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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Salted Chocolate Sablé Cookies

    Published: February 16, 2021 | Last Modified: August 8, 2022 by Gail Ng | Leave a Comment

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    These salted chocolate sablé cookies are dense, buttery, and crumbly with a slight bitterness from the dark chocolate and dimension from the salt.

    French sablé cookies are known for their crumbly and "sandy" texture, as the French translation of the name suggests. They are very similar to shortbread cookies but a little more dense and rich.

    These salted chocolate sablé cookies use salted butter instead of my regularly used unsalted butter which gives them a little bit more flavour and dimension. Because of the dark chocolate, they are not too sweet. Depending on the dark chocolate you use, they will have a slight bitterness to them which I personally love. To me, these are the perfect "grown-up" cookie.

    Many chocolate sablé cookies on scattered on baking sheet

    How to make salted chocolate sablé cookies

    Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

    Cream wet ingredients: In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until creamy.

    Create crumbly dough: Add in the flour mixture and mix on low speed until it becomes crumbly. Mix in the chopped chocolate until distributed.

    Mixing chocolate cookie dough in a bowl

    Press dough together: Pour the dough out onto the counter and press the crumbs together with your hands until it sticks together.

    Form dough into logs: Divide in half and form each half into a log shape about 2" wide and 6" in length. Place each log onto a separate sheet of plastic wrap. Fold the wrap over the log and roll against the counter to create a cylindrical shape. Flatten the ends of each log. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight until solid.

    Pressing chocolate cookie dough together into logs

    Cut out cookie rounds: Unwrap the chilled logs and use a serrated knife to cut ½" discs out. This dough is very crumbly so the cookies may break apart while cutting but you can just press them back together.

    Bake: Place cookie rounds on the baking sheet with 1-2" between each cookie and bake cookies at 350F for about 15 mins. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Cutting cookie dough logs into discs

    Decorate: Melt 30g of chocolate and transfer to a small piping bag or ziploc bag with the tip cut off. Drizzle the chocolate across each cookie and sprinkle with flaky salt before it hardens.

    A bite taken out of a chocolate sablé cookie

    Tips for success

    • Definitely use salted butter in this recipe. The cookies won't be too salty, I promise. It's a mild difference but it gives the cookies slightly more flavour than unsalted butter. I added extra flaked salt to mine because I like them distinctly salted.
    • This is a crumbly dough that needs to be pressed firmly to come together. Don't be afraid if the dough looks too dry and sandy at first. It just needs to be pressed together and chilled.
    • Use a sharp, serrated knife when cutting out the cookie rounds from the logs straight from the fridge and go slowly. The cookies may break apart but just press them back together.
    • Keep cookies chilled in the fridge while waiting for the first sheet to bake. You want to bake the cookies straight from the fridge so that they keep their shape and don't spread.
    • When the cookies are fresh out of the oven, you can use a utensil or your fingers (be careful, they are hot!) to push in any misshaped cookie edges to form more uniform circles.
    Many chocolate sablé cookies on scattered on baking sheet

    Salted Chocolate Sablé Cookies

    Author: Gail Ng
    Dense, buttery, and crumbly cookies with a hint of bitterness from dark chocolate and dimension from the salted butter
    5 from 4 votes
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    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 30 mins
    Chilling Time 4 hrs
    Total Time 4 hrs 50 mins
    Yield 16 cookies
    Category Desserts
    Cuisine French

    Ingredients
      

    • 225 g salted butter, softened
    • 100 g granulated sugar
    • 1 large egg yolk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 250 g all-purpose flour
    • 30 g cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • 150 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped, plus additional 30g for drizzling (optional)
    • flaky salt, for sprinkling

    Instructions
     

    • In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
    • In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until creamy. Add in the flour mixture and mix on low speed until it becomes crumbly. Mix in the chopped chocolate until distributed.
    • Pour the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press the crumbs together with your hands until it sticks together. Divide in half and form each half into a log shape about 2" wide and 6" in length. Place each log onto a separate sheet of plastic wrap. Fold the wrap over the log and roll against the counter to create a cylindrical shape. Flatten the ends of each log. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight until solid.
    • Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    • Unwrap the chilled logs and use a serrated knife to cut ½" discs out. This dough is very crumbly so the cookies may break apart while cutting but you can just press them back together.
    • Place cookie rounds on the baking sheet with 1-2" between each cookie and bake for about 15 mins.
    • Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
    • Melt 30g of chocolate and transfer to a small piping bag or ziploc bag with the tip cut off. Drizzle the chocolate across each cookie and sprinkle with flaky salt before it hardens.

    Notes

    • This dough is very crumbly but forgiving. That's what gives these sablés their signature sandy, crumbly texture. If your dough or cookies fall apart before baking, just press it back together.
    • Depending on your tastes, if you aren't going to decorate these cookies with the chocolate drizzle and flaked salt as I have here, I would recommend adding ¼ teaspoon salt into the cookie dough to achieve the same flavour.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 138mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 371IU | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg
    Keywords chocolate sablé cookies, chocolate sablés, chocolate shortbread cookies, salted chocolate cookies
    Tried this recipe?Leave a comment & rating to let us know how it was and tag your Instagram posts with @teakandthyme!

    Other cookie recipe to try

    • Ruby Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
    • Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
    • Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
    • Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies with Ginger Cream Filling

    More Cookies

    • Meringue Christmas Trees
    • Butter Cookie Box (10 cookies from 1 dough)
    • Biscoff Stuffed Cookies
    • Mini Egg Cookies

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    Hi, I'm Gail! I'm just a Canadian girl with a major sweet tooth making desserts on the internet. Let me show you how you can make bakery-worthy desserts at home that will have you wondering why you haven't opened your own café yet.

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