This vegan sablé, a French shortbread cookie, is buttery and melt-in-the-mouth tender with a hint of sugar.
If you love a good vegan shortbread or shortbread-textured cookies like these vegan almond flour cookies, this vegan sablé is for you!
Anytime is a good time for a tender, crumbly sablé cookie, but I especially love baking up these delicious treats around the holidays. They make the perfect little gifts for family and friends!
Table of Contents
What is a sablé?
A sablé is a French cookie with a "sandy" texture (sablé = sand in French). The chief difference between a sablé and a Scottish shortbread is that a sablé dough includes eggs. This makes the sablé even more tender and delicate than a shortbread is. Yum!
In my vegan sablé I don't use any eggs, of course, but almond flour stands in nicely, adding that necessary grittiness and softness to the dough. The result is a perfectly textured cookie that needs just five ingredients, is easy to make, and has oodles of buttery flavor.
Why choose this vegan sablé recipe?
- Buttery and delicious. These sablé cookies have the perfect buttery flavor, thanks to the vegan butter and almond flour.
- Perfect texture: The vegan sablé melts in the mouth, as it should. Even if you've had the non-vegan version of these cookies before, you won't miss the eggs.
- Simple recipe. This recipe is pretty straightforward but because handling a buttery, delicate dough takes some practice and experience I'd give it a three out of five on the difficulty scale. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try it if you are a newer baker: remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
- Soy-free recipe, can be nut-free. Leave out the almond flour if you are nut-free. I haven't tried these cookies with gluten-free flour but I expect the recipe would work with a gluten-free, all-purpose flour.
Ingredients
- Vegan butter. This recipe does need a good amount of butter for the best flavor. Use a homemade vegan butter or a store-bought brand of your choice.
- Granulated sugar. Any granulated sugar will work in this recipe, including coconut sugar and turbinado sugar. However, a lighter colored sugar, like cane sugar, is preferred for that buttery hue in the baked cookie. This dough itself doesn't need much sugar, but be sure to sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a bit of sugar before baking for a classic, crackly French sablé.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour and super fine almond flour. You need just a small amount of almond flour but it really helps with the flavor and texture of these cookies.
- Pure vanilla extract. This adds the perfect hint of sweetness and amps up the flavor.
How to make vegan sablé
Place the vegan butter at room temperature, sugar and pure vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer for a couple of minutes until fluffy.
Add the almond flour and all purpose flour to the bowl.
Use a spatula to mix the ingredients until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap tightly in cling wrap or place in an airtight container, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Dust the surface you will roll the cookie dough on and the rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of ¼th of an inch. Be gentle because this a delicate dough and move it around as you roll to ensure it doesn't stick. Dust with more powdered sugar if necessary.
Use a fluted cookie cutter (a round cutter will work just as well) to cut out cookies. Place them an inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar, then bake in a preheated 350-degree Fahrenheit/180-degree Celsius oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are very lightly golden. Let the sablé cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool thoroughly before eating.
Variations
- To make vegan lemon sablé cookies, add a teaspoon of lemon extract instead of vanilla extract to the recipe, and stir the zest of one lemon into the dough.
- To make chocolate sablés add ¼ cup cocoa powder to the dough.
Top tip
These cookies brown fast! Keep an eye after 10 minutes of baking and pull them out as soon as the edges are a light gold. The cookies will still be a bit soft but they will firm up as they cool.
Storage instructions
- Room temperature: You can store the cookies at room temperature for up to a week.
- Refrigerate: Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.
- Freeze: Freeze the cookies for up to four months. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge, roll out and cut into cookies before baking.
More delicious vegan cookies
Vegan Sablé
Equipment
- Cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoon vegan butter ,softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar + 2 tablespoons for dusting the tops of cookies.
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons super fine almond flour
Instructions
- Place the vegan butter at room temperature, sugar and pure vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer for a couple of minutes until fluffy.
- Add the almond flour and all purpose flour to the bowl.
- Use a spatula to mix the ingredients until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap tightly in cling wrap or place in an airtight container, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius.
- Dust the surface you will roll the cookie dough on and the rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of ¼th of an inch. Be gentle because this a delicate dough and move it around as you roll to ensure it doesn't stick. Dust with more powdered sugar if necessary.
- Use a fluted cookie cutter (a round cutter will work just as well) to cut out cookies. Place them an inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar, then bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are very lightly golden. Let the sablé cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack and let them cool thoroughly before eating.
Recipe notes
- Room temperature: You can store the cookies at room temperature for up to a week.
- Refrigerate: Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.
- Freeze: Freeze the cookies for up to four months. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge, roll out and cut into cookies before baking.
Demi
Hi, These look delicious! You say in your description that these are nut-free but you used almond flour in the recipe. Do you have a truly nut-free version? I am asking because my daughter was just found to have allergies to dairy and tree nuts (almonds being one of the main culprits). I have only found one vegan and allergen-free cookie in the stores and it turns out these are so good, my whole family raids the box. Poor thing doesn't have many options...
Vaishali
Hi Demi, that was a dumb oversight on my part--I've corrected it now. Thanks for catching. You can just leave out the almond flour if you want to make these nut-free--they'll still be delicious.
Rashmi
Beautiful short bread, Looks great.
Vaishali
Thanks, all!
Manasi, oh yes, those shrewsbury biscuits. They were something, weren't they? When I was at my first job in Bombay, my dad was working in Pune. Each time I planned to visit him, colleagues would inundate me with requests for Shrewsbury biscuits and I'd have to plead with my dad to give me a ride out to Kayani's to buy them. Good times.:)
Manasi
ooh! These look lovely, crumbly yet melt-in-the-mouth goodness. Reminded me of shrewsbury biscuits, pune! I am a total sucker for shortbreads.
Priya
These shortbread are our family fav,just love to have for snacks with a cup of hot tea.
divya
wow am drooling dear....beautiful shrotbread...mouthwatering too...
Poornima Nair
These cookies look amazing!
foodfeud
They do look great! Thanks for explaining the difference. Adding cream cheese is a great idea.
ANU
wow awesome dear...love the crumbly yet perfectly baked shortbread....