1 week Ago
Whenever I meet with someone, whether I’m visiting someone’s home or going out for lunch, I bring homemade cookies. It’s one of my signature moves, and this particular chocolate shortbread cookie is one that people always remember. When I met with Linda Marrone recently to discuss the dates this year that I’ll be a new contributor to this section, I brought chocolate sables.
She liked them, thankfully, and asked me to share the recipe here in my first column. These cookies were made famous by pastry chefs Dorie Greenspan and Pierre Herme’. I first made them years ago after my Mom’s friend Alex – an excellent baker – sent her the recipe with an urgent note to try them.
Since then, I’ve made hundreds of them, and they’ve earned a solid spot as one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes. This version by Deb Perlman of the blog Smitten Kitchen is lightly adapted from the original, and it’s my favorite. The cookies are thick, soft, and slightly crumbly with a rich and intense chocolate flavor.
Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top and they're downright irresistible. They’re also surprisingly easy to make, using ingredients you may already have in your pantry. Like a little black dress, these cookies never go out of style.
They’re special enough for gifting to friends in a cellophane bag with a simple ribbon or served on a platter for the brunch or dessert table. I’ve frozen the dough in advance for the holidays and plated them on trays for baby and wedding showers and other special occasions. Any brand of unsalted butter is good in these cookies, but both Kerrygold and Plugra are an indulgent and encouraged upgrade.
To shape the cookies into perfect circles, use a large round biscuit or cookie cutter immediately after you take them out of the oven. Shimmey the cutter around each cookie quickly while they’re still warm. This will make them set up perfectly round once they cool, which helps if they’ve spread out a bit in the oven.
I’m happy to be here sharing recipes with you! I know from growing up in Carson City what an important local tradition this food section of the Appeal is, and it’s an honor to be here. I’ve got plenty of stories and easy, seasonal recipes coming up for you, with nothing that’s overly fancy, fussy, or difficult to make. Chocolate sables • 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and diced for a stand mixer or at room temperature if using a hand mixer • 1 cup packed brown sugar (I like dark, but light is fine) • 6 tablespoons granulated sugar • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small chips, or use a generous one-cup of store-bought mini chocolate chips • A few pinches of flaky sea salt Make the cookie dough Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter with the brown and granulated sugars, kosher salt, and vanilla extract until soft and creamy.
If you started with cold butter in a stand mixer, you’ll need to beat it for several minutes, scraping down the bowl two or three times so that it mixes evenly. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda directly into the butter mixture on low speed (so it doesn’t go flying!) and carefully mix the flour into the butter just until the flour disappears into the dough, scraping down the sides as needed. The dough will look a little dry and crumbly.
Add the chocolate pieces and toss together enough to incorporate them. Shape the cookie dough Turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper (I use 13 inches x 18 inches which is the same size as a half-sheet pan) and shape it into a log about 2 inches in diameter and 15-16 inches long. Roll the log in the parchment paper and chill for 3 hours until firm.
If you’re going to chill it longer, such as overnight or for a couple of days, wrap the log in plastic wrap instead of parchment paper so it doesn’t dry out. I wrap my dough in plastic and also in heavy duty foil, especially if I plan to freeze half of it for later. Bake the cookies Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp, thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1⁄2 inch thick. They are likely to crack as you slice, but don’t worry – just squeeze and stray bits back on to each cookie.
Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving an inch or so between them. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for even baking for 12 minutes. They will be very soft and look totally underbaked, but this is the way they should look.
The cookies will firm up with cooling. The cookies may spread a little in the oven, so to reshape them into perfect circles, use a round cookie or biscuit cutter that’s slightly larger than the diameter of the cookie, a 31⁄2-inch size biscuit cutter works well. Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, gently place the cutter over a cookie while it’s still warm and swirl the cutter in a circular motion quickly to smooth out the edges and create a uniform round shape.
Repeat the process for each cookie, ensuring they are reshaped before they cool. Sprinkle each cookie with a few flakes of sea salt as they cool. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until just warm, at which point you can serve them or move them to a cooking rack.
These cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, and you can freeze them tightly packed in a container for up to a month. You can freeze the log of unbaked dough wrapped tightly in plastic and heavy foil for up to 90 days. No need to defrost before baking, but they’ll need another minute of baking time.
Helpful tips • If using a stand mixer, start with small cubes of cold butter. If using an electric hand mixer, let the butter soften for 30-45 minutes before you begin. • The dough should be cold when the cookies go in the oven and bake one sheet at a time.
• Don’t overbake, 12 minutes works best. The cookies won’t look done, but they’ll set up as they cool. • The cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to five days.
• Use a thin, sharp knife to slice the cookies. They may be crumbly when as you slice them, but just push the dough back into the cookie. • For a perfectly shaped cookie, use the cookie/biscuit cutter hack described above in the recipe instructions.
• Sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top of the cookies while still warm out of the oven. I use Maldon salt, but any flaky sea salt is fine. • The recipe makes about 24 cookies that are a half-inch thick, so it’s nice to make a batch and slice half for yourself and freeze some for later.
• This dough freezes beautifully for up to 90 days. Paige Thomason is a sixth-generation Nevadan and devoted home cook who grew up in Carson City and runs the recipe site studiodelicious.com.
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