Bet You Can't Eat Just One Of These French Cookie Classics

May 18, 1994

Larry Brown

Leona Wood asked for a recipe for sables, a French cookie classic. After enjoying them at an espresso shop and a Seattle restaurant, she checked her cookbooks, but couldn't find how to make them. "Keeping my cookie-eating fingers crossed," she wrote.

Here's two versions - one flavored with lemon and one with hazelnuts. Sables (pronounced sah-blay) are a crisp, crumbly, buttery cookie with a sandy texture reminiscent of shortbread. The dough is rolled into a log, refrigerated until firm, then sliced into thin rounds before baking. Bet you can't eat just one. Stored airtight, they keep for weeks, and they also freeze well.

By Request helps readers get recipes for dishes they have enjoyed at restaurants, and to locate recipes they have heard about or lost. Write to: By Request, c/o Food, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111.

------ SABLES ------

About 30 cookies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Grated peel of 1 lemon

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. With an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar together, then add the egg yolk, vanilla and lemon peel. Beat thoroughly.

2. Combine the flour and salt, then add to the butter mixture. Beat until the dough starts to hold together. Then finish combining with your hands.

3. On a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a roll about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour, until firm.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a thin sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds about 1/3 inch thick. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly colored around the edges. Transfer to racks to cool.

Data per cookie Calories 56 Protein 0g Fat 3g Carbohydrates 6g Sodium 48mg Saturated fat 2g Monounsaturated fat 1g Polyunsaturated fat 0g Cholesterol 15mg

From "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book" by Marion Cunningham.

--------------- HAZELNUT SABLES ---------------

About 41 cookies

1/2 cup shelled hazelnuts

3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg yolk

1 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1. Place the hazelnuts in a small baking pan and toast in a preheated 350-degree oven 10 minutes, or until the skins start to crack. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Put into a kitchen towel and rub to remove the skins. Put into a food processor and grind finely.

2. Beat the margarine or butter and the powdered sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer until light in color and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg yolk, followed by the ground nuts and flour. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until firm enough to roll into a log.

3. Flour the dough lightly and roll with a piece of plastic wrap into a log about 10 inches long. Slide onto a baking sheet and refrigerate the dough 1 hour.

4. Cut the dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place on ungreased baking sheets and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn golden. Let sit on the baking sheet 1 minute before transferring to cooling racks. Cool completely.

Data per cookie Calories 63 Protein 1g Fat 4g Carbohydrates 5g Sodium 38mg Saturated fat 1g Monounsaturated fat 3g Polyunsaturated fat 1g Cholesterol 4mg

From "The Ultimate Cookie Book" by Betty Crocker.