Pepper Cheese Coins

Baked coins

These are my new favorite appetizer. I made them for a party and ate them all before the party started. (Opps!) I make these and freeze them in logs uncooked. They will keep for 3 months in the freezer not that they last that long. When I am ready to eat them, I just preheat the oven, slice the logs into coins, and bake. Yum! The only bad part of this recipe is reducing the white wine - it smells-- a lot. Any hard white cheese will work in this recipe, like Parmesan, asiago, Grana Padano, or Romano. My favorite is asiago cheese. I use a mix of black, white, and red peppercorns for the ground pepper.

1/2 Cup (120 ml) of White Wine
2 1/4 Cups (270 g) of Unbleached Flour
1 3/4 Cups (315 g) of Hard White Cheese Finely Grated, Divided
2 Tsp of Kosher Salt
1 Cup (226 g) of Butter, Softened
2 Tbsp of Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp of Pepper, Coarsely Ground

In a microwave-safe bowl heat the white wine on high until it is reduced to one tablespoon (it takes about 6 minutes). Alternatively, heat the white wine in a saucepan and simmer until reduced to one tablespoon. Cool in the refrigerator.
Combine 1 cup (180 g) of the grated cheese, flour, and salt. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

The butter and sugar have been creamed and the rest of the ingredients are ready to be added

Mix in the wine until well blended. Gradually mix in the flour and beat until blended.

Mixed dough

On a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper combine the remaining grated cheese and pepper.

Cheese and pepper

Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log. Roll each log in the cheese and pepper mixture.

Rolling the log in cheese

Wrap each log and freeze until dough is firm enough to slice (about 30 minutes).

Cheese and pepper log ready to be frozen

When ready to bake the coins, preheat the oven to 350F/176C/ Gas Mark 4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment parchment paper. Slice the logs into coins (about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm wide) and place on the cookie sheet.

The coins are ready to bake

Bake until the coins are golden brown about 12-18 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet and cool completely.

the bottom line: will I make these again? Yes. I love them. We had them on Christmas Eve and I will be bringing them to parties in the New Year. Oh! They are round like coins so they count as lucky foods! We will be eating these on New Year's Day.