Cheese Cookies with Parmesan & Basil

Ingredients
Makes about 15-18 madeleines or small cookies

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp finely minced fresh basil
1 tsp fleur de sel (french salt), plus more for sprinkling
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 eggs
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Method
Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat oven to to 190ºC/375ºF. Line a big (20 pieces) cookie tray with parchment paper; you can also use a madeleine pan greased with butter, and dusted with all-purpose flour.

Sift the all-purpose flour into a bowl and gently stir in the basil, 1 teaspoon fleur de sel and the black pepper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the cream of tartar and sugar and beat until the mixture drops from the whisk in ribbons, about 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture and the 1 cup cheese, then fold in the remaining 6 tablespoons butter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared madeleine molds, or drop small chunks using an ice cream scooper onto the baking tray. Bake until the cookies spring back when pressed lightly, about 12 minutes. Immediately remove them from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel and parmesan cheese and serve.

You can store these Savory Parmesan & basil Cookies in an air-tight container for about a week, but they taste better when they are warm!

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