Petits sablés (French butter cookies)

I love making cookies since I was a little girl helping my mother in the kitchen. Every Christmas we would stock lots of nuts, butter, sugar and flour and start mixing the short pastry. Then we'd roll it, take out the little shapes and start cutting out the stars, hearts, rounds, rhombs and crescents.

This is why I have dozens of favorite Christmas cookies recipes. Almond and walnut short cookies with colorful frostings, crispy lemon biscuits, cottage cheese rolls, florentines, ahh... Over time they'll get posted here. But sometimes I love to bake plain French sablés. Just to have a plate of them on my table when come to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Making Tarte Normande (the recipe follows soon) this week I got some sable pastry left. Thus I got a perfect occasion to get some sables.

Sables (French butter cookies) (recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques)

200 gr flour
100 gr icing sugar
100 butter
pinch of salt
1 egg
tea spoon vanilla sugar (optional)

In a food processor mix together the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla sugar (if using) and chopped cold butter. The mixture should resemble fine bread crumbs.


Add the egg and mix again. Scrap the butter out to the table and quickly mix with your hands to get even texture. Shape into a sphere, place in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.


Roll the pastry around 4 mm thick. Cut out the shapes you like and place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Gather the leftover pastry and repeat.


Bake at 200C for some 8-10 minutes. The cookies should just start getting golden on the sides. Take out and chill on a wire rack. But make sure to snack at least one while it's still warm.