Blue Bottle Coffee’s fennel-parmesan shortbread is a sweet-and-savory treat. Photo by Rowa Lee

Blue Bottle Coffee might be better known for its, well, awesome coffee, but the High Line Food vendor offers an array of house-made pastries along with its incredible single-origin drip brews and espresso. Stop by their cart at West 15th Street to enjoy treats like vanilla-saffron snickerdoodles, ginger-molasses cookies, and fennel-parmesan shortbread – a sweet-and-savory indulgence that you can also make at home using Blue Bottle’s recipe. A printable version is available here.

Fennel-Parmesan Shortbread
Makes 35 cookies

• 1 cup (8 oz / 227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cup (2 oz / 57 g) powdered sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (9.9 oz / 280 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup (3.5 oz / 100g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon Maldon sea salt
• Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

Beat butter on low speed for one to two minutes. Add sugar, salt, and pepper; mix until combined. Continue mixing on medium speed until the texture resembles mayonnaise, four to five minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add flour. On low speed, mix until uniform in texture. Scrape the bowl; add Parmesan and mix for one minute. Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment. Flatten dough into a rectangle measuring 7×10” and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Crush fennel seeds, add sea salt, and mix. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut dough into small rectangles measuring 1×2”. Place cookies on baking sheet 1” apart. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with fennel mixture. Bake for 18 minutes, or until golden brown, rotating the pan midway through the baking time.

“Each Blue Bottle location offers different menus and a delightful crew of bakers who make beautiful things, but the one common thread is that every pastry we make is designed to pair deliciously with a cup of coffee,” says Caitlin Freeman, head pastry chef for Blue Bottle Coffee. We thank Caitlin and the rest of the Blue Bottle crew for generously sharing this recipe with us.

Blue Bottle Coffee is open daily from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM at West 15th Street. For hours and locations of all our vendors, see High Line Food.