Traditional French Sablé Cookies that are deliciously buttery and soften in your mouth! Use this sablé cookie recipe to make completely different flavours or a big batch from one dough. Recipe with step-by-step photographs.
French Sablé Cookies
My husband’s late great-aunt used to at all times make an enormous batch of sablé cookies each time our youngsters would go to her. It’s such a fond reminiscence for them that, each time we speak about their Marraine, the dialog would inevitably result in her Tupperware field of animal-shaped sablés. We consider her each time we make sablés utilizing her recipe, particularly at Christmas time when our dwelling turns into a mini cookie manufacturing unit.
What Are Sablé Cookies?
Sablés are French butter cookies or shortbread. Sablé means “sand” or “sandy” in French, which refers back to the crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth texture of those cookies whenever you eat them.
French Sablés (which is spelt with the s on the finish of the phrase, whereas the English spelling omits this final s) are historically plain butter biscuits. Nonetheless, lately, it is not uncommon to search out bakeries and pâtisseries promoting sablé with completely different flavours.
Diamond Sablé Cookies
On a latest journey to Japan, I used to be shocked to search out how widespread French truffles and biscuits have been there. Actually, many bakeries and reward retailers offered sablé cookies in stunning collector tins which isn’t so frequent in France itself. One flavour which I fell in love with was matcha; I like how effectively matcha cookies go together with espresso or tea (particularly the latter), and even how effectively it tastes alongside chocolate!
One variation which may be very widespread in Japan are Diamond Sablé Cookies (Sablés diamant). These are sablé cookies which have been rolled in sugar in order that the sides grow to be caramelised and glisten like diamonds. My recipe beneath makes use of this system as a result of I like the additional sweetness and crunch from the sugar.
Recipe for Sablé Cookies
In my husband’s household, they make sablés by rolling out the dough and slicing shapes with cookie cutters. My youngsters actually treasure this pastime, they usually affiliate animal-shaped sablé cookies with holidays in France.
So each time I make sablés at dwelling, I make use of a unique method in order that I don’t intrude with my youngsters’ reminiscences of the “conventional” French sablés. I prefer to make sablé cookies like slice and bake cookies, i.e. I roll the cookie dough right into a log earlier than slicing thick slices and baking them as easy, spherical cookies. The benefit of this methodology is which you could make lots of cookies in little time, which is nice at Christmas after we like to present cookie containers or cookie packets as items.
Completely different Flavours of Sablé Cookies
Under, I’ve shared the recipe for a few of my favorite sablé cookie flavours, however there are such a lot of extra! I’ll share extra sablé recipes quickly 🙂
A few of my favorite flavours for sablé cookies embrace:
- Chocolate – merely add cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies. Add darkish chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate to make them further chocolatey. Add flaked almonds or pecans for one thing nutty.
- Matcha – this can be a basic Japanese flavour which I’m in love with. As matcha powder could be fairly bitter, I like to recommend including further sugar. You can too add white chocolate chips, darkish chocolate chips, or flaked almonds.
- Black Sesame – this can be a basic Chinese language flavour which works effectively as a part of an Asian meal.
- Lemon – add some recent lemon zest and use lemon juice as an alternative of water.
- Cranberries or Dried Bitter Cherries – I like the sharp tang of those dried fruits in opposition to the candy biscuit. Add recent orange zest to enrich the dried fruit.
- Black Tea – finely grind or crush some black tea leaves for a aromatic biscuit. I like utilizing Earl Gray French Blue from Mariages Frères. Jasmine tea works effectively as an Asian flavour.
The way to Make Diamond Sablé Cookies
I’ve written the recipe beneath to supply 4 completely different flavours of sablé cookies. You possibly can, in fact, alter the recipe to make as many, or as little, flavours as you want.
Step 1
Cream the butter, salt and sugar till the combination is gentle and fluffy.
Step 2
Add the egg yolks, and proceed mixing till every thing is effectively mixed.
