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Sable dough is the classic French butter biscuit mixture: a very high proportion of butter, a little sugar, egg white instead of whole egg, and soft cake flour. The egg white keeps the dough pale and gives it just enough structure to hold a piped shape without making it tough, while the butter gives that short, sandy bite the name refers to.

It is a useful dough to have in your repertoire. Soft enough to pipe through a star tube straight away, or firm enough to roll and cut once it has rested in the fridge, it bakes to a pale gold with crisp edges and a melting centre. Use the biscuits plain, sandwich them with ganache or jam, or dip the ends in chocolate.

Ingredients

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Weight Per Unit: 603
Number of Units: 2
Unit Size: flat baking tray of piped or cut biscuits
WEIGHT
(grams) 		ALTERNATIVE METRIC INGREDIENT IMAGE CONDITION
A 375 13.2 ounces Butter Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted 		softened, room temperature
B 150 5.3 ounces Sugar Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
caster
C 150 5 Egg Whites Egg White Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized). Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg whites contain just over 50% of the protein in the egg. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza). room temperature
D 525 18.5 ounces Cake Flour Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product. sifted
E 2.5 0.5 teaspoon Vanilla Essence Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
F 2.5 Lemon Zest Lemon zest is the thin, brightly coloured outer layer of the lemon skin, removed with a fine grater or zester without taking the bitter white pith underneath. It holds the fruit's aromatic oils and gives a fresh citrus lift to batters and creams.
fresh 		finely grated
1204

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Method

STEP ACTION DETAIL CONDITION
1 Prepare Line two flat baking trays with baking paper. If you are going to pipe the dough, fit a piping bag with a medium star tube. Everything ready before the dough is mixed, as it pipes best while still soft
2 Cream Beat A and B (unsalted butter and caster sugar) together with a paddle or hand mixer, scraping the bowl down once or twice. Pale and creamy, but not over-aerated
3 Add Add C (egg white) a little at a time, beating well between each addition, then mix in E and F (vanilla essence and lemon zest). Smooth and homogeneous, not split
4 Fold Sift D (cake flour) over the mixture and fold it through gently by hand or on the lowest speed. Just combined, no dry flour showing; do not work the dough or the biscuits will be tough
5 Shape Either pipe the soft dough straight onto the lined trays in rosettes, fingers or S shapes, or wrap it and rest it in the fridge for 30–60 minutes, then roll it out 5 mm thick and cut shapes. Pieces evenly sized and spaced about 3 cm apart so they can spread a little
6 Chill Rest the shaped biscuits in the fridge while the oven heats. Dough firm and cold to the touch, so the shapes hold in the oven
7 Pre-heat Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
8 Bake Bake for about 12–15 minutes, turning the tray once if your oven colours unevenly. Edges lightly golden, centres still pale
9 Cool Leave the biscuits on the tray for 5 minutes to firm up, then lift them onto a rack. Crisp and completely cold before storing or filling

Important Notes

The quarter batch makes about 1,205 g of dough, roughly 55–60 piped biscuits across two trays. The dough can be made ahead: wrapped well, it keeps 3–4 days in the fridge or up to a month in the freezer — let it soften slightly before piping. Baked biscuits keep for about two weeks in an airtight tin; they lose their crispness quickly if left out. Sandwich them with ganache or jam only on the day you serve them, or dip the ends in tempered chocolate.

Tools & Arrangements

Electric mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer, sieve, rubber spatula, piping bag with medium star tube (or rolling pin and cutters), two flat baking trays, baking paper, cooling rack, kitchen scales.

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