. See Photo 2 above.
  • Cut 2 extra large pieces of baking/parchment paper (approximately 40cm/15½″ long). Knead the dough for 5 second knead & shape into a ball & flatten. Place the cubed cheese in a food processor & blitz to large breadcrumb sized pieces. Alternatively you can just add grated cheese (I have done this when I have forgot). Add the cheese to the top of the disc of dough & knead together, just until all the cheese is distributed. (You can do this on the paper or whilst still in the bowl). See Photo 3 above. Divide the dough, & flatten both into a disc, placing one half into the fridge in some paper or cling film/plastic wrap.
    4 photo collage of added grated shreded cheese to savoury cookie dough, kneading in and rolling out - photo 3.
  • Place one half of the dough, in-between the 2 sheets of baking/parchment paper, before rolling the dough until you a thickness at least 5 or 6mm (⅕-¼"). (*height of £1 coin plus a 1p). Place the rolled out dough (& bottom paper), on a tray & place in the fridge, making sure it is completely flat.   Chill the dough for 30 – 45 minutes**, while doing the same for the second half of dough. (Take a note of when you placed the first rolled out dough into the fridge). See Photo 3 above.

Cut Out The Biscuits/Cookies

  • When 30 minutes is up, start to cut out the biscuits/cookies. Dip the cookie cutter in a small bowl of flour, shaking the excess & cut out as many cookies as you can get. (You can use several different shaped cutters). Lift the biscuit dough carefully, with a palette knife or butter knife, & place on the prepared baking tray/sheet, leaving a little gap in-between each.
  • Once the first tray/sheet is filled, place in the fridge, whilst you roll up the scraps & continue to cut, and re-roll until all the dough is used up. Remember to place the filled trays/sheets in the fridge. Do the same for the second half of the dough. Take a note of the time you placed the first tray in the fridge as you will be chilling for another 1 hour (or freeze for 30 minutes).
  • Heat up the oven to 180°c/160°c fan oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4 to coincide with the end of the chilling time. Just before the oven is ready, use your egg white left-over & a little water or milk, to brush generously onto the tops of the biscuits/cookies. Sprinkle or place seeds on top if desired.

Bake The Biscuits/Cookies

  • Place the first prepared tray of biscuits in the oven, for about 14-16 mins, until turning golden on top & around the edges.  You want the cookies to be set, but just a little soft in the middle. (Note if your cookies are thinner than mine, you might need a bit less time). Just remember, that the cookies will continue to bake out of the oven, from residual heat coming from the baking sheet/tray. While the first batch are cooking, you can add egg wash & seeds to your second batch & place back in the fridge till ready to bake.
    Photo of 2 baking sheets of baked golden cheese biscuits/cookies in squares & circles, stars & Christmas trees, baked and cooling - photo 5.
  • Remove from the oven & leave to cool on the tray/sheet for 5 mins. Meanwhile you can put the other uncooked biscuits in to be baked. Then transfer very carefully to a cooling rack by using the baking/parchment paper. **They are a very soft textured biscuit, so be very careful not to drop them.

Storage & Serving

  • Leave to cool & then enjoy anyway you want. On their own, with cheese, used as a dip. Store in an air-tight container., such as a cookie or biscuit tin, with the paper baked on & these will last at least 5 days.
    Angled wooden chopping board on white backdrop, with savoury seeed topped biscuits/cookies.

Notes

*Alternative To Butter - margarine or Baking Spread can be used in plac eof butter, but requires at least 3 hours chilling time.  See notes before the Recipe card.
Recipe Yield - makes approximately 48 biscuits/cookies, depending on size of cutter.  The square & round cutters I used were about 4½cm (1¾") wide.
If making different sized savoury cookies, be sure to keep similar sized ones on the same baking sheets/trays so that they cook at the same rate.
For more details & photos, please see before Recipe card.
Print via this Recipe Card, with/without photos or these notes.
Differences Between UK & US Baking Ingredients
Note all measurements have been hand tested by myself during recipe development. You might find my table of conversions of common baking ingredients handy –
Conversion Of UK & US Common Baking Ingredients