~~~~~SABLES~~~~~A FRENCH BUTTERY COOKIE

Cookies make me happy in a warm kinda way & i love to try very different cookies & if they are 'different',well they are my must try's. One such that i just came across is the FRENCH SABLE or FRENCH BUTTER COOKIE.

Sable is a classic French cookie originating in Normandy. French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie. A versatile dough that can be flavored with ground nuts or zests and although traditionally round with fluted edges, they can also be cut into other shapes and even sandwiched together with jam or preserves, chocolate or lemon curd.




Now french butter is a little hard to come by but i can surely look for an AA scored butter but am already itching to try these & we have nothing for tea-time today.

I love to read a bit on what am playing with so got loads of info here http://www.joyofbaking.com/Sables.html. The french word sables means sand cookies or sandies which are so named coz of the fine & crumble texture but thats when the hard cooked egg -yolks are added. That version i'll try the next time round.


They can be flavoured with say orange & white chocolate or lemon zest or cinnamon but i love to stick to the traditional buttery vanilla,maybe with a hint of zest.

For shaping the dough there's the roll & slice kinda & roll out kind.well i 'd love to stick to tradition here too & have 'em rolled out & cut with fluted cutters,my tcm cutters will work best here.
Yes am following Martha Stewart recipe that calls for the addition of ground almonds but an egg wash with a criss-cross design is must,again a traditional way.And i love the addition of confectioners sugar that gives a nice added soft but firm crunch in cookies

Yup will play with some of the dough too though i doubt these would need to be frosted. Its going to be a busy day today & i so much hope that can squeeze in these FRENCH SABLE COOKIE's before tea time.


THIS RECIPE IS ADAPTED FROM MARTHA STEWART  and soon am going to try in the joy of baking recipe too.

INGREDIENTS
~~~1/2 CUP + 2TBH FLAKED ALMONDS(or blanched whole)/HAZLENUTS/WALNUTS/CASHEWNUTS~~~1/2 CUP CONFECTIONERS SUGAR
~~~95 GRAMS BUTTER
~~~1/2 OF A LARGE EGG(reserve half for later)
~~~1 TBH VANILLA EXTRACT OR CAVIAR OF 1 BEAN
~~~1 CUP A-P FLOUR

NOTES
===u can go with any nuts u want,i used a combi of almonds & cashewnuts,a few flaked almonds ,lightly toasted...just paly with the flavours.
===u can also use zest & juice of lime/orange.i love a classic vanilla.
===i added a wee bit more flour to bring the dough together.

HERE U GO...
~~~place almonds or nuts & sugar in a processor till ressembles coarse meal.(the sugar will help it from turning oily here)
~~~Beat butter & vanilla till light & fluffy.
~~~Add in the almond meal,beat till combined & add in egg.
~~~Add flour,bring together. divide to 2 discs & rolls in parchment paper to refrigerate for atleast around 3 hours or more
~~~take out one disc & roll between sheets of parchement paper(works excellent)to 1/4 inch
~~~cut out cookies,place parchement in freezer for a few minutes(delicate to handle,also i rolled my cookies thinner than the required 1/4 inch coz we love our cookies with milk crunchy & crispy)

~~~beat the left over egg w a tsp of water & brush tops with the egg wash.Criss -cross a pattern for a traditional,instant recognition shiny look(and make it i/4 inch thick)I tried out diffrent cookie cutters here.
~~~re-roll scraps & bake in a pre-heated oven at 180*C
~~~baking time is 15 mins but i bake at around half an hour & for crispier cookies.

A NICE NUTTY FLAVOUR SHINES THRU,WHILE HOLDING ITS OWN,THE BUTTERY SWEETNESS.
SHINY FINISHING TOUCH & CRISS CROSS DESIGN- INSTANT RECOGNITION

the flavour of these cookies is simply different

FOR THE ICING---
BLEND HALF CUP CONFECTIONERS SUGAR WITH LEMON CURD TILL ITS SPREADABLE ENOUGH.

i would have love to have some icing equipment & a steadier hand,made do with palstic bags with a hole pierced at the bottom.

Have let the cookies harden now& then they'll be gone.........

I publish the post,have a look & tip-toe to the kitchen to sneak in a cookie .....and help....they have all gone soft....am googling away trying to trouble shoot but everyone seems to have a prob with cookies going hard not soft and everybodyseems to love a soft cookie ,i bake my double time,this is too too soft...Oh ,dont tell me it has anything to do with placing the tray in the fridge after frosting to harden up quick beforetea -time..the moisture...oh what is it?????help...& had placed them carefully in an air-tight mind you....So after going thru all trouble shooting et all,i re-baked the cookies to a nice brown & they were back to being crunchier than before,& the frosting actually didn melt...just got firmed up....but dont yet know what actually when wrong.....