My wife is a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn, where the only olive trees are in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, under glass. And her great-grandparents and grandparents emigrated from Poland where, again, any olive trees have to be grown indoors.
Yet Suzi craves olives as if she was living under palm trees with her own personal camel. And if a recipe calls for olive oil, well she has to make that dish, soon.
If the recipe is for a cookie with olive oil, and with chocolate, and with nuts, well, this cookie gets made instantly. We made these cookies the very first weekend we had the wonderful Theo cookbook and even I, a person with Irish and Scottish genes, can appreciate the power of olive oil. And chocolate. Theo is new and comes from the Seattle-based Theo Chocolate Company that now provides exceptional chocolate products across the nation.
I’m posting this on New Year’s Eve. You have celebrating to do, today, tonight, tomorrow. And perhaps football games to watch and you want to nosh and nibble and you may already be fooded out by the holidays, so making big desserts may not be on your agenda. Yet you know you’ll want something sweet and celebratory.
Think olive oil. These sable cookies are a delight. You can eat them day round — oh, trust me, I have — and find enjoyment any time of day. With morning espresso or a midnight shot of brandy, these are the perfect accompaniment to any beverage. Or you can just nibble them on their own.
I know, a sable is a cookie from France made with incomparable French butter to produce incomparable baked goods. The butter is still here but the olive oil makes a contribution. Think globalization.
Almond-Olive Oil Sable Cookies with Chocolate
Yield: around 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup cake flour
- ½ cup almond meal
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 2 ounces Theo 70 percent dark chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup sliced almonds, finely chopped
- Fleur de sel or other flaked sea salt (such as Jacobsen Salt Co.’s Pure Flake), for sprinkling
Preparation:
In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the almond meal, and salt, and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add the olive oil, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until completely blended. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar, then add the egg yolk and almond extract and mix on medium speed. Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate and mix on low speed to combine.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a log about 16 inches long and 1 ½ inches in diameter (the dough will be a little sticky). Spread the almonds out on the surface and gently roll the dough over the nuts, pressing to adhere. Continue rolling and gently pressing until the surface of the log is coated with the nuts. Wrap the log in plastic wrap or parchment paper and carefully transfer it to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. (You can also freeze the dough at this point for later use.)
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the log of dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices and place them at least 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets. Top each cookie with a pinch of fleur de sel.
Bake the baking sheets one at a time in the center of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden. Watch them carefully, as they burn easily. Cool the cookies on a wire rack and store them in an airtight container. They will keep for at least 4 days.
Source: Theo Chocolate by Debra Music and Joe Whinney [Sasquatch Books, 2015]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/5.6 for1/30th second at ISO‑3200