Dominique Ansel is going back to his baking roots for the holiday season.
“Sablés Viennois are one the first things I learned to bake,” says the pastry chef and owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City. “It is one of those go-to recipes that you grow up eating and baking at home in France.”
The classic French butter cookies, featured in the chef’s new cookbook Life’s Sweetest Moments, require just six ingredients and are “so simple and comforting,” says Ansel.
“They’re great for a simple baking project with the family so you can nibble on the cookies all weekend long and really fun for the holidays when you dust them with a flurry of confectioners’ sugar and dip them into hot chocolate,” says the chef, who first created the viral Cronut and now has bakery locations in New York City and in Las Vegas.
Dominique Ansel's Viennese Shortbread
1½ cups plus 1½ tablespoons (12¾ oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2½ tsp. (about 4⅛ oz.) powdered sugar
3⅓ cups (about 14¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
2 large egg whites
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1. Preheat oven to 350° with racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
2. Beat together butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer) on low speed until just combined, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium high; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low; gradually beat in flour, 1 cup at time, until just combined. Add egg whites, salt and vanilla with the last addition of flour; continue beating on medium low until evenly combined, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed, about 3 minutes.
3. Using a rubber spatula, transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a ⅜-inch star tip. Pipe batter onto baking sheets (about 9 cookies per sheet) in round rosettes or swirls (2 to 2½ inches wide and ½ inch tall), leaving about ½ inch ofspace between cookies.
4. Bake in oven until cookies are lightly golden, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking time. Remove from oven, and let cool completely on baking sheets before serving, about 10 minutes.
Makes: 18
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
