Bonjour! Je m’applle Anna et je parle très mal Française. Mais! Je pense que je cuit très bien les biscuits français. Non ?

 

These cookies are, at their base, quintessentially French. Butter, butter, butter. Simple, versatile, and perfect next to an espresso while you sit at a little spindly table on cobblestones surrounded by beds of lavender.

 

The sable, or sand and French, is tender and crumbly and the perfect blank page for any flavorful additions you want to add. My recent take is based on the holiday combination of gingersnaps with lemon icing. But instead of saying Christmas, I wanted it to say spring.

 

Ground ginger and candied ginger spice it up and the blood orange glaze is both tasty as well as stunningly beautiful. I swapped granulated sugar for brown sugar to help with the gingersnap-esque taste.

 

And as with anything delicate in life, a deft touch is appreciated. In order to achieve the tenderness parfait do not handle the dough too much. It will seem crumbly but as you mold it and chill it, it will come together on its own.

 

One last thing, if you can spare the extra dollars, splurge for really good butter.

 

Bon appétit!

 

Want a chocolate version? Head here for decadence.

Ginger Sables with Blood Orange Glaze 

Makes 40 cookies

2 sticks, ½ lb., unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups (8.5 oz.) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup finely chopped candied ginger

For Dough

1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about two minutes in a stand mixer. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
2. And a small bowl, combine flour, ground ginger and salt.
3. Add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mix, on low, until just incorporated.
4. Add candy ginger, and stir until evenly incorporated. The dough will still be crumbly, mix with a rubber spatula to combine any loose flour, but be wary of over mixing.
5. Divide dough in half and gently form into logs that are 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerated for two hours or up to 2 todays. The dough can also be frozen in the plastic wrap for several months. Simply slice the dough and bake when ready.
6. To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. If the logs are slightly less than round, feel free to gently roll them to round them up.
8. Slice the cookies 1/4 inch thick while keeping the dough you are not using chilled.
9. Bake on prepared pan for 12-15 minute, until they are firm and only just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges. Allow too cool on cookie rack.

If Icing:

Combine 1/2 confectioners’ sugar, 1 teaspoon of buttermilk and 2-3 teaspoons of any citrus juice of choice. Adjust the icing if it seems too runny. Add zest if you want too!

Dip completely cooled cookies into icing or drizzle over them. Allow icing to set for several hours.