Bastille Day Cookies

Alas this post is a day late (sigh)... I seem a bit out of sorts with my food blogging at the moment.. Leaving my camera at home when I go out, laptop out of action, kitchen disasters... mon dieu! It's been a funny week, but at last I bring you my Bastille Day cookies!

Cookies for such an important day in the French calendar would not be suitable unless they themselves were a little French. I had been hanging onto a french butter biscuit recipe for months, scribbled down on a post-it note floating around my handbag.. crying out for some love and attention! Regrettably, I do not have the source for this recipe, so do forgive me. Oh, and a brief disclaimer.. if you are the French baking police I do not purport to be an expert on anything French, let alone French baking :)

These butter cookies are known as Sables. 'Sables' is French for 'sand' and refers to the sandy texture of this delicate, shortbread like cookie. Sables are said to originate from Normandy, France.

Like many sweet French recipes, the quality of your final result depends on the quality of your ingredients. So it seemed only appropriate to use two of my absolute favourite ingredients for baking... Lurpak unsalted butter and vanilla bean paste.

Here is the recipe to this simple (but a bit 'ooh la la') cookie recipe.

Sables

140g unsalted butter, at room temperature

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

260g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

scant 1/4 tsp salt

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add egg and combine well.
2. In a separate bowl combined the dry ingredients and whisk together briefly to remove lumps.
3. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just incorporated. Take care not to overbeat.
4. Divide the dough in half and wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm. A couple of hours is best.
5. On a lightly floured surface, bring the dough together and roll out to around a half centimetre thickness.
6. Cut out desired shapes and transfer onto baking trays lined with baking paper.

7. Place the baking tray in the fridge for about 20 minutes to chill and firm up the dough and preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (350 degrees F).
8. Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden at the edges. Cool briefly on trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool I rolled out thin strips of blue, white and red fondant. To stick the fondant to the cookies, I dabbed a tiny amount of water here and there on the reverse side of the fondant. And voila - miniature, edible French flags!

Viva la France!

Ladybird x