Lemon Butter Cookies

Cookies don't get simpler or more satisfying than sablés, the basic butter cookie of France. Despite their small appearance, these are highly addictive and incredibly flavorful (mainly butter-flavored). This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook 'Paris Sweets', which means it is adapted from a famous pâtisserie in Paris. This particular recipe stems from long-time favorite pâtisserie Lerch. Monsieur Lerch is, like me, an avid cookie-lover. If you're looking for pâtisserie Lerch in Paris nowadays, you will not find it; Monsieur Lerch recently retired after 40 years of creating delicious delicacies. Rating: 4- out of 5.

Lemon Butter Cookies recipe: Dorie Greenspan - Paris Sweets, adapted from Pâtisserie Lerch

Ingredients: Makes about 50
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (8 ounces; 230 grams)
- ⅔ cup confectioners' sugar, sifted (70 grams)
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- grated zest of 1 to 1½ lemons
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 grams)
- approximately ½ cup sugar, for coating (100 grams)

Instructions:
- Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted confectioners' sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in 1 of the egg yolks, followed by the salt, vanilla, and grated lemon zest. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than overbeat at this point; if the flour isn't fully incorporated, that's OK—just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1¼ inches (2.5 to 3.2 cm) thick. (Get the thickness right, and the length you end up with will be fine.) Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- While the oven is preheating, work on the sugar coating: Whisk the remaining egg yolk in a small bowl until it is smooth and liquid enough to use as a glaze. Spread the sugar out on a piece of wax paper. Remove the logs of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap them, and brush them lightly with a little egg yolk. Roll the logs in the sugar, pressing the sugar gently to get it to stick if necessary, then, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about ¼ inch (7 mm) thick. (You can make these thicker if you'd like; just bake them longer.) Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about ½ inch (1.5 cm) space between them.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. (It's fine if the yolk-brushed edges brown a smidgen.) Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

Note: There are just two things you must remember when you make these sablés, tips M. Lerch passed along to me. First, be gentle when you mix in the flour. Tender cookies depend on a tender touch, so you don't want to rough up the flour and activate the gluten. Second, give the logs of dough a nice long rest in the refrigerator. Refrigerating the dough relaxes the gluten and also helps the cookies hold their shape during slicing and baking.








This recipe makes about 50 sablés. Not a very wise amount if you're like me and go for seconds, thirds, fourths ...

and fifths ...