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Why It Works
- The smearing movement of the fraisage approach combines the elements in a uniform means and distributes fats and moisture for a young, crumbly cookie.
- Rolling the dough into logs and refrigerating till agency makes it simpler to slice the cookies neatly.
After I cooked professionally, cooks all the time advised me to work good, not arduous: You have to be as environment friendly as attainable and plan properly in order to maximise your productiveness. So many cooks have drilled that into me that I’m now somebody with an unhealthy curiosity in being as productive as attainable each minute of the day—particularly once I’m planning or getting ready meals. As a busy, drained human, I like recipes that may simply be repurposed, like tomato sauce for eggs in purgatory, leftover roast hen for pot pie, and tart doughs that I can rework into cookies.
That is the place sablé cookies are available. As a result of the cookies are comprised of pâte sablée, a traditional French dough that may be baked right into a candy, crumbly tart shell or slice-and-bake cookies, you solely must make one batch dough for 2 desserts: a tart of some form, be equivalent to recent fruit, lemon, or frangipane, and a bunch of cookies. It’s a lifesaver through the vacation season, once I want a straightforward banquet dessert and a plate of cookies for Santa. This recipe from our contributor Rebecca Frey takes care of each.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
As Frey touches on in her tart shell recipe, “sablé” means “sand” or “sandy” in French, and tart shells, cookies, and different desserts made with this dough have a pleasantly brief, crumbly texture. For cookies which might be tender, she makes use of two important French methods: “sablage” and “fraisage.” Sablage entails utilizing your arms to rub chilly butter into the dry elements—flour, confectioners’ sugar, and floor almonds—which helps coat the flour in fats to reduce gluten improvement, which makes for a extra tender crumb. Fraisage, however, refers back to the movement of utilizing the heel of your hand to smear the dough in opposition to a piece floor. This ensures the dough is properly mixed and that the fats and moisture are evenly distributed for buttery and pleasantly crumbly cookies.
One other bonus? Frey’s recipe requires only one bowl and a little bit of plastic wrap. There’s no want for room temperature butter and there’s no creaming of butter and sugar. All it’s important to do is toss the elements for the dough collectively, smear it throughout your counter (cathartic, I promise!), then roll it right into a log earlier than chilling, slicing, freezing, and baking. If you wish to make a tart shell and cookies, merely make a double batch of dough. It’s a vacation miracle, actually.
These One-Bowl French Cookies Are the Most Scrumptious Technique to Repurpose Pie Dough
Cook dinner Mode
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250g all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces; 2 cups), sifted, plus extra for dusting
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125g confectioners’ sugar (4 1/2 ounces; about 1 cup and 2 tablespoons), sifted
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50g blanched almond flour (1 3/4 ounces; 1/2 cup), sifted (see notes)
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1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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125g unsalted butter (4 1/2 ounces; 9 tablespoons), chilly and reduce into 1/2-inch cubes
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50g crushed egg (1 3/4 ounce; 3 tablespoons), from 1 giant egg
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Demarara sugar (non-compulsory)
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In a big mixing bowl, whisk flour, confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, and salt to mix. Add butter to flour combination and toss with fingers till butter items are completely coated with flour combination. Utilizing your fingertips, pinch and flatten butter, then rub it between your fingertips till a sandy texture types, 3 to 4 minutes.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Make a properly within the heart of the flour combination about 2 to three inches large. Pour crushed egg into the properly and, utilizing a fork, steadily incorporate flour into the egg till a dry, crumbly dough types.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Tip dough onto a big, clear, unfloured countertop. Utilizing the heel of your hand, smear the dough away from you, then use your arms or a dough scraper to collect it again right into a mass. Repeat till a tender, barely sticky dough types, about 6 to eight extra instances.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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On a clear slicing board or work floor, form dough right into a 10-inch lengthy log about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. (If desired, roll log in an excellent layer of demerara sugar for added sweetness and crunch.) Wrap log tightly in plastic, twisting the ends of the plastic to seal. As soon as wrapped, roll log below your arms in a back-and-forth movement to make sure log is clean, even, and tight throughout. Refrigerate till very agency, about 3 hours. Line two 13-by 18-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment; put aside.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Alter oven rack to center place and preheat to 350ºF (175ºC). Utilizing a pointy chef’s knife, trim ends of log, then slice dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Switch sliced cookies onto ready baking sheets and freeze till agency, about half-hour. (You could have to freeze 1 baking sheet at a time, relying on the scale of your freezer.)
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Bake 1 sheet of cookies at 350°F (175° C) till evenly golden brown across the edges, about quarter-hour, leaving second sheet within the freezer whereas the primary bakes. Repeat with remaining baking sheet.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Let cool for 10 minutes earlier than serving; get pleasure from heat or at room temperature.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez
Particular Tools
Plastic wrap, 2 rimmed baking sheets, parchment
Notes
Almond flour might be substituted with the identical quantity of all-purpose flour, however the dough might be much less flavorful and barely tougher to work with.
Make-Forward and Storage
As soon as cooled, baked cookies might be saved in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 5 days.
To freeze unbaked cookies, organize sliced dough on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Freeze till stable. Switch to an hermetic container or zip-top bag. Unbaked cookies might be frozen for as much as 3 months. To bake frozen cookies, take away sliced cookies from freezer and organize on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350ºF (175ºC) till evenly golden brown across the edges, 15 to 17 minutes.
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