Learn how to make the best chocolate sablés, a classic French chocolate cookie recipe. These slice-and-bake chocolate cookies can be made ahead. The dough can be frozen as a log to be sliced and baked later, but the baked cookies also store extremely well!
Chocolate sablé cookies are not soft cookies. They have a completely different texture, perhaps closer to a shortbread. I still love chewy chocolate chip cookies and these soft chocolate chocolate chip cookies, of course.
These cookies are perfect for serving with a cup of tea. They aren't greasy, they have a deep cocoa flavour that isn't too sweet. This is a cookie that you can slice and bake, which is convenient because you can make the dough ahead and then bake the cookies when you want them.
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Ingredients to Make Chocolate Sablés
This recipe is super easy (after all, it's a slice-and-bake recipe), and I've tested it a few times. It's not overly sweet and the taste is deeply chocolaty from the Cacao Barry Plein Arôme cocoa (a type of cocoa I highly recommend). I've also tried out this recipe with Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa (an even darker cocoa). The mini semisweet chocolate chips balance out the slightly bitter cocoa flavour of the cookie base. These are a guaranteed hit with the chocolate lovers.
- Butter: this recipe calls for unsalted butter. If using salted butter, you will have to adjust or omit the salt in the recipe
- Sugar, specifically granulated sugar gives these chocolate sablés their signature sandy texture
- Vanilla: use pure vanilla extract if you can
- Milk: use whole milk (3.25 % fat) or reduced-fat milk (2 % fat)
- Flour: use bleached all-purpose flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
- Cocoa powder: use a high-quality cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed, like Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
- Salt: I used Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but if using table salt, you will use half the amount as it is saltier than Diamond Crystal.
- Optional ingredients: mini chocolate chips and turbinado sugar
See recipe card for exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Cocoa powder: I've tested these with a few varieties of cocoa powder (some darker and some redder) but only Dutch-processed cocoa powder with a 20–25% fat content. Different cocoa powders may affect the colour of the cookies.
- Chocolate chips: I used mini chocolate chips, but finely chopped chocolate will also work (whether white, milk, or dark). Make sure to chop it fine enough because large chocolate pieces make slicing these cookies challenging.
- Milk: traditional recipes sablés call for egg yolks instead of milk to bind them together. You can try that if you prefer.
- Turbinado sugar: instead of rolling in turbinado sugar, you can try rolling in chopped nuts, for example.
Tip: Hot cocoa mix is not a substitute for cocoa powder. Hot cocoa mix contains powdered milk and lots of sugar, as well as other emulsifiers.
How to Make Chocolate Sablés
Like most slice-and-bake cookies, chocolate sablés are easy to make and they store very well!
Step 1: sift the flour and cocoa powder together to remove any lumps, especially from the cocoa powder (image 1). Use a whisk to ensure these ingredients are evenly and well mixed (image 2).
Step 2: Combine the butter and sugar in a mixer bowl (image 3) and cream them together until light and fluffy, scraping down the edges of the bowl with a spatula as needed (image 4).
Step 3: add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (image 5) and stir until the mixture is crumbly (image 6), then add the milk and the vanilla to bring the dough together (image 7). Stir in the chocolate chips (image 8).
Step 4: mix the dough until all the chocolate chips are incorporated (image 9).
Step 5: divide the dough into 2 equal portions (image 10) and wrap them in plastic wrap to chill them overnight (image 10). If you want to coat the edges in turbinado sugar, do so when the cookie dough is firm but not hard (image 11).
Tip: if you have trouble getting the sugar coating to stick on the cookie dough logs, you may brush them with a little egg white to help the sugar adhere.
Step 6: When ready to bake, slice the cookie dough into rounds (image 12) using a large chef's knife.
Step 7: Place the chocolate sablés on a sheet pan, staggering and spacing them evenly to allow airflow (image 13). Bake until firm and dry (image 14).
Slice-and-Bake Tips
Slice-and-bake cookies are fun and easy to make and you can customize them in so many ways. Here are a few tips to help you make them:
- If you are incorporating nuts, chocolate chips, or other add-ins, make sure they are chopped finely because otherwise, you will have trouble neatly slicing the cookies and maintaining their shape through the process.
- If your log of chocolate cookie dough is rock hard, consider giving it 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature to soften ever-so-slightly to make slicing through the dough easier.
- If the cookie dough gets too warm, put it back in the fridge to firm up.
