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Posts Tagged 'cookie'

Sablés

Published August 20, 2008 Cookies , Dessert , French , Recipe 8 Comments
Tags: cookie, Dessert, food, French, Recipe

These are the most addictive cookies I’ve ever eaten. Even more so than Thin Mints. It took a significant amount of will-power to not eat just one more.

Well, that was until we ate them all. They only lasted two days. There was a slight bit of miscommunication in our household involving the cookies (“Matthew ate them all!”). Angela still isn’t amused by that.

Sablés are lightly sweet with a predominant butter flavor. In many ways, they are very French. They’re basically the cookie form of a sweet tart dough but they also manage to be just a bit better than straight tart dough would be. It may just be the shape (or the added sugar coating).

The problem I always have with recipes that need to be refrigerated is that when I want to make cookies, I want to make the cookies right now. I don’t want to have to wait several hours to have the sweet ambrosia; I want it now.

It was my good fortune to actually wait and make these cookies. The wait was definitely worth it. We were nearly fighting over the cookies; they were that good.

Sablés
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour
coarse sugar

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed.
Add the sugars and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
Reduce the speed to low and beat in 2 of the egg yolks.
Turn off the mixer and add the flour. Pulse the mixer at low speed 5 times to begin to combine the flour. Mix at low speed for about 30 seconds or until the flour is well incorporated.
Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and place on a work surface. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into an approximately 9-inch long smooth log and wrap it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Working with one log at a time, brush it on all sides with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle all over with the coarse sugar.
Slice the log into 1/3 inch thick cookies. Place the cookies on a baking sheet, separated by 1 inch.
Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top.

Makes about 50 cookies.

Green Tree Cookies

Published December 18, 2007 Cookies , Dessert 7 Comments
Tags: almond, cookie, food, Recipe

My mom always made a lot of cookies (and fudge) around Christmas time. While I liked the Russian tea cakes and chocolate chip cookies, the green tree cookies were always my favorite.

I’m not entirely sure why I liked them so much. They aren’t overly sweet. They don’t have a particularly strong flavor. It may just be that I could eat a lot of them without getting overwhelmed by them.

Whenever I have these cookies, I always think back to high school when I had lunch with a friend of mine. At the time, I wanted her to be a bit more than a friend and so, I, of course, shared some of the cookies with her. The cookies didn’t help with that situation but it wasn’t the cookies fault.

They’re still my favorite Christmas cookie. And as it was getting closer and closer to Christmas, I realized that I had to make them fast or I’d miss out this year. So I decided to whip up a batch.

It’s a pretty easy recipe. It just required me to dig out our cookie press (last used for these cookies last Christmas). And, as usual, I had trouble getting the cookies to stick to the baking sheet after pressing them. They’d much prefer to stick to the cookie press, much to my chagrin. It didn’t help that I made the mistake of greasing the cookie sheet at first (I corrected that pretty quickly).

I’m not sure the provenance of this recipe. I got my copy from my mom who has claimed that it’s a variation on a different recipe (apparently the almond extract and shape are her derivation). I did have a friend who claimed that her mom made the exact same cookie so I’m not entirely sure. I don’t know where the original recipe is from. It may have been the Betty Crocker Cooky Book.

Still, they’re quite good.

Green Tree Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
10 drops green food coloring
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
extra sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
In an electric mixture, cream together the butter and sugar at a medium-low speed.
Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the almond extract and food coloring.
Add the flour and salt and mix until well combined.
Place the cookie dough in a cookie press fitted with a Christmas tree die. Press cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet about 1/2″ a part.
Bake until the cookies are set but not browned, about 6 to 9 minutes.
Sprinkle sugar over the cookies immediately after removal from the oven.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies (depending on your cookie press).