Chocolate Sable Cookies with Nuts and More

At first glance, chocolate sable cookies may look like any other chocolate cookie you’d produce from rolling out a cocoa-incorporated dough. But true to French tradition (where sable cookies come from), these cookies are rich and intense in chocolate flavor. Forget the subtle chocolate taste you get from your typical American cocoa brand recipe and, instead, expect a boldness that will remind you just why chocolate has been a favorite among human beings for so long.  One interesting, and completely necessary, element in these cookies is the use of grated chocolate. Most chocolate cookie recipes will instruct you to simply mix baking cocoa into the dough, but to create the rich chocolate flavor in these, it’s important to use more than that. The grated chocolate that’s used in this dough is grated dark chocolate, one that is specifically 70% cacao; that’s where the genuine, unmistakable chocolate flavor in these cookies comes from.

I obtained the recipe for these cookies from the famous bakery, Miette, in San Francisco. I adapted it a bit, especially when it came to the use of eggs, or the recipe’s lack of. The first time I made these cookies, I ended up with a bowl full of crumbs, really, since the recipe didn’t call for any eggs. It looked nothing like a dough, and there was no possible way that I’d be able to roll it out, nevertheless mold it into dough balls. After some research, I found that other people had experienced the same problem. While the cookie is supposed to end up somewhat crunchy and crumbly, I have found that by including one egg, you are able to produce an actual dough that you can roll out while still achieving the ideal texture. For some extra panache, I gently pressed finely chopped pistachios and almonds into the tips of some of my cookies. For the remaining cookies, I either sprinkled a little bit of fleur de sel in the center or spread a little bit of chocolate ganache on the bottoms. 

Chocolate Sable Cookies

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Ingredients

• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c natural unsweetened cocoa powder, I use Trader Joe’s cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 oz dark chocolate, 70%, I use Trader Joe's 70% Pound Plus Bar, grated
• chopped pistachios for garnishing, optional
• chopped almonds for garnishing, optional
• ganache for garnishing, optional
• fleur de sel for garnishing, optional

Instructions

1. Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together. Grate the dark chocolate with a cheese grater or food processor, then pour the chocolate crumbs into the bowl of dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, vanilla, and fine sea salt together for a few minutes on medium low speed. Add in the egg and mix until combined.
3. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined and a dough has been created. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and slightly flatten out into a disc shape. Freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Lightly flour your work surface and the dough before rolling it out 1/4 inch thick. Use a 2 inch biscuit cutter to cut out circles from the dough. Gently press desired nuts into the tips of the dough circles. Place the circles on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then place the sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes.
5. Bake the chilled cookies for 8 to 10 minutes at 350°F, or until they've set and cracks begin to form on the surface of the cookies. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them continue to rest on the baking sheet for another few minutes.
6. Then transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. If using ganache, apply to tips of cookies once they are completely cool.