Sables

A sable or galette Bretonne is a kind of French shortbread originating in Normandy, these light buttery biscuit get their unique flavour & texture from the addition of an egg  to the dough. Traditionally they are round with a fluted edge, with a criss-cross pattern drawn into egg wash. They are my absolute favourite and I could easily eat half a dozen while drinking a cup of tea.

Sables

Makes: 14-16, depends on the size of your cutter.

Ingredients

• 140g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs (1 for the dough and 1 for the egg wash)
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 260g plain flour1/2tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp salt

Equipment

Scale
Bowl
Electic mixer
Cling film
Rolling pin
Baking tray
Parchment paper
Cookie cutter
Pastry brush

Method
Using a mixer beat the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes until light. Add 1 egg and the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined, you don’t want to over mix the dough, so don’t mix for too long.  Flour your work surface and tip the dough out of the bowl and knead a few times. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Remove from the fridge, flour your work surface again and roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Using the cookie cutter, cut out your shape and place on the prepared baking tray. Gather up any scraps, re-roll and cut so none is wasted. Place in the fridge for another 15 minutes so the butter can harden again.

Preheat the oven to 180º fan. Lightly whisk the other egg. Remove the dough from the fridge, brush with the egg wash and using a toothpick make a criss-cross pattern along the tops of the biscuits. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. They should be golden and slightly crisp around the edges. Cool before eating.

Keep in an airtight container and eat within a week. You can even divide the dough in half and freeze before baking. Apparently you can also freeze them once baked, we haven’t tried this yet, but as soon as we do we’ll update the recipe.

Adapted from Joy of Baking.

Happy Baking!
~Dominique~