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Learn how to make fabulous French sable cookies from the comfort of your kitchen. They are sweet, buttery, soft, chewy, and melt in your mouth.
Table of Contents
If you like butter cookies, you should definitely try this French version of them. Sablé cookies are very popular in France and are a mix between sugar cookies and shortbread cookies – with a soft sandy texture, chewy, buttery, sweet, and delicious. They go perfectly with coffee & tea and also make great Christmas cookies!
This easy sable cookie recipe is prepared similar to slice & bake cookies. As soon as the dough roll is cold enough, you can roll it in a little sugar and cut it into slices with a sharp knife.
If you like, mix the sugar with some cinnamon or gingerbread/pumpkin spice and turn the dough roll in it. Chocolate fans can replace 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder for a chocolaty touch.
As these sweet, buttery, and additive treats are so easy to make with little to no baking skills, it’s an excellent cookie recipe for baking beginners. The truly only important thing is to chill the dough well before cutting. If you are in a hurry, you can turbo-chill the dough in the freezer. 😉
Good to know: This recipe for French butter cookies is vegan and is therefore made with dairy-free butter. However, vegetarians are welcome to use unsalted dairy butter – your choice! 😉
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
- Flour → Use white all-purpose flour or a light spelt flour.
- Sugar → This recipe uses a reduced amount of sugar yet is sweet enough.
- Vanilla Sugar → It is best to use the slightly more expensive bourbon vanilla sugar. Feel free to substitute with 1 tsp vanilla extract if vanilla sugar isn’t available at the grocery store.
- Vegan Butter→ Use dairy-free butter to make vegan French sable cookies or regular unsalted butter for non-vegan cookies.
- Dairy-Free Milk→ Soy milk, oat milk, or water.
- Salt → A pinch of salt rounds off the flavor perfectly.
Visual Step-by-Step Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a baking beginner! 😉
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the vegan butter until peaks form.
- Add white sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract), dairy-free milk, and salt, mix until creamy.
- Add flour and mix until you have a smooth dough.
- Turn the dough onto a work surface and shape it into a 12-inch (30cm) long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 390°F (200°C).
- Roll the log in 1 tbsp white sugar to fully coat. Slice into ¼-inch (1cm) thick cookies.
- Place cookies on a with parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make-Ahead & Storage Instructions
Prepare the dough ahead of time: You can store the raw cookie dough after step 4 for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Continue with step 5 (slice & bake).
Store those cookies in a cookie tin at room temperature. They keep fresh for at least one week.
Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer bag, and thaw single cookies for 30 minutes at room temperature. Or freeze raw cookie dough, slice, and bake according to the recipe – this way you always have super fresh & homebaked cookies at hand.
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📖 Recipe
French Sable Cookies
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Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ½ cup (110 g) vegan butter room temperature, or butter for vegetarians
- ¼ cup (50 g) white sugar
- 2 tsp vanille sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dairy-free milk or water
- 1 ⅓ cup (165 g) all-purpose flour
Optional
- 1 tbsp white sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand-held mixer, beat the vegan butter until peaks form.
- Add white sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract), dairy-free milk, and salt, mix until creamy.
- Add flour and mix until you have a smooth dough.
- Turn the dough onto a work surface and shape it into a 12-inch (30cm) long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat your oven to 390°F (200°C).
- Roll the log in 1 tbsp white sugar to fully coat. Slice into ¼-inch (1cm) thick cookies and place on a with parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
