Learn how to make chocolate sablés, a classic recipe in French pastry for slice-and-bake chocolate cookies that can be made ahead. The dough can be frozen as a log to be sliced and baked later, but the baked cookies also store extremely well!
Chocolate sablé cookies are not soft cookies. They have a completely different texture, perhaps closer to a shortbread. I still love chewy chocolate chip cookies, of course.
These cookies are perfect for serving with a cup of tea. They aren't greasy, they have a deep cocoa flavour that isn't too sweet. And this is a cookie that you can slice and bake, which is convenient because you can make the dough ahead and then bake the cookies when you want them. I think that everyone needs a repertoire of slice-and-bake recipes from simple vanilla sablés to fancier holiday fruitcake cookies or crystallized ginger shortbread. All are great with a cup of tea and they store very well.
This recipe is super easy (after all, it's a slice-and-bake recipe), and I've tested it a few times. It's not overly sweet and the taste is deeply chocolaty from the Cacao Barry Plein Arôme cocoa (a type of cocoa I highly recommend). I've also tried out this recipe with Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa (an even darker cocoa). The mini semisweet chipits balance out the slightly bitter cocoa flavor of the cookie base. These are a guaranteed hit with the chocolate lovers.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Sablé cookies
Ingredients
- 150 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 95 grams icing sugar
- 2 large egg yolk(s)
- 5 mL pure vanilla extract
- 30 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
- 280 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 75 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
- 2.5 mL baking powder
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 100 grams mini chocolate chips
- Turbinado sugar for coating the cookie dough logs
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the icing sugar with the paddle attachment.
- In a small cup, mix the yolks with the vanilla and milk, and beat into the creamed butter mixture.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, and add this to the mixer bowl along with the mini chipits. Beat until combined
- Divide the dough in two and roll each half into a log with a 2-inch diameter. Roll each log in turbinado sugar so it is completely coated and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line baking sheets with parchment.
- Slice each log into ¼-inch thick cookies and place on lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake them for about 11 minutes or until the cookie surfaces appear dry (no longer shiny). Let cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- For the butter, I used Stirling Creamery European-style Churn 84 unsalted butter
- For the cocoa powder, I like to bake with Cacao Barry brand (specifically Cacao Barry Plein Arôme cocoa powder), which you can find on Amazon
- For the chocolate chips, Hershey's is a great brand to bake with and you can also find it on Amazon
Nutrition
I do my best to bake with the finest ingredients. Stirling Creamery, a Canadian company, has provided the butter for this post.
Khadija says
Hi Janice,
Great job on the cookies! I had a quick question for you. In your recipe you said you have tried making cookies with the extra brute cocoa powder as well as the plein arome. I was wondering if you can recommend one from the two. I am curious to know the differences in the taste and texture are while using 2 different kinds of cocoa powders.
Thank you.
Janice says
Hi Khadija,
Great question but I've never done a side-by-side comparison of the cookies made with the 2 different cocoas. I know they are both Dutch-processed, but the Extra Brute is much darker, while the Plein Arome is much, much lighter in colour.
Aimee @ Simple Bites says
Were these the ones your brought me? We loved them. Kinda could go for a stack right now!
Mardi Michels says
These look wonderful Janice and with Stirling butter no less!
Janice Lawandi says
Thanks, Mardi! I think Stirling butter makes everything better 😉
Mallory Frayn says
These look really good, I love how you rolled them in raw sugar for some extra crunch. I wish I would have had some for Thanksgiving!
Janice Lawandi says
Thank you, Mallory! Sometimes the coarse sugar is great for adding a little pizzazz to the cookie edges, and since the cookies themselves aren't too sweet, the turbinado makes a really nice addition. I hope you get to try these sometime soon!