Sablés au chocolat et à la fleur de sel
Salted Dark Chocolate Sablés
A deep cocoa sablé, crumbly like shortbread and studded with dark chocolate, with a pinch of flaky salt in every bite. It contains no egg and keeps beautifully.
Equipment: 2 baking sheets, parchment paper
Contains: milk, wheat. Always check the labels of store-bought ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (175 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (30 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process if possible
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick + 2 1/2 tablespoons (150 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon packed (120 g) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (fleur de sel)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 1/4 oz (150 g) bittersweet chocolate (70%), finely chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa and baking soda.
- Beat the butter, both sugars, the salt and the vanilla for 1 minute, just until creamy.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the dough looks like large crumbs. Add the chocolate and press the dough together with your hands. It will be crumbly: that is normal.
- Divide the dough in half and shape two logs 1 1/2 inches in diameter (see Slice-and-Bake Logs). Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Slice the logs 3/8 inch thick and place the slices 1 inch apart on lined baking sheets. If a slice crumbles, press it back together.
- Bake for 11 to 12 minutes. They will look soft and not quite done: let them cool completely on the sheet, where they firm up.
Olivier's tip
Chop the chocolate finely, into pieces no bigger than a pea: the logs will slice cleanly instead of breaking.
A word from Paris
Fleur de sel, the “flower of salt”, is the delicate layer of crystals that forms on the surface of salt marshes, like those of Guérande in Brittany, where it is still raked by hand. French pastry chefs sprinkle it on chocolate, caramel and butter cookies.
French word of the day
sablé
sah-BLAY
sandy, the name of the crumbly French butter cookie
