sablée

Sablée is a French term for a family of sweet shortcrust pastries used to make tarts and cookies. The name derives from sablé, meaning sandy, a reference to the crumbly texture of the dough. In pastry, sablée typically refers to pâte sablée, a rich, tender shortcrust dough.

Standard pâte sablée is composed of flour, sugar, butter, and egg yolk; some recipes include almonds or a touch of salt or vanilla. The ingredients are worked only until just combined to limit gluten development, then the dough is pressed into a tart ring or fluted pan rather than rolled, yielding a delicate, crumbly shell. After shaping, the dough is chilled to rest and relax the gluten before baking, often with brief prebaking (blind baking).

The texture is buttery, sandy, and melts in the mouth, more fragile than other shortcrusts such as pâte brisée or pâte sucrée. It differs from pâte sucrée, which is firmer and more pliable; both are used to make sweet tart shells, though sablée is preferred for an ultra-tender bite. There are regional and stylistic variants, including versions with almond meal or cocoa.

Common uses include fruit tarts, custard tarts, and simple sablés (shortbread-like cookies). In culinary practice, pâte sablée can be flavored with vanilla, citrus zest, or spices, and can be finished with a glaze or a light dusting of sugar after baking.