For those of you who are also inclined to bake and might like to attempt an official Le Cordon Bleu recipe, I have finally gotten around to posting one. After 5 weeks of training, the Sables Diamantes that we made during our second week remain one of my favorites thus far. And, unlike the Sables Hollander (“chessboard cookies”), they can be easily made at home. A Sable is a French butter cookie – “sable” is French for “sand,” referring to the crumbly texture of this shortbread-like cookie. As you can see in the photo, there are several variations of the traditional Sable, which has fluted edges and is scored with a fork in a criss-cross pattern (not shown).  You'll be making the round cookies in the far right of the photo.  I apologize for the ingredient quantities - we weigh everything at school, and there isn't really a way to convert the weights into volume measurements, so you'll just need a simple kitchen scale.  I'll also clarify the "egg pulp" listed below - just whisk an egg to blend the yolk and white, then measure 30g.  The yolk of a large egg typically weighs 20-25g, so you can just use the yolk to make things easier; it shouldn't have much of an effect on your dough.

Sables Diamantes

225g unsalted butter
100g powdered sugar, sifted
30g egg pulp
2 oranges, zested
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
320g all-purpose flour

1 egg white

sanding or granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soften butter slightly, then cream with powdered sugar. (If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.  You can also make this dough by hand.  The key here is to cream the butter and sugar but not to beat too much air into the mixture; you are not looking for a light and fluffy batter as you normally would when making cookies.)

Add egg pulp (or yolk), orange zest, vanilla and salt; mix until well combined.  Then add the flour and mix gently on low speed or fold in by hand.  When the flour is almost combined, place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and no trace of flour remains.

Take half of dough and roll into a cylinder about 1 1/2" in diameter.  Roll the dough cylinder up in parchment and refrigerate for about 30 minutes; repeat with remaining dough.

Remove one cylinder of dough from parchment.  Brush egg white onto dough using a pastry brush; be sure to cover completely.  Roll dough in a tray or plate of sanding sugar to coat.  Slice dough into 1/3" rounds and place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake until the bottom is golden, but the top is still light in color (sorry - they usually don't give us baking times, but it probably takes about 10 minutes).  While one tray bakes, repeat the process with other cylinder of dough.

Let me know if you have any questions or problems - hopefully my instructions aren't too complicated!  Enjoy!