- Use a large Chef's knife to slice the cookie dough.
- Turn the cookie dough log every few slices so that the pressure of your cuts is even on all sides. This will help you maintain the round shape of the log.
Sablé Recipe FAQs
The term sablé in pastry refers to the sandy texture which certain cookies and tart crusts (like pâte sablé and biscuits sablés).
The word sablé can also refer to the method used to mix the ingredients: the butter is worked into the dry ingredients to give a sandy texture before adding liquids to bind the dough together.
Sablé cookies are the equivalent of shortbread cookies in French bakeries. Both are made using the creaming method, but also could be made via the reverse creaming method.
Since you can't use colour to determine if chocolate cookies are baked, you need to rely on other visual cues: chocolate cookies will appear dry on the surface when baked. Their texture should be firm and set. If they are shiny, they need more time in the oven.
Other Slice-and-Bake Cookies to Try
Everyone needs a repertoire of slice-and-bake recipes, from simple vanilla sablés and crystallized ginger shortbread to fancier holiday fruitcake cookies or the always-popular chocolate pinwheel cookies. All are great with a cup of tea, and they store very well.
If you tried this chocolate sablés recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Sablés
Ingredients
- 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 30 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
- 175 grams unsalted butter softened
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 30 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
- 5 mL pure vanilla extract
- 115 grams mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
- Turbinado sugar optional, for coating the cookie dough logs
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder. Sift through a fine-mesh sieve if there are lumps of cocoa. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and the salt using the paddle attachment.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and stir the mixture to form a crumbly cookie dough.
- Add the milk and the vanilla and mix until a cookie dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate (mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate).
- Divide the dough in two and roll each half into a log with a 2-inch diameter. Roll each log in turbinado sugar so it is completely coated and wrap in plastic wrap. If the dough is too soft to handle, chill the logs briefly before coating in turbinado.
- Refrigerate until solid, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line baking sheets with parchment.
- Slice each log into ¼-inch (6 mm) thick cookies and place on lined baking sheets about 1 inch (2.54 cm) apart.
- Bake the cookies until they are set and their surface appears dry (no longer shiny). This takes about 14–16 minutes. Let them cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
- For the cocoa powder, I like to bake with Dutch-processed cocoa powder, specifically from the Cacao Barry brand (Plein Arôme or Extra Brute cocoa powder), which you can find on Amazon.
- Sifting the cocoa powder with the flour helps mix the two ingredients together and also eliminates the lumps in the cocoa powder.
- Do not replace cocoa powder with hot cocoa mix because hot cocoa mix contains additional sugar, powdered milk, fat, and emulsifiers.
- For the chocolate, finely chop your favourite chocolate or use mini chocolate chips. Hershey's is a great brand to bake with and you can also find it on Amazon.
- If you prefer, you can incorporate nuts, either in the dough or by rolling the cookie dough in them. Make sure the nuts are finely chopped.
- Every few slices, turn the dough log to maintain the log's round shape.
- You may let the dough soften slightly to make slicing easier, but if it's too soft, you may ruin the shape of the log as you slice it.
- Use your fingertips to press together or reshape any cookies that break as you slice them. The dough is forgiving.
- Bake the cookies until the surface looks dry and the cookies have set.
Khadija says
Hi Janice,
Great job on the cookies! I had a quick question for you. In your recipe you said you have tried making cookies with the extra brute cocoa powder as well as the plein arome. I was wondering if you can recommend one from the two. I am curious to know the differences in the taste and texture are while using 2 different kinds of cocoa powders.
Thank you.
Janice says
Hi Khadija,
Great question but I've never done a side-by-side comparison of the cookies made with the 2 different cocoas. I know they are both Dutch-processed, but the Extra Brute is much darker, while the Plein Arome is much, much lighter in colour.
Aimee @ Simple Bites says
Were these the ones your brought me? We loved them. Kinda could go for a stack right now!
Mardi Michels says
These look wonderful Janice and with Stirling butter no less!
Janice Lawandi says
Thanks, Mardi! I think Stirling butter makes everything better 😉
Mallory Frayn says
These look really good, I love how you rolled them in raw sugar for some extra crunch. I wish I would have had some for Thanksgiving!
Janice Lawandi says
Thank you, Mallory! Sometimes the coarse sugar is great for adding a little pizzazz to the cookie edges, and since the cookies themselves aren't too sweet, the turbinado makes a really nice addition. I hope you get to try these sometime soon!