Sable Cookies

French desserts are something I really enjoy. There is a certain special quality that comes from that country, which is why I feel that is truly the homeland of desserts.

These cookie recipes, while simple to make, result in something tasty and memorable. Pierre Herme does have a lot of talent when it comes to any dessert, especially cookies.

The first cookie recipe below is one that uses rose extract and dried raspberries. I was unable to find raspberries, so I used strawberries. One serving of these cookies will prove to you that smell does support flavor. Just a bite will bring you straight back to all the times that you sniffed at a fragrant rose. The taste of floral is prominent and the strawberry is subtle. Special and unique, these are perfect for weddings, baby showers and other occasions.

The other cookie recipe is an adaptation of a snicker doodle in the form of a sable. With cinnamon on the outside and inside, this buttery cookie is for those that enjoy shortbread. If you are looking for a light flavored cookie instead of a  super chocolate chunk cookie-this is a great choice.

The first recipe makes about 1 1/2 dz. The cinnamon recipe states 2 dz, but I came up with  over 3 dz. The height or slice suggestion is 3/8 to 1/2 inch.

Pierre Herme Ispahan Sables
adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients/Topping
1/4 tsp rose extract (I used Star Kay White Brand)
1/4 cup sanding sugar
pink/red food coloring

Ingredients/Base
11 tbs butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup freeze dried raspberries
1/2 tsp rose extract
1/2 tsp flake salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Start by creating the topping. Fill a small bowl with rose extract and sanding sugar and whisk together. Add a drop of coloring and whisk until all sugar crystals are pink. Add more coloring if necessary. Set aside.

For the cookies, place the raspberries in a zip lock bag and crush until it becomes a powder. It may not all be a powder, but as long and the pieces are very fine. Fill a bowl with the flour and mix in the salt and the powder until evenly distributed. Set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until glossy and smooth. This should take about 3 minutes, depending on how soft your butter is. Stop at intervals and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rose extract and beat for another 2 minutes. Then incorporate the sugar and salt into the mixture, blending until fluffy. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Using a wooden spoon, mix the flour into the batter, forming a dough. The dough should be soft and be able to be clumped together.

Divide the dough into 4 equal amounts. Roll each in a 6-8 inch log. Once the logs are formed, pour the topping into a flat pan and roll each log in the sugar mixture. Wrap each log with plastic wrap and place side by side on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour and up to 3 days.

To bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper. Pull out one log, uncover and place on cutting board. Cut into 3/8-1/2 inch wide slices. Place each slice on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Then bake for 9 minutes and rotate. Bake for an additional 9-11 minutes or until firm and golden on bottom. Remove and place pan over rack. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to finish cooling. Repeat the process with the remaining logs.

Snickerdoodle Sables
adapted from Bake From Scratch

Ingredients
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 large egg yolks (divided)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups flour

Using a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Next, fill a bowl of a stand mixer with the butter. Beat until smooth and glossy, stopping on occasion to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This should take about 3 minutes to acheive the correct consistency. Add powdered sugar, salt and only 1/3 a cup of the cinnamon mixture to the butter. Mix together on medium speed until thoroughly blended. Then add 1 egg yolk and the vanilla. Beat again until all is incorporated into the batter.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the flour, using a wooden spoon. Once mixed, it will be crumbly. Knead the dough until it clumps together and no dry streaks remain. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a log, measuring about 7 inches long. Cover in plastic wrap and chill each log for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Once chilling time is complete, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper. Also, whisk the remaining egg yolk in a small bowl.

Remove one log and uncover. Place log on cutting board and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Brush each slice with egg yolk and dip in the remaining cinnamon sugar. Place each round on baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake in oven about 9 minutes, then rotate. Bake for an additional 9-11 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and let cookies cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Then transfer to cooling rack to completely cool.

Tips and Notes:
1. I rolled out the cookie dough between wax paper and cut with 2" inch cutter. The dough was chilled after rolling out. For the rose cookies it was an hour. For the cinnamon cookies, it was 1 1/2 hours. As you cut and bake, do not let the dough sit out while the cookies are baking. Re-form the dough into a rolled out disk and refrigerate between batches.

2. Since the rose cookies were formed as cut outs instead of a log, I sprinkled the sugar blend on top before baking.
                            **2 YEARS AGO: Bourbon Cherry Bars**

Shortbread Squares

If you have been the host for the holidays this year, I am sure you are ready for some time to relax and unwind. The manner in which we do this varies from person to person. Some of the methods people have chosen may be bizarre or unbelievable. You will not find me building small houses out of pennies or washing my car. My method is actually pretty simple- enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea with a shortbread cookie while sitting in a comfortable chair. The whirlwind of stress and anxiety just melts away.

