Category Archives: Cookies

Mastering Sablés à l’Anis: Tips and Tricks

Posted on by
Reply
Jump to Recipe

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.

Two-Bit News:

I’ve been sharing stories, recipes, and a few hard-earned lessons on the podcast circuit. Listen in here.

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

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.

Navettes de Marseille

Posted on by
1
Navettes de Marseille cookies stacked on a plate by Blogger Julie Seyler aka Two-Bit Tart
Jump to recipe

Today’s Musings:

Next year, my sister and I have decided to take a cruise through the South of France. I’ve longed to explore that region for decades and my sister has become a devotee of Tauck River Cruises, so as in any successful sisterly relationship, we’ve married her wishes with mine. We booked the trip last week.

We’ll begin our journey in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille on the French Riviera. A highly-respected former boss of mine couldn’t have been more effusive regarding Marseille. At the time, I made a mental note, marking it as a potential “future destination” (RIP Edvig). Although, 25+ years later, it appears the city has been plastered over with graffiti.

From Marseille, Sister and I will travel through Van Gogh’s sun-soaked Provencal landscapes, continue along the lush vineyards of Burgundy, the vibrant Rhône-Alpes including Lyon, lauded as the culinary capital of France, concluding our adventures in cosmopolitan Geneva, Switzerland.

As I begin uncovering the uniqueness of each city in greater detail, researching the best pâtisseries nestled within each tiny hamlet, what to see, what to do, what to order for an authentic taste of the region, I realize the ideal recipe for discovering what awaits my senses is by baking my way through our upcoming trip.

Today, we begin in Marseille with Navettes de Marseille.

Today’s Recipe:

To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled to begin my baking journey with Navettes de Marseille, primarily because every description I’ve read called these cookies “dry.”

“Here, I baked these dry, saliva-thwarting, throat-clogging cookies. Try one!”

However, I was determined to choose a classic Marseillaises delicacy and these little “boats of goodness” use a flavor profile I absolutely adore: orange blossom water, orange zest, and olive oil, a combination found in my beloved Gibassier, also hailing from the region. I decided to give Navettes de Marseille a shot. (I’ve seen a few recipes relying on butter or using lemon zest to appeal to the American palate, but I wanted to stick with a traditional take).

The Verdict? Yes, they’re dry and a bit boring (gasp!), but also somehow highly addictive. If I were to Julie-zhuzh them up, I’d dip them in a bit of chocolate.

Navettes de Marseille

  • Servings: About 18 cookies
  • Print

Navettes de Marseille are delicate, boat-shaped cookies with a crisp exterior and tender interior, flavored with orange blossom water and orange zest — subtly sweet, fragrant, and perfect dipped in coffee or tea.


Ingredients

  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 pinch table salt (not kosher)
  • 3 tablespoon mild-tasting olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons orange blossom water
  • ½ teaspoon orange zest
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • Milk (for glazing)

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, egg, and salt until pale and creamy. Beat in the olive oil, orange blossom water, and zest.
  2. Using a spoon or spatula, add the flour in two additions. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Divide the dough into rounded tablespoons (26-28 grams). Roll each piece into a small log, about 3½ inches long. Pinch the ends to form the pointy shape of a small boat (“navette”).
  4. Use a sharp knife to make a lengthwise slash down the center of each navette about a quarter of the way through the dough. Gently pull the slit open a little. Gently brush with a bit of milk.
  5. Bake 20-24 minutes, or until pale golden and just beginning to color at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, remove and cool completely on a wire rack. They harden as they cool. Store in an airtight container. Navettes are traditionally eaten dipped into coffee or tea.