Half the flour here is buckwheat, which is what turns an ordinary shortbread into something worth the oven time. Sables are French butter cookies, and this version leans on a block of Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter for both the fat and the flavour. There is no creaming, no chilling and no rolling pin: you scoop a tablespoon of dough, flatten it with a fork, and bake. It is one of the shortest routes to a good cookie we know.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: Not specified by Maison Bordier. The dough is mixed in one bowl and shaped by hand.
- Cook: 20 minutes, or until golden-brown. Bordier does not state an oven temperature
- Key ingredient: 125 g Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter
Why this works
Bordier's Madagascar Vanilla Butter dates to 2010 and is unusual among the flavoured blocks in being built on unsalted butter, with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla worked in. That makes it a baking butter rather than a table butter. In a shortbread it does two jobs at once: it supplies the 125 g of fat the dough needs, and it distributes real vanilla evenly through the crumb in a way that a splash of extract added at the end never quite manages. The brown sugar in the block also encourages browning, which is why the recipe's doneness cue is color rather than time.
The buckwheat is the other half of the idea. Buckwheat has no gluten, so replacing 100 g of the wheat flour with it weakens the dough's structure on purpose. The result is a shorter, sandier bite, which is exactly what sable means. It also brings its own roasted, faintly earthy flavour that sits underneath the vanilla instead of fighting it. Keeping 100 g of white flour in the mix gives the cookie just enough gluten to hold its shape when you press it flat.
Ingredients
Enough dough for four people.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 | 1 |
| Buckwheat flour | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about ¾ cup |
| White flour | 100 g | 3.5 oz all-purpose flour, about ¾ cup |
| Baking powder | ½ sachet | ½ packet, about 1½ teaspoons |
| Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter | 125 g | 4.4 oz, exactly 1 block |
| Sugar | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about ½ cup |
Method
Step 1: Mix the dough
Preheat your oven. Combine the two flours with the baking powder. Add the sugar, the butter and the egg, and work everything into a dough.
Step 2: Shape and bake
Scoop up a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a small ball, then flatten it with a fork into a small round cookie. Repeat with the rest of the dough and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden-brown.
Step 3: Cool
Move the sables to a wire rack and let them cool completely before serving.
Tips from our kitchen
- Bordier gives no oven temperature, so use color as your guide. For sables of this size a moderate oven, somewhere around 180°C (350°F), is the usual setting. Note that Bordier's page header lists 7 minutes while the method says 20: trust the method and the golden-brown cue rather than either number.
- Soften the butter first. Take the block out an hour ahead. Cold butter will not work into the flours without a mixer, and you will end up overworking the dough trying to force it.
- Dip the fork in sugar between presses. Buckwheat dough is sticky, and a sugared fork releases cleanly while leaving a neat ridged pattern on top.
- Keep the cookies the same thickness. Press them all to roughly the same depth. Uneven rounds on one tray means some are pale and doughy while others are past golden.
- They firm up as they cool. Straight from the oven a sable is soft and will break if you lift it. This is normal. The wire rack step is not optional, and the texture only arrives once it is cold.
- Buckwheat flour goes stale quickly. It carries more oil than wheat flour and turns bitter with age. Buy it in small quantities and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer.
How to serve it
These are tea and coffee cookies, best eaten within a couple of days while the edges are still crisp. Keep them in a tin, not a sealed plastic box, so they do not go soft. A sable is also a natural base for a spoonful of good fruit preserve, and our guide to Alain Milliat jams covers which varieties hold their fruit character well enough to sit next to vanilla and buckwheat.
Where to buy Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Madagascar Vanilla Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): unsalted hand-churned butter worked with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, created in 2010 and built for baking.
You can also browse the full Maison Bordier collection for the rest of the flavoured range and the plain salted and unsalted blocks.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier Madagascar Vanilla Butter do I need?
One block. Bordier butter is sold in 125 g blocks, which is 4.4 oz, and the recipe calls for exactly 125 g. Buy two if you want a double batch.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
Yes. The Buckwheat block is the obvious alternative here and doubles the roasted grain flavour, while the plain salted block gives you a classic Breton sable. Keep the quantity at 125 g.
Can I use all wheat flour instead?
The recipe is written as 100 g buckwheat and 100 g white flour, and that split is what produces the sandy texture. Using all wheat flour will give you a firmer, chewier cookie and you lose the buckwheat flavour entirely.
How should I store Bordier butter?
Keep it refrigerated in its wrapper and use it by the date on the pack. For longer storage, wrap the block tightly and freeze it, then thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
Does the butter need to stay refrigerated in transit?
Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. It travels in an insulated box with coolant, and it should go into the refrigerator as soon as you unpack it.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes. The dough keeps in the refrigerator, wrapped, and firms up as it chills, which makes it easier to portion. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before you try to scoop it.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.