Lemon Sables

I learned something new today. Proud of me?

I learned that Sables are a French butter cookie and that “sables” is French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie.

Of course, learning that has probably pushed something else out of my brain.

(There is only so much room up there you know!)

My mother wanted me to try this recipe for her to take to coffee/tea time at the seniors centre. I wasn’t initially too crazy about making them.....I’m a soft textured cookie kinda’ girl. But, I knew I would be her favourite daughter if I made them...so I did. Apparently they were a hit at coffee/tea time. My mom really liked them. I enjoyed them, they are nice and lemony and very rich and buttery.

Had they been soft and chewy I would have been in love.

As it stands, we are just good friends.

 

 

Lemon Sables

 

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

pinch sea salt

heaping 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

2 eggs, separated

2 cups flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 Chai tea bag, cut open

 

Directions

Beat butter until smooth. Add in sugar, salt, and lemon zest, beating until combined. Beat in egg yolks. Reserve egg whites in fridge until later.

Gradually beat in (on low) flour until dough looks moist.

Divide dough in half; roll each half into a log about 8" long. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

(I froze mine for an hour and then let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes longer because I am impatient and wanted to make them right away! It worked out okay for me)

Preheat oven to 350, line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Unwrap logs and brush with reserved egg whites, then sprinkle with sugar whisked with the chai tea leaves (or just use plain sugar, finely chopped nuts, whatever you wish) rolling to make sure the sugar sticks.

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into 1/4" thick slices. Place about 1" apart on cookie tray and bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on tray for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

 

I rolled mine in the chai tea and sugar because I had some leftover from making Chai Tea and Lemon Cookies the same day. You can roll them in plain sugar or decorator sugar or whatever you like.

Do give them a try. One of the nice things about this recipe is that you can make the dough up ahead of time and then just slice and bake them when you need them.

This recipe makes quite a few too, normally my cookie recipes get about 1 – maybe 2 dozen because I make my cookies so big but this one gets way more than that. They are a nice size and would be too rich if they were any bigger.

Yes, that’s right, I’m actually encouraging you NOT to make them bigger.

Weird, right?