Punitions - French Butter Cookies from Poilâne Bakery

This is a story about a bread despite this post is about cookies. It will make complete sense and it's a good story, so please hold on :) I was travelling from London to Oxford by train, very early in the morning. There was a group of young Americans on the same car. They were sitting facing each other and on the small table between them they had a HUGE, rustic-looking bread. I mean a very HUGE bread. Open, without a bag or anything, just this huge bread (probably it was on top of something. I just can't remember).

As it was somehow very absurd, I started eavesdropping them (it wasn't very difficult, as they were Americans LOL). They were of course very hilarious about the situation. It must have felt very absurd to them too. I remember this one guy casting glances at me every now and then with giggling eyes. They were talking about the bread, that it was from a famous bakery in Paris. I don't know how they had gotten hold of the bread. Had they just been to Paris? Or had someone brought it to them? Or is there a place in London where you can buy this bread? I heard that the bakery was very famous for its bread and that guy with giggling eyes had wanted to taste that bread for so long. And of course they had a lot of fun about it, because I think they thought it totally absurd too. And then they started eating it (maybe they had a knife with them, I can't remember and at that point I was really having problems containing myself so I had to try not looking at them. It was so absurd! This is probably one of the most rememberable train trips I've had.

Later, I came upon these cookies and the story about the Poilâne bakery, which made me remember this bread and the train trip immediately. I'm pretty sure that bread was from Poilâne bakery. The bread is very famous throughout Paris and cafés have notes saying that they serve Poilâne bread. If you visit the bakery shop in rue Cherche-Midi, there are these cookies on the counter you can sample. In addition to bread, they bake only three sweet things: flan, apple tartlets and these punition cookies. After this corona thing I definitely want to go to Paris, find this bakery and buy this huge loaf of bread (and these lovely butter cookies too) and eat them in the park (I don't think I would enjoy creating another absurd scene on a train). And if you too want to visit the bakery, don't forget to ask if you can take a look at the small back room (it's supposed to be worth it). I recommend you to read the story from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Paris Sweets. It offers maybe some explanation why they are called 'punishments'.

These cookies are indeed very lovely punishments: flaky, crumbly and not too sweet. Just the type of cookies I love: you can munch them with your coffee or tea or with milk. Very plain, but very scrumptious at the same time and utterly Parisian I'd say. You'll need only 4 ingredients, which you probably already have in your pantry. (Use good-quality products as it really makes a difference when there is so few ingredients.)

Punitions - French Sablé Cookies
Author: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Preparation Time: 60 min (+1-2 hours for chilling)
Cooking time: 10 min      Servings: about 50 cookies     Calories per serving*: 50 kcal

These butter cookies are so delicious - I love their pale color, scallop edges, sandy crumbly texture and butter flavour.

Ingredients:

• 140 g butter, at room temperature (with salt, or add 3 g salt if using unsalted butter)
• 125 g white, granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 280 g all-purpose wheat flour

Instructions:

1. Put the butter to the bowl of a food processor with a blade and process until the butter gets smooth.
2. Add the sugar and process until well blended.
3. Add the egg and continue processing until smooth and satiny. Scrape the batter down the sides if needed.
4. Add all the flour and pulse 10-15 times or until the dough clumps and looks like wet sand.
5. Spoon the dough onto a working surface and form it into a ball. Divide into two and shape them into discs. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm.
6. Line the baking sheets with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180 C.
7. Roll the dough, one disc at a time, on lightly floured surface until 4-6 mm thick. Cut out as many cookies as you can with a small round cookie cutter (preferably with a nice scallop edge, diameter of about 4 cm). Place the cookies on the baking paper, leaving some space around them. Gather the scraps, form it into a disc, chill and roll again.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set but still pale. It doesn't matter if some get brown edges, just don't let them get colour too much.
9. Transfer onto cooling racks and let cool.

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan: Paris Sweets.
*Nutritional information is based on average values and is a rough estimate.

Punitions - Ranskalaiset Sablé-keksit
Tekijä: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Valmisteluaika: 60 min (+1-2 h jääkaapissa)
Kypsennysaika: 10 min      Annokset: noin 50 keksiä    Energiasisältö per annos*: 50 kcal

Nämä tavallistakin tavallisemmat voikeksit ovat niin herkullisia - niiden kalpea väri, pitsireuna ja hiekkaisenrapea rakenne ja voin maku ♡

Ainekset:

• 140 g voita huoneenlämpöisenä (mieluiten normaalisuolattua. Jos käytät suolatonta voita, lisää n. 3 g suolaa)
• 125 g sokeria
• 1 kananmuna huoneenlämpöisenä
• 280 g puolikarkeaa vehnäjauhoa

Valmistusohjeet:

1. Laita voi monitoimikoneeseen, jossa on leikkaava terä. Prosessoi voita, kunnes siitä tulee pehmeää.
2. Lisää sokeri ja prosessoi, kunnes se on hyvin sekoittunut voihin.
3. Lisää kananmuna ja jatka prosessointia, kunnes seoksesta tulee tasaista. Painele seosta reunoilta alas tarvittaessa.
4. Lisää kaikki jauhot yhtä aikaa ja pulsoi 10-15 kertaa tai kunnes taikina alkaa muodostumaan kasoiksi ja muistuttaa märkää hiekkaa (älä yliprosessoi, koska silloin kekseistä ei tule niin rapeita).
5. Siirrä taikina työtasolle ja muotoile siitä pallo. Jaa se kahtia ja muotoile kumpikin puolikas kiekoiksi. Kääri ne kelmuun ja laita jääkaappiin muutamaksi tunniksi kiinteytymään.
6. Vuoraa leivinpellit leivinpaperilla ja esilämmitä uuni 180 asteeseen.
7. Kauli taikina, yksi kiekko kerrallaan, kevyesti jauhotetulla tasolla 4-6 mm paksuksi levyksi. Painele pienellä pyöreällä noin 4 cm muotilla niin monta keksiä kuin saat. Siirrä ne leivinpellille. Muotoile ylijääneestä taikinasta kiekko ja laita se jääkaappiin jäähtymään sillä välin kun kaulit toisen kiekon.
8. Paista keksejä 8-10 minuuttia tai kunnes ne ovat kiinteytyneet, mutta eivät vielä ottaneet väriä. Mikäli reunat ottavat hieman väriä, se ei haittaa, mutta yritä pitää "kokonaisvaikutelma" kalpeana.
9. Siirrä valmiit keksit esim. ritilän päälle jäähtymään.

Lähde: Dorie Greenspan: Paris Sweets.
*Energiasisältö perustuu keskimääräisiin arvoihin.

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