These buttery cookies are great fun to make because they’re so versatile. You can either make the basic vanilla ones and cover them with white or coloured lemony icing sugar, then decorate them with walnut halves, chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or colourful sugar sprinkles. These are my absolute favourite sables. Alternatively you can add some cacao powder to make chocolaty ones, or only add cacao powder to half of the dough and create snail patterns, chess patterns or any other pattern with the vanilla and chocolate dough. Great fun for the entire family!
Recipe
- 175g butter
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla paste
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp milk
- 250g plain flour
Method
Add the butter to a bowl and wait until soft. Add all the other ingredients except the flour and stir until the mixture is light in colour. Add the flour and stir until combined.
Make two rolls of 3-4cm thickness. Wrap them in kitchen foil and place them in the fridge for 30 minutes (or less long in the freezer) until the rolls are firm. Then cut them into dices that are about 5mm thick. Place them onto a baking tray covered in baking parchment and put them into the oven instantly. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 200 degrees C.
Using a few spoonfuls of icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice, make an icing (just as much lemon juice so the icing is spreadable but not too runny). Spread the icing onto the still warm cookies, using a brush. Add sugar sprinkles, walnut halves, chopped dried fruit or any other topping.
Variations
- Chocolate sables: add 3 tbsps of cacao powder before adding the flour
- Chocolate and vanilla sables: add 1-1.5 tbsps of cacao powder to only half of the dough and combine the two colours to create a chess pattern, a snail pattern, or any other pattern.
They look yummy and I would like to try the chocolate /vanilla ones.
How does that work exactly?? Do you make 4 thin rolls and ‘squash’ them together?? Then slice them?
Also I much prefer vanilla pods to paste. Could you use a pod here maybe with a double quantity of dough??
Yes you make four thin rolls and press each of them into a square shape. Then carefully press them together, cover in clingfilm and put in the fridge to get firm. Then slice them. I hope this helps!
As a general rule, 1 tsp of vanilla paste is the same amount of vanilla as 1 vanilla pod.
The chocolate/vanilla ones do look great. Although I have to say my absolute favourite ones are the plain vanilla ones because the tangy icing somehow makes them complete.