Pecan Sablé

Christmas is a distant memory and I had a hankering to make cookies.  A sablé is a French style shortbread.  It is lovely and buttery rich but is different from a shortbread because it uses eggs.  The word sablé is French for sand and they have a crumbly  texture, hence the name.  I decided to finely chop pecans and add them to the dough.  I also added Clementine zest.

Pecan Sablé            adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Place in a large bowl:

½ lb cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces

2 c all purpose flour

½ c finely chopped pecan

Using a pastry blender cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Beat together until well blended:

3 large egg yolks

½ c white sugar

¼ c powdered sugar

1/8 t salt

1 ½ t vanilla

1 T finely grated Clementine zest

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and then knead to form a smooth dough.  Divide the dough in half.  Form each half into a log that has about a 2" diameter.  Roll the logs in more finely chopped pecans.  Wrap in waxed paper and put in the refrigerator to chill for about 1/2 hour.  These can also be tightly wrapped and frozen at this stage and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months before baking.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Take the log out of the refrigerator and slice into scant 1/2" cookies.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.  The bottoms should brown lightly.  Be careful not to overcook.  

When cooked, remove from the oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute or two.  Then transfer to a cooling rack to thoroughly cool.  Be sure the baking sheet is cool before baking the next batch.

Note:  these can also be rolled and cut into circles.  Roll to about 1/4" thicknes.  The scraps can be rolled and re-rolled.  The last is as tender as the first.