Sable Breton Cookies (French Butter Cookies)
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Sable Breton or French Butter Cookies are crisp and crumbly with lots of amazing butter flavor and a melt-in-your-mouth texture that will have you coming back for more.
Good old-fashioned butter cookies are hard to beat! But let me tell you that these Sable Breton Cookies are the most delicious butter cookies I have ever made during my years of baking.
The cookies are round in shape with egg wash and a criss-cross pattern on top, which makes them instantly recognizable. They are light, perfectly sweetened, with rich buttery flavors and the perfect crumb of the cookie. They are so addictive and I can’t stop eating just one!
What Is Sable Breton?
Sable Breton is a classic French butter cookie traditionally made with a shortbread type of dough and salted butter. In French, Sable refers to the sandy texture of the cookie. Meanwhile, Breton refers to Bretagne region (Britanny) in the North-West of France.
The area of Britanny is famous for its butter and the high quality of salt collected there. Because the Bretons use so much butter, it is traditionally salted to help preserve it. Salted butter is used to make a variety of desserts including these Sable Breton Cookies.
Use a Good High-Quality Salted Butter
Using high-quality salted butter in these cookies is simply essential, even more so as the butter is what brings the flavor to the butter cookies. Sable Breton Cookies are traditionally made using salted butter, but you can also substitute it with unsalted butter. The salt is essential to balance the rich flavor of the butter. If you use unsalted butter, I recommend adding 1/4 to 1/3 tsp of salt to the recipe.
For the best result, use European-style butter which has less water, higher fat content, and richer flavor. It will really make a difference here.
Make These Cookies in Advance
You can make and wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap then place it in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and freezer for up to 3 months. If frozen, let it thaw in the fridge a day before rolling out and continuing with the recipe.
More Cookie Recipes
- Double Chocolate Sable Cookies
- Almond Biscotti
- Pistachio Snowball Cookies
- Florentine Cookies
- Zebra-Striped Matcha Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 1/2 tbsp (90 gr) salted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (65 gr) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp (12 gr) rum, optional
- 1 cup (130 gr) cake flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
Egg Wash
- 1 egg yolk
Instructions
- Using a mixer or spatula, mix butter and confectioners sugar just until well combined. Add egg yolk and rum if using. Mix until well combined.
- Sift in cake flour and baking powder to the butter mixture and mix with a spatula until well incorporated.
- If the dough is too sticky to handle, refrigerate the dough for 20-30 minutes. If not, you can skip this step.
- Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it to a 1/4-inch (6 mm) thickness. Leaving the dough in between the parchment paper, transfer it to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or freeze it for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 340F/170°C and line two baking sheets with parchment papers.
- Remove the top layer of parchment paper and cut circles with a 2.4-inch (6 cm) cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps of dough, re-roll, and chill to continue cutting and baking.
- Brush the top of the cookies with the egg wash. Use the back of a fork to make a criss-cross hatch pattern on the cookies.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