If you have not found the key to unwind yet or are just looking to take a break from your day, these cookies may be the right choice. Outside of that special buttery, melt in your mouth factor that shortbread cookies have to offer, they are easy to make with a few simple ingredients. A great return for such a little investment of time. This recipe makes about 10 dz one inch squares and uses a 9x13 inch pan.

Shortbread Squares
adapted from My Great Recipes

Ingredients
4 cups and 2 tbs of flour
2 cups or 1 lb of butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
Sprinkles, decorative sugar or powdered sugar for topping (optional)

Prepare a 9x13 inch cake by by buttering the interior. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Reserve a sheet of wax paper, a size just big enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

Cut the butter into cubes and place in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed, stopping at intervals to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once the blend is smooth add all of the flour.

Combine the flour with the sugar mixture by using a wooden spoon. After all the flour is incorporated into the dough, empty it into the prepared baking pan.  Take the wax paper and use it as a barrier between your hands and the dough as you press the dough down to fit the pan. Make sure the dough is even and reaches all sides and corners.

Remove wax paper. Using the tines of a fork, make small indentations on the top of the dough. This will keep the dough from bubbling up when baked.

Place pan in oven and bake until golden on sides and bottom. This should take about 1 1/2 hours. After the bake time, turn the oven off and remove the pan. Cut the shortbread into squares or triangles (depending on your preference) about 1 inch wide. Place pan back in the oven and let rest until the oven has cooled.

As a last step, sprinkle sugar topping on the surface of the shortbread. Let cool completely before removing from pan.
                                     **LAST YEAR:Chocolate Tangerine Cannoli Cupcakes** 

Almond Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Today's post is a milestone for my blog, it is the 500th post. Yes, it is actually hard to believe I have made and posted that many items. There are lots of blogs that die off after the first two years, but I am happy to say after all these posts, my passion still remains. There are so many projects and things I have yet to try and master, it is hard to even imagine stopping. Now on to this recipe...

When someone mentions shortbread cookies, visions of English teatime comes to mind. However, these type of cookies have such a wonderful flavor, it is impossible to limit them to eating only at teatime.

The traditional shortbread cookie is a 1-2-3 part blend. One part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour. This particular recipe is not exact to those specifications in regards to the flour content, but it does not detract from the taste.

Shortbread can have many variations. For today's post, I decided to create a teatime cookie with a touch of chocolate. Also, even though it is a butter cookie, the additional flavor of almond was added. The almond flavor is derived from the almond flour and almond extract. This recipe makes 2- 2 1/2 dz cookies.

Almond Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup almond flour or meal
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-2 tbs almond extract
3/4 cup mini choc chips
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter (room temp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the two types of flour in a medium size bowl and set aside.

Then fill another bowl with the softened butter and almond extract. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping at intervals to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Sift the powdered sugar into this mixture. Beat again until the sugar is distributed into the butter.

Take out a wooden spoon and mix the flour blend into the butter batter until a dough is formed. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into balls and place 2 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Then flatten into circles about 2-3 inches in diameter. Place in oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to rack to completely cool.

Tips and Notes:

1. The amount of extract you use is according to how strong you want the almond flavor in the cookie.

2. Almond meal or almond flour can be used, depending on your preference. Almond meal is not as finely ground as flour. I used almond meal and, as you can see by the picture, there are flecks of almond showing in the cookies.

                                 **LAST YEAR: Orange Liqueur Bundt Cake**

Gooey Butter Cookies

This cookie recipe is one that has evolved through the years.  The recipe started out with the use of a boxed cake mix and then there was one created from scratch. That recipe used 1 cup of butter and three cups of sugar. Since then, there has been some variations on those two ingredient amounts and additional flavors incorporated such as Nutella and Red Velvet. However, I landed on the recipe created by by Mathew Rice and Gerard Craft of Pastaria Restaurant.  The recipe does cut back on the amount of butter and also incorporates glucose as an ingredient.

Since I have never ate or baked these cookies, the thing I wondered about was the name.  Would they be liquid and creamy inside or is gooey a misnomer?  After making them, I would say a misnomer. The texture of these cookies are right on the border between being doughy and being crisp. Not really "gooey" as the name states. They are fluffy and light, unlike standard sugar or butter cookies.

