Buttery Sable Cookies
Sable cookies (sablés) are delicious French butter cookies with a delicate and crumbly texture. You need a good quality butter to make these, with at least 82% butterfat. Any less than that and the butter will contain too much water and the cookies won’t be as tender.
Classic French Sablés
Sablés have this amazing delicate texture that is both melt-in-your-mouth and a little bit crisp. They’re made from a simple dough, you only need flour, butter, egg yolk and sugar. They’re similar to shortbread, but richer, with a higher butter content, and the addition of the egg yolk. I love them super simple, with no added flavoring so the butter can shine. But you can add in a little vanilla or lemon zest, or some ground almonds to bring extra flavor and texture.
To make things super easy I roll and cut these sable cookies like slice and bake cookies. Simply roll into a log, chill, roll in coarse sugar and slice! So easy, and the cookie dough logs can easily be frozen for later.
Sablage
When making sablés, the method you need to use is sablage. The sablage process involves incorporating cold butter, into flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (or sand-sablé as they would say in France.) By coating the flour particles with fat, it slows the gluten formation that happens when liquid is added. Less gluten means a more tender and crumbly texture.
You can use a pastry cutter or your fingers to rub the butter into the flour but I use a food processor. It cuts the butter up quickly and evenly and because it works quickly, there is less chance of the butter melting.
Ingredients You Need
I’ve already mentioned what’s needed for these cookies but here is a brief rundown of the importance of each.
- Butter – I use a salted butter. In NZ we are lucky and even our cheaper supermarket butter has a high percentage of butterfat. Look for butter with at least 82% butterfat. This means there isn’t too much water added and the cookies won’t ‘steam’ so much in the oven.
- Flour – An all-purpose flour is ideal for achieving the crumbly texture without becoming too tough.
- Sugar – I like powdered sugar in the sable dough because it dissolves easily and gives a finer texture. On the outside of the cookies I roll them in coarse turbinado sugar before baking which gives a really nice crunch.
- Egg yolks – Just the yolks bring extra fat to the dough, and not too much added water.
Method
- Before you begin ensure your butter is cold.
- Pop everything except the egg yolks in a food processor.
- Blend it until it resembles fine sandy crumbs, then add the yolks and blend again.
- Initially the dough will be really crumbly, but eventually it will form a soft dough.
- Divide in half and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll into a log that’s about 2 inches/5cm wide.
- Repeat with the second piece, and wrap each log tightly.
- Chill it for couple of hours, then roll in coarse sugar.
- Cut into 1/2 inch rounds and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in a low temperature oven until the cookies are lightly golden brown.
Serving and storing
Enjoy with an afternoon coffee or midmorning snack.
These cookies also happen to be the perfect addition to a holiday cookie box! They can store at room temperature for a couple of weeks in an airtight container.
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Buttery Sable Cookies (Sablés)
Equipment
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 90 g powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 226 g salted butter cold
- 2 egg yolks
- Turbinado sugar or sanding sugar for coating
Instructions
- Add the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and cold, cubed butter directly into the bowl of the food processor.
- Pulse the mixture until it resembles fine crumbs. Be careful not to over-process; you’re looking for a sandy texture with small butter bits still visible.
- Add in the egg yolks and pulse until the dough begins to clump together into a soft dough. It will start off really crumbly but eventually form a dough.
- Divide the dough in two and place each half onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Roll into a log of around 1.5-2 inches in diameter and wrap each piece up in the parchment paper tighly, and keeping the log shape.
- Refrigerate the dough logs for at least 2 hours or overnight. This step firms up the butter and makes the dough easier to slice without squashing the cookies.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the chilled logs from the refrigerator and unwrap.
- Add a few tablespoons turbinado sugar to the parchment paper and roll the log in the sugar, turning it and pressing it into the sugar until it's all coated.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into rounds about 1/3- 1/2 inch thick.
- Arrange the sliced cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 16-20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn golden. Keep an eye on them, as oven temperatures can vary, and the thickness of your cookies will change the time needed. The lower temperature allows the cookies to bake more gently and reduces the risk of the edges browning too quickly before the center is fully cooked.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes to set before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
