French sable cookies, otherwise known as butter cookies, are the perfect dessert for any occasion. With their simple and easy recipe, you can quickly whip up a batch of these delicious treats in no time! Soft and buttery, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, French sablé cookies are sure to become a new favorite.
What are French Sable Cookies?
Sable means sand in French, and translated, it means sand cookie. It originated in Normandy, French, and was first described around 1600. It's also called French butter cookies, Sable Breton or Palet Breton, and is crunchy, sandy, and buttery.
You can buy them in small French bakery's in vanilla flavor (like these) and dipped in chocolate. And if you've ever travel to France, try the french sable cookies with jam. They're so great.
Taste the Magic of French Sable Cookies: Soft, Buttery, and Melt-in-Your-Mouth Delicious!
But back to my own home, the children are at home on Wednesday afternoons, and I often bake cookies. Alone or together, depending on if they have a play date. Today, my youngest wanted to bake, so I made these Sable cookies. Why these? Because they give a delicious cookie, the sable recipe is simple, and they're done relatively quickly. They're also soft and buttery and go a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
And easy enough to bake with a young kid. In a few minutes, you make the dough. Cool the cookies for about 25 minutes, then bake them golden brown in fifteen minutes. That is something a young boy can manage.
And if you like baking cookies, look at this page with all kinds of cookie recipes like World Peace Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and these beautiful (and delicious) Chimney cakes.
What do you need for Sable Butter Cookies Recipe?
To prepare these French Sable Cookies, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
Sable cookies ingredients
- Butter - Use the best-unsalted butter you can buy. Because the butter will flavor these cookies, using the best you can get is essential.
- Sugar - For sweetening the cookies.
- Egg yolks - Egg yolks are added to the dough, ensuring the dough sticks better, keeps its form, and gets that creamy taste. The egg yolk is used to brush the cookies and give them a shiny topping.
- Salt - To balance the flavor in this Sable butter cookies.
- Vanilla - extract -For a hint of vanilla flavor. If you can get it, use natural vanilla extract, which has a slightly deeper flavor than artificial vanilla extract. With this recipe, you can make a homemade vanilla extract (and, if you bake a lot, it is highly recommended because you can use this for a reasonable amount of time).
- Flour - Use regular all-purpose flour for these Butter cookies.
How to Make Classic Sable Cookies (Breton Cookies)
You can find a printable recipe with a detailed description at the bottom of this blog.
- Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix on high speed for 3 minutes. Add two egg yolks, salt, and vanilla extract and mix for another 2 minutes. Mix half of the flour, then add the remaining flour. Mix until the flour is just incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and cool in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
- Put the sable dough on baking paper and cover it with a second sheet. Roll with a rolling pin until you've reached the desired thickness.
- Take a cookie cutter and cut out the cookies. Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them cool for another fifteen minutes in the refrigerator. You'll probably need two baking sheets for this amount of cookie dough.
- Brush the top of the cookies with the egg yolk wash and bake them for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 320 °F (160 °C) until golden brown. Take the cookies off the baking sheet and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
- Refrain from overworking the dough; otherwise, your cookie could get solid.
- Use your ingredients at room temperature for the best result.
- This sable cookie recipe is very versatile. Add maple syrup, lemon zest, cinnamon, or almond flavoring to the dough.
- Also delicious, sprinkle with finely chopped hazelnuts or almonds after brushing with egg.
- Chocolate sable cookies: add cocoa to the dough.
- Make a glaze of icing sugar with lemon juice and brush the cookies with it. Very tasty!
- Use two baking papers to roll your dough in between. This will give you a nice smooth dough and less mess from the flour.
- Cool well in between so the dough sticks less and the cookies keep their shape better when baking.
- Make these delicious winter meringues or strawberry meringues from the leftover egg whites (depending on the season 😉 )
Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Equipment
- A conventional oven is used. When using a convection oven (with air fan) decrease the temperature with 30 °F / 20 °C
- baking plate
- Parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- Cookie cutter
- plastic foil
- Pastry brush
- wire rack
Ingredients
- 1½ stick butter , unsalted, room temperature
- 1½ cup sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg yolk
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
- Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix with a mixer for 3 minutes on high speed.1½ stick butter, 1½ cup sugar
- Mix two egg yolks, salt, and the vanilla extract into the butter mixture and ensure that everything is well mixed.2 egg yolks, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Turn the mixer to medium-speed. Add half the flour, mix well, then add the rest, and mix until you have a smooth dough.2 cups all-purpose flour
- Put the dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Place baking paper on two baking plates.
- Take half of the dough and place between two baking papers.
- Roll with a rolling pin to the required thickness. Repeat that for the second piece of dough.
- Cut with cookie-cutter cookies from the dough. The simplest way is to remove the dough between the cookies. That way, you don't have to move the cookies.
- Put the baking trays with cookies in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to
320 °F or 285 °F. - Mix the remaining egg yolk with one tablespoon of water.1 egg yolk
- Take after 15 minutes the cookies from the refrigerator, quickly brush the egg mixture on top of the cookies, and put them in the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Refrain from overworking the dough; otherwise, your cookie could get solid.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature for the best result.
- Use two baking papers to roll your dough in between. This will give you a nice smooth dough and less mess from the flour.
- Cool well in between so the dough sticks less and the cookies keep their shape better when baking.
- Add maple syrup, lemon zest, cinnamon, or almond flavoring to the dough.
- Also delicious, sprinkle with finely chopped hazelnuts or almonds after brushing with egg.
- Chocolate sable: add cocoa to the dough.
- Make a glaze of icing sugar with lemon juice and brush the cookies with it. Very tasty!
Make these delicious winter meringues or strawberry meringues from the leftover egg whites (depending on the season 😉 ) 5. Oven - When you use a conventional oven, set the temperature to 320 °F (160 °C). In a convection oven, 285 °F (ca. 141 °C) is sufficient. 6. Storage
- Refrigerator (Dough): You can make the dough a day in advance and store it in plastic in the fridge. The dough will be hard when it comes out of the refrigerator after a long time, so let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling it out.
- Freezer (Dough): You can also freeze the dough. Wrap it in plastic and put it in a plastic freezer bag or box. This way, you can store the dough for up to two months. Then, let it thaw in the refrigerator.
- Room temperature (sable biscuits): Store the biscuits in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Freezer (cookies): Pack the cookies in a freezer box or bag. This will keep them good for up to a month. Let thaw at room temperature (about 30 minutes).
Nutrition
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
These amazing little cookies remind me a little of Scottish shortbread - anything with lots of butter makes me happy.
Nora says
Love this quick and easy cookie recipe! Perfect for dipping! I will add it to my Christmas cookie-baking list! Thank you!
Alexandra says
These cookies are just beautiful - simple to prepare and have a lovely delicate flavour. They are perfect with my cup of coffee.