Orangette Sables, the Antidote to Endives

I attended a beautiful party over the weekend thrown by a dear friend of mine, Jess, who just so happens to be a fellow Francophile, gourmande and food blogger. She did a masterful job of pulling together a great spread (I think I ate about 1000 crabbies, a fantastic holiday standby), an addictive prosecco punch, and even forced us to take festive, gourmet shots with pomegranate seed chasers. I love a woman who takes it to the next level. 

In the midst of her lovely cheeses, cured spicy meats and other delicious treats was a platter of endives with some sort of delicious looking cheese and walnut mixture.  I skipped it. And it wasn't because I hate vegetables. I first developed an aversion to endives right around when I first met my friend Jess, when we were both abroad in Grenoble, France. You see, we all lived with French families while we were studying there, so that we could be fully immersed in French culture. At first, I thought I had hit the jackpot. I lived with a young, incredibly chic family with three elementary school age children in a house that had been converted from a garage. I soon realized, however, that this was not going to be the French family experience I had imagined. They were an extremely healthy household. While my other friends were knee deep in coq au vin, coquilles Saint Jacques and soupe l'oignon, I was eating a LOT of endives.

Their go-to meal? Endives wrapped in ham, doused in tomato sauce, and baked. It... wasn't very good. And we ate it several times a week. I began to push it around my plate, acting very much like their 4 year-old daughter. After dinner, I would retire to my cement room, pick up my French Harry Potter book and eat several clementines each night. Soon, I discovered that clementines tasted even better when you sandwiched good dark chocolate in between two sections. And my obsession with chocolate and citrus was born.

I was reminded of this latent obsession recently when my good friend, Maggie, of Eat Boutique fame, sent along an incredible package of goodies from her recent travels in Paris and Provence. Included in the stash were the best orangettes I have EVER tasted. Somehow that combination of sweet-sour citrus with the creamy bitterness of dark chocolate just kills me every time. Around chocolate and other sweets, I am usually able to exercise a good deal of willpower and can be satisfied with just a small amount (this is not the case with crabbies, cheese, or wine, unfortunately).  But with these orangettes, I couldn't get enough. I simply couldn't stop eating them!

So I decided to take that flavor combination and come up with a new kind of Christmas cookie. I like making "different" cookies each year, so that they stand out from the more common sugar or butter cookies that we mostly see this time of year. Last year I made a huge amount of Molasses Crinkles, which are still a favorite of mine. This year, I wanted to try a sable, which is a lovely little buttery thing that crumbles a bit when you bite into it, creating a delicious mess (sable means "sand" in French). At first, I wanted to try this Meyer Lemon Sable recipe that I noticed on Orangette**, but then I thought that I might like to add a bit of chocolate. From there- it became obvious that I'd need to swap out the meyer lemon for the sweet-tart orange so that I could recreate my orange and dark chocolate obsession in the form for a cookie. I also swapped in a bit of whole wheat flour to encourage a bit of a heartier taste to the cookies. Feel free to use just all-purpose flour, if you prefer it, or if that is all that you have on hand.

** A few things- one, I realize I have been blog stalking Molly on Orangette quite a bit recently. I apologize! I just have been reading her blog for so many years now that a lot of my go-to recipes, or at least recipe templates that I can build upon, come from her little corner of the internet. Also, while writing this, I realized that I have made Orangette Sables here. I think I should tell her- hope she doesn't get creeped out. 

Orangette Sables 
Adapted from Orangette, who adapted it from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (from about 1 good-size orange, but feel free to use the zest from two oranges to pump up the flavor)

3/4 tsp coarse sea salt or kosher salt

4 large egg yolks

4 squares of good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

1/3 cup coarse Turbinado sugar, for rolling logs of dough

1 tablespoon orange zest (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, and whisk to mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl). Beat (with the paddle attachment, if you’re using a stand mixer) on medium-low speed until the butter is creamy; then add the confectioner’s sugar and beat for a minute. Add the granulated sugar, and beat for a minute more. Sprinkle the orange zest and salt into the bowl, and mix briefly to just combine. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing briefly to incorporate after each addition. Add chopped chocolate and gently stir into the batter. Next, with the mixer on low, add the flour in three doses, mixing just until the flour is absorbed. Use a rubber spatula to do any last scraping and stirring; do not overmix. The dough will be quite thick and dense and sticky.

Divide the dough between two large sheets of wax paper. Using the paper as an aid, smoosh and roll and shape one blob of dough into a rough log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll up the log in the paper, and twist the ends to seal it closed. Repeat with the remaining blob of dough. Chill the two logs until the dough is cold and firm, at least two hours and up to a couple of days.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Pour the Turbinado sugar into a small bowl and grate orange zest (if using) into the bowl. Mix to incorporate, and then pour orange-sugar onto a piece of parchment paper. Make a ridge of sugar approximately the length of the dough logs.

Remove a log from the fridge, unwrap it, and roll it lightly in the sugar to press the crystals into its sides. Coat the log as thoroughly as you can; then slice it into 1/4-inch-thick slices.  Lay the slices on the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Refrigerate the remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until just golden around the edges, rotating the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. [Keep in mind that the cookies will continue to brown a bit after you have removed them from the oven, so it’s best to err on the pale side.] Cool them on the silicone mat or parchment paper on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

Store the cookies in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to three days, or freeze them in a Tupperware, with a sheet of wax paper between each layer.

Yield: about 48 cookies