Chocolate-Pistachio Sables

For the past week I've been working from home on a new demo for a television program...it's also been too cold to go outside...which leaves me with the great luxury of baking much more than normal. The other day, I tried my hand at these chocolate-pistachio sables. Not because I like sables. To be honest, I had no idea what a sable was. But I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard. And the freeze and slice method with this dough sounded so ingenious...and totally obvious. You know those slice and bake cookies, or the break and bake cookies you get at the grocery store? Who knew you could make those at home...duh.

This recipe was from this past holiday season of Bon Appetit...in the holiday cookie section. A really easy recipe to whip up. And what I love is that you can make the dough ahead of time, and just slice whenever you want.














I was surprised, however, that these "cookies" did not expand or change shape as the cooked. It prompted me to figure out what the hell a sable is anyway. Turns out the sable is a French sugar cookie, with a sugary, salty, crumbly texture. It really is much like a biscuit, so don't expect a fluffy gooey cookie. Sable means sand. And while these taste a lot better than sand, they do have a crumbly texture. Boyfriend and I have been enjoying them with coffee.

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cups (lightly packed) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• 5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup unsalted, shelled raw pistachios, coarsely chopped
• Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

 












Whisk flour, cocoa powder, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to combine, then mix in egg white. Fold in chocolate and pistachios.

Divide dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into an 8”-long log about 1½” in diameter, pushing dough together if it feels crumbly. Wrap tightly in parchment paper and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. (The colder your dough, the easier it will be to slice.)

Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Working with 1 log of dough at a time and using a serrated knife, cut logs into ¼”-thick rounds and transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing ½” apart.















Sprinkle cookies with sea salt and bake, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until set around edges and centers look dry, 10–12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Each roll makes about 16 cookies. If you don't want to make all of the cookies, you can freeze them for up to 1 month. 

How can you say no to those eyes??? They just want a little taste.... :) And I totally got that yellow platter from anthro, on sale with an extra 50% off...it was like $15! Holla!