French Sables Recipes

CHOCOLATE SABLé COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine room temperature butter and brown sugar. Use your hands to combine the two ingredients. You can also use a spatula to full combine if necessary. Sometimes a spatula or spoon is helpful to smooth out any butter lumps. Add vanilla and stir.
• Use a serrated knife to chop chocolate into fine, small pieces, making some smaller and some slightly larger.
• Add all dry ingredients including chocolate to the butter mixture and gently stir just until the dough comes together.
• Pour dough out onto a long piece of plastic wrap and form dough into a log that is roughly 10″ long. You will need to use your hands to bring the dough together so it's smooth. Wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and cut dough into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Place no more than 12 cookies on one baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure to stagger cookies so that they bake properly.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cookies should still look slightly gooey but not raw.
• Cool and enjoy. If desired, add more fleur de sel on top of the cookies.

BRETON SALTED BUTTER SABLéS

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the 3 whole eggs, until just incorporated.
• Sift together the flour and salt over the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Combine with a spatula until it all comes together into a soft ball. It is essential to stop mixing as soon as the ingredients are all combined; over-mixing will make the sablés too tough. Wrap the dough in plastic film and chill for 1 hour.
• Pre-heat your oven to 350F (180C) with a rack in the middle.
• Transfer the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper. Lay another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll the dough until it is ½-inch thick (1.27cm). Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper and cut out circles of dough with a 2-inch (5cm) round cookie cutter (scalloped, if you want to stick to the authentic look).
• Transfer the dough circles onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. The dough is still quite sticky, you may need a spatula to delicately unpeel the circles.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with the milk and brush the top of the dough circles with this egg wash. Using a fork, create a crosshatch pattern over the dough circles.
• Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet mid-way.
• Transfer the sablés immediately to a cooling rack.

FRENCH SABLES

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat thoroughly. Combine flour and salt. Add to the butter mixture and blend until the dough is smooth. On a very lightly floured surface, shape the dough into cylinders about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush refrigerated logs with beaten egg and roll in crystalline sugar. With a sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds about 1/3-inch thick. Place 1-inch apart on a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are slightly colored around the edges.