Chocolate Sablé Biscuits – best chocolate cookies ever.

Sometimes there is nothing like a chocolate cookie, it can be the ultimate sweet treat, but so often they’re not quite right, more average than awesome. These are in the realms of awesome. They’re the kind of biscuit that you take a bite of and immediately sigh saying ‘wow, these are good’. Deeply chocolatey, just the right kind of chewy… yep, they’re up there with the best. The fact I’ve made them three times in the past two weeks says something!

The origins of this biscuit comes from a Pierre Hermé recipe which I’ve tweaked and adapted to our requirements and tastes. But as one would expect from a master chocolatier these biscuits are a chocolate lover’s dream – they’re dark, rich, chocolatey, sweet but a little bit salty all at the same time, .

These tend not to last the day round here as hands swipe them straight off the tray.

Chocolate Sablé Biscuits

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, can be soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes about 12-15

90-100g chocolate, chopped (I use a mixture of dark and ‘milk’)

85g plain flour

15g good quality cocoa

pinch of bicarbonate of soda

75g dairyfree margarine

60g soft brown sugar

25g caster sugar

1/2 tsp good quality flaky salt, such as fleur de sel

1. Cream together the margarine, sugars and salt. Stir in the chocolate pieces
2. Gently mix in the flour, bicarbonate and cocoa and combine to form a soft dough.
3. Form into a sausage shape and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge to chill, you want it to be as cold as possible
4. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade
5. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Slice the cookie dough into 1cm slices and place well apart on the baking sheets
6. Bake for 11-12 minutes. They should have spread out nicely.
7. Cool briefly on the sheets so they are stiff enough to move and then transfer to a wire rack.