Chocolate Chip Sablé Cookies

Chocolate chip sablé cookies are my new favorite treat! French sablé cookies are easy and delicious little shortbread treats with a tender, sandy texture. While they are often finished with a coating of large-grain sugar, they aren’t overly sweet. These cookies are made with chopped chocolate. For the chocolate, use a bar of semisweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate.

Preparation Notes

• Bring the butter to room temperature. Separate the eggs and let them come to room temperature.
• Chop the chocolate with a large knife. For a neater look, put the chopped chocolate into a mesh sieve and sift out any tiny bits of chocolate dust.
• First, cream the butter with the brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar until fluffy.
• Next, beat the egg yolks into the creamed mixture along with the vanilla and salt. Save one of the egg whites in the refrigerator for the coating. You won’t need the second egg white, so you can either discard it or freeze it for another recipe. Egg whites and yolks freeze beautifully—pop the extra egg white in a freezer bag or small container and freeze it for up to 1 year.
• Mix the flour into the creamed mixture on low speed just until you have a thick, smooth cookie dough. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
• Divide the dough into 2 parts. Place a portion on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it into a log about 8 to 9 inches in length. Wrap it in the plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining log. To preserve their round shape while chilling, cut one side of an empty paper towel roll, place the log of sablé dough in it, and then tie it loosely in 2 or 3 places with twine. This way, the cookie log doesn’t flatten on one side as it rests in the fridge.
• Put the wrapped cookie logs in the fridge and chill them for at least 3 hours.
• Take the reserved egg white out of the fridge and whisk it until it is foamy.
• Remove one sablé log from the fridge and lightly brush the outside with egg white. Coat it with demerara sugar or sparkling sugar. Cut the log into slices about 1/2-inch in thickness and place them on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them. Repeat the steps with the remaining cookie dough log.
• Bake the cookies until they are lightly browned on their bottoms, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Variations

• Add some extra color and flavor with half chopped white chocolate or half mint-flavored chocolate to the cookie dough.
• Coat the cookies with colored decorating sugar—black or orange for Halloween, green or red for Christmas, or pastels for Easter.
• Skip the chocolate and use finely chopped pecans or walnuts in the cookie dough.

How to Store

• Store sablé cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• Place the cookies in a freezer bag or airtight container. Label the container with the name and date, and freeze them for up to 3 months.

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