Two-Bit Musings:

I’ve been out of the baking game lately…and I’ve been struggling to get my groove back: a recipe test here, a middling loaf of bread there. Marketing my book seems to have strangled out the kitchen time I have always lovingly carved out for myself (and writing time, too!). This will not do. To quote Jamie Tartt in Ted Lasso, “Roy, I feel like I’ve lost me wings, Roy. Where the fuck are my wings, Roy?!”  I seem to have misplaced my baking wings.

I’ve been tottering back into the baking world in hopes of finding my baking wings again. Rather than my usual complicated, multi-step desserts,  I’ve been playing with simpler, classic bakes, like these French Sablés à l’Anis cookies.  Sablés are made from pâte sablée dough, one of the three types of tart dough (sablée, brisée, sucrée).  Sablée dough is sweet and rich, like a thin buttery shortbread cookie. It’s my go-to dough for classic French fruit tarts…and perfectly suited for converting into cookies.  

And although the cookies look straightforward, sablée dough can be finicky.  The butter must be softened, but over-soften it and your dough is a flabby mess.  No stand-mixer or beaters needed—too much air! You should use a wooden spoon or spatula to cream the butter and sugar. And while the flour must be fully incorporated, overmix it and you’re left with a tough dough.  I’ve seen different versions of this, some that rub the butter, sugar and flour together (sablage), but the recipe below is the one I learned in culinary school, so this method is my go-to, for now at least.

There’re a few recipes coming up on deck that are going to need my full baking mojo (Buttermilk Cake with Roasted Strawberry & Lemon Verbena Filling, Almond Cream & White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, anyone?) so I’m focused on finding  my wings again, starting with these simple yet finicky French Sablés à l’Anis Cookies.

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Two-Bit Recipe:

Flavor, texture, scent, a sense of place. I love unique flavors like rose, orange blossom, cardamom.  I hold a special affinity for anise seed: Gibassier, Biscochitos, Biscotti, Greek Koulourakia.  While wandering Les Halles d’Avignon last month,  I plucked a cookie sample from one of the bakery stalls and plopped it in my mouth: sandy, buttery, with the unmistakable flavor of anise. Sablés à l’Anis. I did my best to recreate them here. 

French Sablés à l’Anis Cookies

• Servings: 4 Dozen
• Print

These crisp buttery shortbread-like cookies are lightly flavored with anise seed for a unique twist.

Ingredients

• 1½ sticks (¾ cup) good quality European-style unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon anise seed, toasted and slightly ground
• Sanding sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, cream butter and powdered sugar into a past. Add egg in two additions just until incorporated. Blend in vanilla extract. Fold in flour until dough just forms a shaggy dough. Do not overmix. Fold in anise seeds. Let dough rest for 15 minutes, allowing flour to fully hydrate.
2. On your work surface, shape dough into a 10-inch log. Wrap log tightly in plastic, twisting the ends of the plastic to seal. Once wrapped, roll logs under your hands in a back-and-forth motion to ensure log is smooth, even, and tight all around. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Optional: unwrap log and roll in sanding sugar before slicing. Using a knife, trim ends off log, then slice dough into ¼-inch slices. Transfer sliced cookies onto prepared baking sheets and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake one sheet of cookies until lightly golden brown around the edges, about 15-17 minutes, leaving second sheet in the freezer while the first bakes. If you don’t have enough room in your freezer for both sheets, keep one in the refrigerator, transferring to the freezer while the other sheet is in the oven.
5. Remove from the oven, cool cookies on baking sheet for five minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining baking sheet.