Put the flour, cheese, rosemary, salt & pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Add the chunks of soft butter & pulse about 30 times to combine into a crumbly mixture. Then process until the dough comes together (this should not take longer than a minute - if the dough does not come together, add a tiny bit of water to the bowl, start with ½ tsp, & process again).

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap & bring together into a smooth flat disk, just like you do with pie crust dough. The dough should be smooth & uniform, without dry floury parts. Knead it with your hands if necessary.

Wrap the disk in the plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Roll out the dough to about ⅛-¼" thick. I do this between two sheets of waxed paper & it works like a charm, no sticking. If you want to laminate herbs onto the surface of the dough, lay them out onto the dough, leaving space between. Put the waxed paper back over the top & lightly roll with your rolling pin to press the herbs right into the dough. Use a 2" round cookie cutter to cut out your circles. Remove the dough to a baking sheet. Reform the leftover dough, roll & repeat until all the dough is used.

Bake the shortbread for 10-15min, until they are just starting to turn pale golden around the edges. Cool for a few minutes on the pan, then remove to a rack. The shortbread will firm up as it cools.