Chocolate Sable Cookies

This recipe is adapted from Miette, released by San Francisco's bakery of the same name:

"If ever you are in Paris, you must make a pilgrimage to the Pierre Hermé boutique on rue Bonaparte.  I made such a pilgrimage during a trip to Paris the first year I was in business, joining the queue that wraps around the block.  As I inched into the store, I filled my basket with one of everything off the shelf, including a canister of his chocolate sables - the inspiration for this cookie.  The Miette version replicates the same experience of biting into a crisp lattice supporting bits of pure, soft chocolate.  Like our Double Chocolate Cake, this recipe calls for both cocoa and chocolate.  When you bring these two ingredients together, you get a resounding chocolate taste, much more complex than if you were to use just one or the other.  Use a high-quality chocolate and feel free to venture into something more bittersweet.  The sprinkling of sugar on top can carry the intensity of a dark chocolate."

Note: use natural cocoa powder, and NOT Dutch-processed.  The Dutch-processed cocoa has been treated with an alkalizing agent that heightens the color but gives it a milder flavor.  For this recipe, it is important to use natural product to attain a deep, dark chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Sable Cookies

Makes about 20 two-inch round cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

 tsp sea salt

 tsp vanilla extract

3 ½ oz cacao chocolate (70%), grated

2 egg yolks

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda into a bowl and set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until lightened (about 4 minutes).  Add the dry ingredients, grated chocolate, and yolks and mix just to combine.
4. If the dough is soft, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Otherwise, roll out the dough ½-inch thick on a lightly floured work surface.  I used a 2-inch round cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies, and then recombined the scraps and repeated.  The other option is to square the edges and cut the dough into squares.
5. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
6. Bake the cookies until they are firm (10 to 12 minutes).  Remove to a wire rack to cool; store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.