These past months, I’ve seen Alison Roman’s chocolate chunks shortbread cookies all over my Instagram feed! If you’re a foodie, you’ve most probably seen them too. They look delicious as cookies can be, but my first thought was that they reminded me a lot of a certain kind of French biscuits, the sablés diamant (literally, diamond shortbread). They have the exact same hockey-puck shape and the edge is also covered with shiny caster sugar.

Actually, after giving a closer look at the recipe, I realized it was very similar except for chocolate chunks. Sablés diamant are usually plain with a subtle combination of vanilla flavor and sea salt. When they contain chocolate, it is cocoa powder added to the biscuit dough. The dough is also shaped as a log, frozen and rolled in caster sugar.

I remember these biscuits from my time working at Le Bristol hotel in Paris. The sablés both vanilla and chocolate were always served with a cup of coffee. Simple and delightful, they make a perfect goûter! So today I’ve decided to share with you this exact same recipe, the one from Pastry Chef Laurent Jeannin who was one of the greatest French Pastry Chef and a wonderful man. If you able to decipher French I can only recommend you to get his pastry book, Pâtisseries Au fil du Jour. So far, it’s still my favorite one. 

Ingredients for 20 vanilla sablés diamant

• 5.3 oz (150g) unsalted tempered butter
• 1.4 oz (40g) icing sugar
• Half yolk
• 3 oz (85g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for 20 chocolate sablés diamant

• 4.5 oz (130g) unsalted tempered butter
• 1.4 oz (40g) icing sugar
• Half yolk
• 2.5 oz (70g) all-purpose flour
• 1 oz (30g) 100% cocoa powder

Decor to get the diamond effect

• 2.6 oz (75g) caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Seeds of half vanilla pod

Directions

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, pour all the ingredients of the vanilla sablés. Mix with the hook until the dough is homogenous. Let sit for 15 minutes in the fridge.
2. Shape a log 8” long (20cm). Pour all the ingredients for the décor in a plate and roll the log into the sugar to cover it completely.
3. Repeat 1 and 2 for the chocolate sablés.
4. Pre-heat your oven to 340°F (170°C). In the meantime, store the logs in your freezer for 15 minutes.
5. Cut each log into 20 biscuits. Place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool and enjoy your biscuits with a cup of coffee.

Baking tips: Make them your own, you can roll them in crushed pistacchio or hazelnuts, or even roll both doughs together to get bicolor cookies. Have fun and show me your pictures on Instagram #ALaMaisonChicago !