Even though there are lots of variations on the net, I thinks that the simple butter/cream cheese flavor is perfect when paried with any of the wintery beverages such as hot chocolate, flavored teas and coffees. This recipe makes about 3 dz. cookies.

All of the variations can be found on the net under different blogs and websites, such as Lottie and Doof, Eating up, Tasting Table, Delightfully Dowling.

Gooey Butter Cookies
adapted from Gerard Craft and Mathew Rice of Pastaria

Ingredients
1/4 cup glucose (substitution ingredient is light corn syrup)
2 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 lb cream cheese (room temp)
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter (room temp)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 tbs and 1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups powdered sugar and more for final dusting

Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper and have a few extra squares of parchment on hand to fit the sheets.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Also, fill a shallow bowl with the powdered sugar and put aside for later use.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl and set aside.  Fill the bowl of a stand mixer with cream cheese, butter, sugar and glucose.  Then split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the bowl as well.  Cream ingredients together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl at 1 minute intervals.  Add the vanilla extract and one of the eggs and beat until blended.  Beat in the second egg.

Remove batter blade and bowl from mixer.  Fold the sifted ingredients into the butter/cream cheese mixture until a dough is formed and there are no more dry streaks.  Shape pieces of the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Roll balls into powdered sugar and place on prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies about 12-15 minutes.  The cookies should be firm on the edges and soft in the middle and have cracks.  They should not brown on the edges.  Remove the cookies and let rest on baking sheets about 5 minutes.  Slide the parchment paper with the cookies off the sheet onto a cooling rack.  I was able to lightly transfer them off the parchment paper to a cooling rack by hand, but they are very delicate. A light touch is important if you want to do the hand method as opposed to sliding the parchment.

These cookies are best kept in the refrigerator and served cold. Before serving, as an option, you can dust again with powdered sugar. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
                                    **LAST YEAR: Chocolate Tres Leche Cake**

Aristocrats

Well with Valentines coming up, I could not resist the bright pink sanding sugar.  After buying it, I was on the hunt for a recipe that uses it.  I have decorated sugar cookies and russian teacakes with sanding sugar, so I narrowed it down to a cookie recipe.

I found a recipe that is basically a butter cookie with mini chips mixed in.  The dough is made into a log, chilled and wrapped with an thin layer of dough and then covered in the sugar.  These do have some crunch to them and they are perfect for dunking in hot tea or cold milk. This recipe makes about 6 dz small cookies.

Aristocrats
adapted from Gourmets Best Desserts

Ingredients
3 oz of mini chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup and 2 tbs of butter (or 1 & 3/4 sticks)
2 eggs
1/2 cup colored sugar crystals

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds. 

Using a wooden spoon, mix in the flour in 1/4 cup increments.  The mixture should form a dough when all flour is completely mixed in.  Split the dough in half and seal one of the pieces in plastic wrap or foil and chill for 30 minutes.

While that is chilling, take the other piece of dough and mix in the mini chips.  Once evenly distributed, split dough mound into 2 equal pieces.  On a lightly floured surface, roll and form each piece into a log.  Each log should be even in diameter and be 10 inches long. Set aside.

Then take out the chilled dough.  Dust a flat surface with flour and roll dough into a rectangle, measuring 11 x 9.  Cut the dough in half , lengthwise, so you have 2 pieces.  Each piece should be 4 1/2 X 11.  Beat remaining egg in a small bowl. Using a  pastry brush, cover the face up side of  one piece of dough with the egg wash.

Place one log in the very center of the piece of the dough brushed with the egg wash.  Roll the rectangle around the log, sealing ends and seam.  Brush again with the egg wash.  Then sprinkle the colored sugar on a piece of wax paper and roll log in sugar until covered.  Wrap in foil and put in fridge.  Repeat the same process with the remaining log and dough rectangle, so you have 2 logs chilling in the fridge.  They will need to be in the fridge for at least 4 hours to firm up to the consistency you want.

During the last 1/2 hour of the chilling time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Also, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Once the logs have completed the chilling stage, remove from fridge and slice each log into 36 slices of even thickness.

Place each cookie on a baking sheet, spacing about 1/2 apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or when bottom starts to brown.  Remove pan from oven and place cookies on a rack to cool.

Notes and Tips:

1. Since the cookie dough is sealed at the end, your end pieces will not be as nice as the other slices.
2. The recipe also states to use chopped walnuts in the dough instead of chocolate chips, use 2/3 of a cup.  For variety, you can do 1/2 of each.

                    **LAST YEAR: Celebrity Factor Cookies**