The Ultimate Barnyardy Shortbread

[Khadija]

My SO loves the "barnyardy" flavour of goat cheeses. He also really likes pastry. I want to develop a goat shortbread/cracker for him, perhaps to pair with fruit compote or jam. I've also thought about making shortbread rounds, and then filling them "oreo-style," with either a fruit based filling or a creamy goat cheese based filling. I've made goat-butter pie-crust, with good success. I've made both Stilton and Parmesan shortbreads, though not for awhile.

Any ideas and suggestions on how to proceed would be much appreciated. I'm going to experiment over the next week. My SO recently made a blueberry pie, and the crust used cow butter, leaf lard, and soft goat cheese (as the only liquid). The crust was ethereally light -- beautifully delicate. However, it did not taste very goaty. My goat butter pie crust, which he did not taste, was subtle, but goaty if you were looking for it, IMO. I am thinking of using a hardish, strong goat cheese in my shortbread, probably Chevre Noir, a Quebec aged goat cheddar. I also thought I'd use at least some goat butter, and maybe even some of the soft goat cheese for liquid. Is this overkill? At this point, I'm thinking of maximizing goat flavour, but I need to think of the textural qualities of the shortbread, too. Ideas please!

[sugarseattle]

in my opinion, it doesn't take that much goat cheese to get the flavor. I do a goat cheese scone, and just swap out about 30% of the butter for goat cheese. my recipe calls for blending the butter into the dry ingredients so I just do the butter at that time, then add the goat cheese, then the liquid. I'm trying not to "puree" the goat cheese in that way; rather keep it in chunks so there will be pockets of goat cheese flavor. does that make sense?

So anyhow, you could just take a cracker recipe you like and do a similar swapping out. You might also try a cheese cracker recipe and then just use your goat cheese. Green onion or chives pair really nicely with goat cheese. have fun!