Cocoa SablésHaiku French Fridays with Dorie

Pretty much the same...

World Peace, Korova, Sable

Dorie must love 'em

Three cookbooks!

Chocolate short breads in each. 

Redundant cookie!

Eh, what can you do?

You cannot stop with just one

So grab some cold milk

Shout from the rooftop!

Evangelical cookies

Dorie preaches them. 

And preach she should!   So if it seems as if I'm giving Dor' a bit of a hard time its because I am.  This cookie variant has been featured in quite a few of The Dor's books but the tasty truth of the matter is this particular cookie deserves it.  Its that good.

This week it is the assignment for French Friday's with Dorie and even thought I've made it before several times you didn't need to ask me twice to join right in.  In previous posts I've shared a bit about my adaptations and secrets for keeping things round as well...

Cocoa Sablés

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 ounces unsalted butter (2 ½ sticks), at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Dorie says these are optional but they quite simply are not.)

Fit a stand mixer the paddle attachment and then mix the butter with the sugar until it comes together.  Add the vanilla extract and mix until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture until just combined, scraping 1-2 times but do not over mix.

Divide the dough into two portions and make them into logs about 1 ¾ inches in diameter. The dough will be a bit dry, so work with it a little to get it into a solid log. If you don't you will get some creases and it might break when cutting at times.   I speak from experience.  Form them into logs, wrap them in parchment and then chill the logs.   I wrapped the logs in pita bread so that they would stay round while chilling.  Cookies are generally best if they have some time to rest, so chill the logs at least 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the logs from the refrigerator and slice them into ½ inch rounds.

Dorie suggests painting the logs with an egg wash and then rolling in sanding sugar to finish before baking.    I would just skip the egg wash. Its not needed and will clump the sugar.  Also, granulated would be just fine.   Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart and bake for 10-14 minutes. 

 I’ve found that the cookies are done when they feel dry on top and are somewhat firm to the touch.