Sablés
Kiki’s Sablés belong to my childhood buttery soothing sweet memories. We always had “sablés” baked and ready to be filled on short notice. They are part of all the weekend family gatherings, there is not a single picture of a birthday table without the sablés. These butter cookies are generally round, with a little “window” to help you chose between strawberry and apricot filling. The powdered sugar on top added the magic your happy childhood relics are wrapped in.
This is the kind of cookies you can enjoy all week long, with a cup of coffee, for afternoon snack or just because they are SOOO GOOD!
Once baked, store them plain in an airtight container and fill them as needed. They should last up to two weeks… Bon appétit ;)
Sablés Kiki
Recipe credits: Rafaella Sargi
Ingredients
7oz (200 g) powdered sugar, sifted
9 1/2 oz (275 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lb 2oz (500 g) All purpose flour, sifted
Filling options
Jam (apricot, strawberry, raspberry…)
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (as Nutella or Nocciolata…)
Powdered sugar for serving.
Directions
You will need a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, plastic wrap, baking sheets, parchment paper, cookie cutters, and a wire rack.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, vanilla, sugar and egg until fluffy. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated (do not over-work the dough). Collect the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Work with a quarter of the dough at a time, keeping the rest wrapped in the fridge.
Heat the oven to 350F (180C).
Roll out a portion of the chilled dough between two parchment papers. You want to plan for thin cookies since they are going to be superposed with a filling! How big is your mouth?! Hahaha The cookies I make are 0,5 cm thick (1/5 inch). Using a cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.* They should not expand during baking time but you need to allow a little space between them so they can bake evenly.
Baking time really depends on the cookie size and thickness. Keep an eye on them after 7 to 8 minutes and check often. Let them bake until the edges just start to brown.
Remove them from the baking sheet with care,… and place them on a wire rack to cool down.
Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake the cookies one sheet pan at a time.
Once completely cooled down, store the cookies in an airtight container.
You can enjoy the cookies plain. They are also wonderful filled with your favorite jam or chocolate hazelnut spread; dust the filled sablés with a little bit of powdered sugar. Here is a short video to help you out! ;)
tip: If the dough becomes very soft, you can roll it out between two sheets of parchment papers and place it in the freezer for a few minutes until it hardens: the cookie cutter results will be sharper and the sablés easier to handle and place on the baking sheet.
*If you are planning on filling the cookies, make sure half of the batch has a whole in the center, or a “window”… it will help you identify the filling once you serve the cookies.
