The simplest things in life are usually the best, and this also applies to cookies. My favorites are plain butter cookies, also known as “biscuit Breton” in French. Crunchy, buttery, with a mouthwatering almond aroma. That’s all you need for a deeply satisfying experience.
What I like most about biscuits breton, aside from the fact that they are addictively delicious, is that they can also be used as pie crusts! Pie crusts (pâte brisée) have been my Achilles heel for a long time. Aside from the fact that my kitchen lacks the proper counter space to roll out dough, I have never been able to produce a decent pie crust. More frustratingly is the fact that every one around me keep insisting on how easy it is to make a pie crust… mine are always too soft or too hard, or just plain awful. Then, one day, I remembered that I used to buy little raspberry/custard tartlets not far from my workplace, and they were made with a biscuit breton and not traditional pie crust. I made tiny lemon tarts with biscuit breton over last year’s holidays and they were a huge success! This has since become my go-to pie crust recipe as well as my quick fix anytime I’m in the midst a cookie craving.
This recipe is so simple and takes no time to prepare.
Biscuit breton
Makes approx. 16
ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup ground almonds
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/4 salt
optional : a few sliced almond
directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix sugar and butter at medium speed, until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
Add egg yolk, vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.
Add the ground almonds, and mix until combined.
Add the flour and salt, and mix until combined.
Place the dough in a wrapper and roll it into a sausage shape of the size of your choice. I usually like a diameter of approx. 4 or 5 cm.
Refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven at 325 and place parchment paper on a large cookie sheet.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, place it on a cutting board and cut into slices of equal thickness. I find that 5 mm (1/4 inch) is what I prefer.
Put the slices on the prepared cookie sheet. If you find that the dough has softened quite a bit because you kitchen is too hot, you can put the sheet in the fridge for about half an hour. Optional step : you can put an almond slice in the middle of each cookie before putting them in the oven.
Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown.
Let the cookies cool down on the sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
And that’s it! You now have delicious, buttery, almondy, crunchy cookies in no time, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up gobbling them down in no time.
Enjoy!