Step by step

Method

18 steps

1. 1

   Well, mostly.

2. 2

   The cookie was in fact an utter flop for me; the crumbs never came together into a dough.

3. 3

   I spread the rubble on a tray and baked-and-tossed it until it was crisp and we’ve taken to spreading these cookie crumbles on ice cream which is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea if you had “not eat Oreo sundaes” anywhere in your January goals.

4. 4

   Back to the drawing board, I made some tweaks — grinding the chocolate (less pesky than grating), an egg yolk to bind the mixture together, slightly less sugar to approximate the bitter-sweetness of the inspiring sable, less baking soda and Dutched cocoa, with it’s nutty, dark properties, really makes a difference here.

5. 5

   Makes 40 to 48 2-inch thin cookies, fewer if thicker

6. 6

   Cream butter, sugar and salt together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

7. 7

   Add egg yolk and vanilla, beating until combined, then scraping down sides.

8. 8

   Add dry ingredients and grated chocolate together and mix until just combined.

9. 9

   Scrape dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it up and chill it in the fridge until just firm, about 30 to 45 minutes.

10. 10

    No need to get it fully hard, or it will be harder to roll out.

11. 11

    Dough can be refrigerated until needed, up to a two days, or frozen longer, but let it warm up and soften a bit before rolling it out for decreased frustration.

12. 12

    Heat oven to 350 degrees.

13. 13

    On a floured surface, roll dough gently — it will still be on the crumbly side, so only attempt to flatten it slightly with each roll — until it is 1/8-inch thick (for thin cookies, what I used), 1/4-inch thick (for thicker ones) or somewhere in-between (I suspect the Balthazar ones are rolled to 3/8-inch).

14. 14

    Cut into desired shapes and space them an inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

15. 15

    Sprinkle decoratively with coarse sugar.

16. 16

    Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (for thinner cookies) or 10 to 12 minutes (for thicker ones).

17. 17

    Leave cookies on baking sheets out of the oven for a couple minutes before gently, carefully transferring them to cooling racks, as they’ll be fragile until they cool.

18. 18

    Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks of 4 p.m. rations.