1 1/2 c. self rising flour
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 oz butter (1 1/2 sticks)
scant 1/2 tsp. salt (to taste)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz. edam cheese ( in a pinch you can just use cheddar, cream cheese, swiss cheese or whatever you happen to have on hand. Asiago is fantasitc used here. Have no fear, your KA food processor will cream anything, take my word for it!)
2/3 c. walnuts
1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, drained ( you can use a can of the mushroom pieces, they are less expensive)
1 Tbsp. olives

1 egg white for the egg wash

Toppings: (just use one of these or be wild and use them all!)
Cayenne Pepper
Poppy Seeds
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Sesame Seeds (use a mixture of white, brown and black)
Coarsely Cracked Black Pepper

In a processor, process the cheese until smooth. Add the butter and cream until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients except egg white and toppings.

Remove your dough from processor, place in a plastic bag that has been sprinkled with flour, press into a flat cake, and chill 30 minutes. Roll pastry between sheets of waxed paper. (I don't don't bother with this step, I just roll mine in the plastic bag. Then I open the bag and slide the dough out onto a floured cutting surface.) Cut into shapes with cookie cutters, approximately 2 inches in diameter. Place scraps back in bag. Add a little bit more flour for dusting, roll again for more biscuits or place extra dough back in the fridge to use the next day.

Llightly spread each biscuit with beaten egg white, then sprinkle with the pepper, seedsm paprika or a mixture of them all.

***For a more golden looking biscuit, you may want to brush the tops with a mixture of butter that has been melted in the microwave with a little milk added. The egg wash is just so the seeds will stick, but really doesn't add much color to your biscuits.

Bake 15 minutes at 375F or until golden.

Can be frozen and reheated

Some very helpful hints for making these biscuits:

****This is an extremely soft dough! For easier handling, you should let it firm up a bit in the fridge, but be sure you have it in a large plastic bag (zip lock, etc.) that has been floured. Pat it out in the bag to a fairly large, flat circle. Close and place in fridge for about 30 minutes. I didn't have time to place the dough in the fridge so it could chill for a bit. If like me, you find you don't have that extra time to chill your dough, slide it out of the bag carefully as you are placing it on your floured rolling surface.

Even after these are baked, they are extremely delicate biscuits so let them really cool before placing them on your serving tray. You will be surprised at how light these are. Lighter than most shortbread recipes you make.

I like my appetizer or dessert biscuits to be perfectly formed. Nice and perfectly round. This is the most simple thing to do and has many advantages. I am surprised someone else didn't think about doing just this thing.

I cut my appetizer biscuits or dessert biscuits out twice. The second cutting is done immediately after they are taken out of the oven. I use a cookie cutter just a little smaller than the original one I used. You must make this second cut while they are on the baking sheet, before you place them on the cooling rack.

Have you ever noticed that even though you use a cookie cutter, your biscuits sometimes seem to undergo a transformation of their own while they are baking, one you hadn't planned on. That outer edge,you know that edge you were so careful to cut out, the one you made perfectly round, well now it is anything but pretty and round when you remove it from the oven. While baking, those biscuits seem to have developed an attitude of their own!

That can be fixed. Use a cookie cutter, one that is just a little bit smaller than the original, and cut another circle in your biscuits. You will love the perfectly round shape that you now have.

There is another bonus you get by doing this, you now have an additional surface to work with. Roll the nice fresh edges you made in something. What you roll the biscuits in will depend on the recipe you have just prepared. For example, a sweet shortcake biscuit recipe, roll the edge in sugar. For a savory biscuit recipe, you may like to roll the edge in paprika. Totally up to your imagination, the skies the limit.

Don't think of all this as a waste of your biscuit. Just gather up these edges and place them in a plastic bag. Toss them in the freezer. They are great for bread crumbs. These savory edges I had left over last night make a great topping to crumble over potato salad, which I will be doing later on today. 

These are the edges I cut away.  You can see where I just used the smaller size cookie cutter to cut out another biscuit, right from the center of the biscuit I had just taken from the oven.


 

 

If you use Dragon Peppers, only add 1 1/2 tablespoons.