Breton Biscuits

The inhabitants of Brittany are rightly proud of their Celtic heritage and independent spirit. So never suggest to a Breton that his delicious crumbly lemon biscuits share a remarkable similarity with the sablé from the neighbouring Loire region. If you have holidayed in Brittany, you may have seen these biscuits being sold in tins decorated with photography of the rugged coastline.

METHOD

1. Melt the butter in a small pan, or in a heat proof bowl in a microwave.
2. Mix together the plain flour, caster sugar, lemon zest and salt in a bowl. Add one of the egg yolks and the melted butter. Mix together to form a dough
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour. 
4. Remove the dough from the fridge and knead it a little to warm it up. At this point it is likely the dough will crumble. This short knead warms the butter up and recreates a smooth workable dough. 
5. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough out to 3-4mm thick. Cut out 6cm circles of dough and place on a a lined baking tray. 
6. Place the trays of biscuits in the fridge until hard.
7. Preheat the oven to 150°C Fan.
8. Mix together the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of double cream or tap water
9. Remove the biscuits from the fridge and brush with the egg yolk mix. Dust the glazed biscuits with icing sugar and place in the pre-heated oven.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until and even golden brown colour. 
11. Cool on a baking rack and store in an airtight container. 

    TOP TIP

    For many years I have been haunted by misshapen biscuits. When you first cut biscuits from dough they have lovely crisp edges. On baking these edges often spread and splurge and the detail is lost. To prevent that happening it is really important to let the dough rest after it has been made. An overnight rest is best. Likewise after the biscuits have been cut the dough needs to rest again in the fridge or freezer. Freezing the unbaked biscuits solid also makes a big difference. If you bake the biscuits from frozen, the outside of the biscuits bake and set before the core of the biscuits has had a change to warm and cause the biscuit to spread unevenly.