December 30, 2009

Sablés



We're still talking Christmas cookies... we have a tin or two left in the freezer! There is no more perfect time of year for sparkly, sugary, green and red cookies.
Shortbread are a Christmas classic, and sablés are yet another take on the perennial favorite. They are a delicate butter cookie that take their name from the French word for "sand", which refers to their crumbly texture.

The full recipe can be found here, as part of a Tuesdays with Dorie baking challenge. We followed it to a tee. Thoughts from us are posted below:
  • To bring butter to room temperature in a hurry, microwave at 20-30% power.
  • Make sure the logs are rolled smoothly and don't have any air pockets.
  • The logs of dough are cut after being refrigerated... we found that they needed a few minutes to warm up after coming out of the fridge. Otherwise, the dough cracked.
  • The cookies will be a very light brown on the bottom when cooked - just lift up a corner of the parchment paper to check on the color.
Sablés are very similar in taste to Pillsbury slice-and-bake cookies... if you figure out how to get pictures of snowmen and Christmas trees in the middle of your dough, let us know.

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