Savory treats for a holiday cookie plate
December 5, 2013 11:25 AM   Subscribe

Our family always comes together to make cookie plates and this year I want to bake something savory that could easily fit on a cookie plate. I'm thinking some kind of crackers or cheesey somethings...or spiced nuts? Lend me your recipes!

Do you have any spectacular savory treats that you gift to friends that they rave about? They should be baked or easily packaged so that they fit on a big cookie tray (so no chutneys or olive oils, etc) Thanks!
posted by hellochula to Food & Drink (19 answers total) 57 users marked this as a favorite
 
THE BEST SPICED NUTS IN THE WORLD.

Ways to make them EVEN BETTER: quadruple the amount of nuts, use sea salt flakes and lots of it, swap the brown sugar for maple syrup, and don't stint on the cayenne OR the fresh rosemary. (Chopping it is the worst, but it absolutely needs to be fresh and not dried.) Add in orange-scented dried cranberries. Stir and mix ferociously as soon as the nuts are out of the oven; they need to be piping hot. I have never had these last longer than three days, and I live with one other person.
posted by jetlagaddict at 11:30 AM on December 5, 2013 [7 favorites]


the answer to this is almost always cheese straws. SO GOOD, SO CHEESY, NO REGRETS.
posted by kerning at 11:35 AM on December 5, 2013 [5 favorites]


What about a mostly-savory cookie? These olive oil red wine rosemary cookies are really incredible.
posted by karbonokapi at 11:38 AM on December 5, 2013 [2 favorites]


Pitted dates stuffed with either a nut (almond) or chunk of Parmesan cheese then wrapped in bacon and baked.
posted by jadepearl at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2013


Similar to cheese straws, you can make parmesan crisps, which can be formed into little baskets to hold other savory deliciousness.
posted by evoque at 11:48 AM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]




You can do the same thing as evoque suggested, but with shredded swiss cheese as well. So good.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 12:19 PM on December 5, 2013


I would make a variety of savory shortbreads, and each one would feature cheese from a different animal (cow, goat and sheep), AND/OR feature a different nut (pecans, walnuts, toasted almonds) AND/OR a different herb/spice. It would be like "Around The World In Your Mouth, With Shortbread!". Then I'd probably eat it all myself.
posted by julthumbscrew at 12:32 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


My Mom's Cheese Cookies are crowd-pleasers. (They're a lot like cheese straws, but cookie-shaped and with a yummy pecan baked in for added awesomeness.)
posted by trip and a half at 12:57 PM on December 5, 2013


I'm planning to make these this year - they look amazing!
Nutty Blue Cranberry Sauce Rounds
posted by rainbowbrite at 1:14 PM on December 5, 2013


Another vote for spiced nuts. I made these chipotle rosemary spiced nuts recently, and they were amazing. This actually looks a helluva lot like jetlagaddict's recipe. I like the tip of adding dried cranberries!

Watch them carefully so that they don't burn. I had better luck in a glass casserole dish than on a cookie sheet.
posted by inkytea at 1:15 PM on December 5, 2013


Nigella's Cheesy Feet. These are super tasty, but I usually make them in pig shapes.
posted by Kaleidoscope at 2:17 PM on December 5, 2013


Samosas! Various recipes available online . . . . or these are nice and easy to bake and serve.
posted by ainsley at 3:44 PM on December 5, 2013


Perhaps it wouldn't be considered haute cuisine, but you can't go wrong with bacon-wrapped lil' smokies.

I guarantee you that every single one you serve will be eaten as fast as people possibly can get them in their mouths. I throw a big Superbowl party every year and these are the hands-down favorite, every time.
posted by Cycloptichorn at 4:12 PM on December 5, 2013


Gougeres! Here's a recipe that I cobbled together.

I made the plain cheese ones for a friend's birthday - she doesn't like sweets, so I just presented her with a fancy bowl of these.
posted by ansate at 4:43 PM on December 5, 2013


Another cheesy recipe--these homemade cheese crackers. Tiny number of ingredients. (I usually add cayenne for extra zing, but they're wonderful as-written.) Absolutely incredible result-to-effort ratio. People don't believe they're homemade. My coworkers go craaazy for these. I usually make extra, freeze the unbaked dough (it freezes beautifully), and bake them fresh when I want to make them happy.

I've glanced at the other cheese-something recipes and they're all extremely similar--deliciously, no doubt. Cheese, butter, flour, spices: there is no going wrong.
posted by spelunkingplato at 5:24 PM on December 5, 2013 [1 favorite]


These Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps are just like those too-expensive little boxes of delicious Raincoast crackers/crisps, and wondrously easy. I baked the mini-loaves yesterday (it yielded four) and thin-sliced/toasted the crisps today. I have shamelessly eaten every imperfect one.
posted by lizbunny at 7:34 PM on December 5, 2013


These curry cookies are unique and really tasty.
posted by snorkmaiden at 8:03 AM on December 6, 2013


Sausage balls. The recipe given will work but honestly all you need is the bisquick, the sausage, and the cheese. These also freeze well if you want to make them ahead of time (bake first.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:27 AM on December 8, 2013


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