Herbes de Provence Sablés

June 10: National Herb and Spice Day

Islander’s culinary club challenged members to make something with herbs and spices for the meeting theme. While others made savories, she made sweets–cute cookies *literally* seasoned with herbes de Provence and decorated with parsley, sage and thyme leaves.

Herbes de Provence originated from the French Provençal region as an all-purpose seasoning. There are different variations of the dried herbal mix but most likely includes thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano, tarragon, marjoram, savory and bay leaves. 

Typically used to season meat, fish and vegetable stews, herbes de Provence are a unique ingredient to add to a lemony sablé (sandy shortbread) recipe. The decorated cookies, made in a “laminated” decorating technique, look eye-catching on the table, tastes delicious and are perfect for National Herb and Spice Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Teatime Magazine)

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
  • 1/3 cup sugar, granulated white
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 ½ cups flour, all purpose
  • Fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, etc.)

Directions

Use a mortar and pestle to ground the herbs de Provence finely. Transfer to a small bowl to mix with the sugar and salt. Add the lemon zest and incorporate well with the herbs mixture.

In a larger bowl, cream the butter with the powdered sugar, along with the herbs mixture. Beat in the egg yolk. Gradually mix in the flour until a dough starts to form. It will be a little crumbly so use hands to knead until it all sticks together.

Roll out the dough on waxed paper to ½ inch thickness. Place pieces of herbs about 2-3 inches apart on top of the flattened dough. Place another piece of waxed paper on top and roll out to ¼ inch thickness, making sure that the herbs are pressed well into the dough.

Position a round, fluted cookie cutter and center it over the herb on the dough. Cut out the round shape and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll dough and continue cutting out the herbs in the center with the cookie cutter. 

Space them about an inch apart from each other on the sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until the cookie edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Arrange the cookies randomly on a platter to showcase the variety of herbs. Yield: Approximately 2-2 ½ dozen cookies.

Notes

  • We bought our herbes de Provence in a labeled jar at Williams-Sonoma (or Sur La Table?). We can’t remember exactly but it can be ordered online as well.
  • Rinse, clean and pat dry fresh herbs for “laminating” onto the cookies. We tried thyme, sage, parsley and found the latter easier to press and stay on the dough. A variety of other green herbs laminated on the cookies would look pretty on a plate.
  • We also serve our sablés at a garden tea party for a sweet Southern summertime treat.
  • Search our blog for more recipes containing herbs and spices.