Author Notes
This recipe was a finalist in one of our test rounds. The category was for "Favorite Holiday Cookie" and the recipe was created by our friend Teresa Parker. These rich little biscuits make for a festive twist on the classic French rendition of shortbread (sablé means "sandy" in French and refers to the crumbly texture). Brown sugar lends a mellow caramel quality, and we love the chewy morsels of candied ginger that creep up on you with a fiesty little kick towards the end of each bite. Teresa thought to simplify -- and modernize -- the original recipe for cut-out cookies, which came from Gourmet (June, 1992), by shaping the dough into a log and slicing it into neat discs. It may seem like a minor alteration, but it dramatically decreases the time from mixer to mouth! —Food52
Ingredients
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1/2 pound
unsalted butter, softened
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1/2 cup
firmly packed light brown sugar
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1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
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2 cups
all-purpose flour
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1/2 teaspoon
ground ginger
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1/2 teaspoon
salt
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3/4 cup
finely chopped candied ginger
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Confectioners' sugar
Directions
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In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the ground ginger and salt. Add these to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until the ingredients are just combined. Add the candied ginger and beat for a few more seconds to incorporate.
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Divide the dough in half and gently roll into two slim cylinders of about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the cylinders tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
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When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. At this point, if the cylinders have slumped or flattened at all, re-roll them a bit to make them perfectly round. Cut the dough into 1/4-inch slices and arrange them an inch apart on baking sheets (use parchment paper if your baking sheets are dark). Bake the cookies until they are light golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely. Dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
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