Step 3
Divide the butter combination into 4 small bowls. To do that evenly, weigh the total combination in a clear bowl, after which divide this quantity by 4.
Step 4
Measure the dry components for every of the completely different flavours into 4 small bowls.
Step 5
To make the cookie dough, place the butter combination right into a mixing bowl, and add the dry components. Combine till every thing is mixed and the combination resembles crumbly moist sand. Add sufficient chilly water till the combination comes collectively in a mushy dough.
Switch the dough to the kitchen bench and knead gently to supply a mushy dough with no air pockets. Form the dough right into a log with a width of 3-4 cm (or bigger, if you happen to like).
NOTE: the cookies within the photographs are 4 cm huge, so the cookie dough logs have been roughly 13 cm lengthy, which produced 13 x 1 cm cookies from every log.
Repeat the above steps to make the opposite flavours. Ensure you use a clear bowl and utensils every time. I like to recommend beginning with vanilla so that you just don’t want to scrub the bowl for the subsequent flavour 😉
Step 6
Wrap the cookie dough log in plastic wrap, and place it within the fridge for 1-2 hours to agency up. Alternatively, you’ll be able to freeze the dough at this stage to make use of at a later time.
Step 7 – elective
Moist some sheets of kitchen paper.
Roll the cookie dough go online the moist kitchen paper to moisten the surface of the log.
Step 8 – elective
Pour some granulated sugar or demerera sugar right into a tray which is giant sufficient to suit the cookie dough log.
Roll the cookie dough log within the sugar, ensuring that it’s generously coated throughout.
Step 9
To make evenly-sized cookies, use a ruler to mark the dough in 1 cm increments, or nonetheless skinny or thick you need to make the cookies. Alternatively, you may also eyeball the measurements.
Use a pointy knife to slice the cookie dough.
If you’re utilizing chopped nuts or chocolate chips, typically it’s laborious to get a clear slice. If the cookie slices collapse as you chop them, merely squish the dough again collectively in a spherical form.
Step 10
Prepare the sliced cookie dough on a big baking tray lined with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F (with out fan). Place a steel tray on the center shelf of the oven.
Place the baking tray on the pre-heated steel tray within the oven, and bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or till the cookies are frivolously golden. The baking time will fluctuate relying on the dimensions and thickness of your cookies, in addition to your oven.
Notice for matcha cookies: the matcha cookies will lose their vivid inexperienced color the longer you bake them. If you wish to retain their inexperienced color, bake them simply till the sides flip barely golden.
Take away the baking tray from the oven, and go away the cookies on the new tray for an additional 5-10 minutes to agency up. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
Ideas For Making Completely different Sablé Cookies
The recipe beneath produces 4 completely different flavours of sablé cookies. You possibly can alter the recipe to make only one flavour, or extra of 1 flavour. I’ve devised the recipe as a way to simply scale up components.
For instance, if you wish to make 1 batch of vanilla cookies and three batches of chocolate cookies, merely triple the portions of the components wanted to make chocolate cookies.
I used to love to solely make one flavour at a time, however since I found how straightforward it was to make extra flavours, and the way enjoyable it was to supply a alternative of flavours each time we had visitors, I now make at the very least two flavours at a time (often vanilla and chocolate).
Relying on how a lot time I’ve, I typically halve the recipe beneath to make a good quantity of cookies for a day tea with mates. At different occasions, I would even double the recipe to make further dough to retailer within the freezer.
Actually, in case your youngsters recurrently come dwelling with a few of their faculty mates for a spontaneous playdate, it helps to have a couple of logs of cookie dough within the freezer as a way to whip up some do-it-yourself cookies at quick discover and really feel like a supermum within the course of. (At different occasions, I maintain a number of packets of store-bought cookies within the pantry for a similar purpose 🙂 )
Freezing Cookie Dough
After you have formed and rolled the cookie dough, it may be saved within the freezer for as much as 2 months (I maintain it for longer). I wrap the cookie dough log in plastic wrap, after which retailer it in a big zip-lock freezer bag to maintain as a lot air out as doable.
