Biscuit breton

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

1. 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.

2. Add egg yolk, vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.

3. Add the ground almonds, and mix until combined.

4. Add the flour and salt, and mix until combined.

5. 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.

6. Refrigerate the dough for about 2 hours.

7. Preheat the oven at 325 and place parchment paper on a large cookie sheet.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown.

11. 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!

Simple butter cookies

Not going to lie. The summer heat as well as the return to work after confinement have been brutal, which explains why I’ve been somewhat apathetic lately, during my free time. I’ve said it again and again, I am not a summer person. And despite all my best effort, making plans, organizing activities, dressing lists of cakes to bake, I usually end up cancelling everything due to the weigh of the summer heat and scorching sun. So this explains why I’ve been MIA for the past few weeks. But, at some point, one must give oneself a good kick in the butt and get moving. Having no more shows to watch on TV is also a great motivator.

Having no AC makes it very difficult to bake during heatwaves. That’s why I’ve been more focused on making ice creams, but I started having a major craving for something rich, buttery, with a bite, that I couldn’t shake off. Nothing fancy. Just something quick and easy to make that doesn’t require me getting dressed to go to the market. My options were limited as I didn’t have any eggs or dairy in my pantry, and I was running low on granulated sugar. I did, however, have lots of butter and flour. Butter cookies were then the first idea that popped in my head and I went with it.

This is as simple as it can get: a 3-ingredient no hassle cookie recipe.

A lot of butter cookie recipe instruct you to roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter. Since I have a small kitchen with very limited counter space, I prefer to roll the dough into a sausage shape and cut it into slices. Though this technique is less messy, it does require more attention to detail as the slices should all be of the same size for the cookies to bake evenly. For this recipe, depending on your preferences, you pick either technique.

Simple butter cookies

Makes between 12 and 16, depending on thickness.

ingredients

• 1 cup butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

• 2 cups flour

directions

1. 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.

2. Sift in flour and continue mixing until the mixture forms a dough.

3. Place the dough in a plastic wrap and roll it into a sausage shape.

4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

5. Preheat oven at 350.

6. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the wrap.

8. Place the sausage-shaped dough on a cutting board and cut into slices approximately 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick.

9. Place slices on prepared baking sheets and bake for 16 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

10. Let cool on baking sheets a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

And that’s it! You now have at least a dozen super buttery, crumbly cookies to satisfy your cravings!

Of course, from now on, there are numerous variations that you could have fun with, like adding chocolate chips, nuts and/or dried fruits, dipping the cookies in chocolate or decorating them with royal icing. If you like coffee flavors, follow this exact recipe, but add a little bit of espresso (2 tbsp of espresso powder dissolved into 1 tsp of hot water) right after step 1. You can also enhance flavors by adding some vanilla or almond extract (1 tsp for vanilla, 1/2 tsp for almond extract).

In my case, since I had some strawberry ice cream in my refrigerator, I decided to make some very decadent ice cream sandwiches! They were amazing. They hit all the right notes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate / black sesame cookies

I can’t really explain it but I am currently obsessed with black sesame seeds right now. I love the color, the taste, the texture, and all I want to do is make desserts with them. I decided to start off easy and bake cookies. I always thought that something was missing from chocolate chip cookies but I never really could pinpoint what exactly. I crave chocolate chip cookies but always end up disappointed, expecting something more. Who knows, maybe the nutty, slightly bitter taste of the black sesame seed is the missing link. Over the week-end, I decided to find out once and for all.

This recipe below is my first attempt at combining black sesame with chocolate cookies. I found it quite satisfying and the people I shared the cookies with really seemed to enjoy them. The cookies in themselves are not very pretty but they are tender and chewy, just how I like them, and the chocolate chunks bring a much welcome crunch to each bite!

Chocolate / black sesame seed cookies

Makes approx. 24 cookies

ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups flour

• 1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 1/3 cup finely ground black sesame seeds

• 3/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/8 tsp almond extract

• 1/2 tsp soy sauce

• 1/2 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chunks

• black sesame seeds for topping

directions

1. Preheat oven at 350 and cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, ground black sesame seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

3. 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.

4. Add eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract and soy sauce. Mix until incorporated.

5. Add the flour mixture and mix at medium-low speed, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips and chunks with a spatula.

7. With a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, or a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough of approximately 1 to 1.5 inch in diameter.

8. Place the dough on the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

9. Press the balls of dough down a bit, to facilitate the spreading, and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

10. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.

11. Leave the cookies on their cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

And that’s it! I did find the cookies very enjoyable but I still feel like the sesame flavor did not shine enough. In the future, I’ll tweak the recipe a bit, and I might try using black sesame paste instead of simply powder. I’ll also have to find a way to make the cookies look a little prettier because these look like weird little sesame paddies instead of cookies. I don’t know what happened!

They taste good, though! If you’re into dry crunchy cookies, look elsewhere because I am all about chewy ones! Though they don’t look the part, these are very tender, with a good bite. I also love combining chocolate chips with chocolate chunks for some texture. Chunks in chewy cookies are simply the best!

Enjoy!