As soon as you might be prepared to make use of the cookie dough, both thaw it in a single day within the fridge or on the kitchen bench at room temperature. As soon as the dough is mushy sufficient to slice by, you’ll be able to proceed with the remainder of the recipe.
French Sablé Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Prepare dinner Time: 20 minutes
- Whole Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Makes about 52 cookies
- Class: Cookies
- Technique: Oven
- Delicacies: French
Traditional French Sablé Cookies that are deliciously buttery and soften in your mouth! Use this sablé cookie recipe to make completely different flavours or a big batch from one dough. Recipe with step-by-step photographs.
Substances
For the Sablé Cookie Base (to make 4 completely different flavours)
Vanilla Sablé
Chocolate Sablé
Black Sesame Sablé
Matcha Sablé
Directions
To Make the Sablé Cookie Base
- Place the butter, salt and icing sugar (powdered sugar) into a big bowl.
- Cream the components collectively till the combination is gentle and fluffy. If you’re utilizing an electrical stand mixer, use the flat-paddle attachment.
- Add the egg yolks.
- Beat to mix effectively.
- Weigh the combination in a clear bowl.
- Divide the combination by 4 into separate small bowls.
To Make the Completely different Sablé Cookie Flavours
- Measure the extra components for the completely different cookie flavours into separate small bowls.
To Make the Sablé Cookie Dough
- Place one portion of the Sablé Cookie Base into the blending bowl.
- Add the extra components for one of many cookie flavours (e.g. all the components to make Vanilla Sablé).
- Beat the combination collectively till the dry components are combined into the Sablé Cookie Base. The combination ought to resemble moist sand.
- Add simply sufficient water to convey the combination collectively right into a mushy dough.
- Take away the combination to the kitchen bench.
- Knead the dough frivolously in order that all the components are well-combined and there aren’t any air-pockets within the dough.
- Form the dough right into a small log, about 3-4 cm in width. In these accompanying photographs, I’ve made 4 cm huge cookies, so the logs are about 13 cm in size.
- Wrap the log of dough in some plastic wrap.
- Place the dough within the fridge for 1-2 hours to agency up.
- Repeat the above steps to make the opposite cookie flavours. Use a clear mixing bowl and utensils for every flavour.
To Coat the Sablé Cookies in Sugar – Non-obligatory
- As soon as the cookie dough log has firmed up, unwrap it and switch it to a slicing board.
- Pour the sugar onto a tray which is giant sufficient to suit the cookie dough log lengthwise.
- Moist a big sheet of kitchen paper with chilly water.
- Roll the cookie dough go online the moist kitchen paper to moisten the surface of the log.
- Then roll the cookie dough log within the sugar. Be sure that it’s generously and evenly coated within the sugar.
To Slice the Sablé Cookies
- If you’d like even-sized cookies, use a ruler to mark the width of every cookie (about 1 cm thick). In any other case, you’ll be able to eye-ball it and lower as you please.
- Use a pointy knife to slice the cookie dough.
- Place a sheet of baking paper on a big baking tray.
- Prepare the cookie slices on the baking tray. The cookies don’t unfold very a lot upon baking, however area them aside to permit them to bake evenly.
To Bake the Sablé Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F (with out fan).
- Preheat a steel tray on the center shelf within the oven.
- Place the tray of cookies on the preheated steel tray.
- Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or till the cookies are frivolously golden.
- Take away the tray from the oven.
- Go away the cookies on the new tray for about 5-10 minutes to agency up.
- Take away the cookies to a wire rack to chill utterly.
Kitchen Notes
BAKING TIME FOR MATCHA COOKIES
The matcha cookies will lose their vivid inexperienced color the longer you bake them. If you wish to retain their inexperienced color, bake them simply till the sides flip barely golden.
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this web site state temperatures for a daily oven (i.e. a standard oven with out fan). If in case you have a convection oven with a fan, please seek the advice of the producer’s handbook on easy methods to alter the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To transform from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this helpful Conversion Chart for Fundamental Substances.
