More Christmas cookies coming your way! There’s no such thing as too many cookies, right? This Brown Butter and Sage Sablés recipe from Dessert Person has sweet and savory flavors that harmonize perfectly.

Sablé cookies are a type of crumbly shortbread that originates from France. Sablé literally translates to “sandy”, so today we are making sandy Christmas shortbread cookies. Now, I’m not exactly sure what constitutes a Christmas cookie, but these just have Christmas vibes.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter

4 large sage sprigs

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup Demerara sugar

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the sage on medium heat until the butter has browned. Stir the butter occasionally until brown bits float, 5 to 8 minutes.

Pour the browned butter and sage mixture into of a stand mixer bowl, remove the sage leaves and save them for later. Let the butter cool completely, stirring frequently to solidify the mixture. While this cools, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, and salt then set aside.

When the butter is solidified, use the attachment paddle to mix in the granulated sugar and lemon zest and beat it on medium speed until it’s pale, roughly 2 minutes.

Use a flexible spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl then add in egg yolks and vanilla just until combined. Turn off the mixer and add in the flour mixture, mix on the slowest speed until it’s all incorporated.

The dough will now have a sandy texture that easily can be molded.

The next step is to divide the dough in half and shape the halves into 8 inch logs. Take a large piece of parchment paper and use a bread knife to shape the dough. Tightly wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Make sure you tightly form the dough in the log. If you don’t, it will not hold together, and when it is time to slice the cookies they will crumble apart.

While the dough is chilling, put the Demerara sugar add half of the sage leaves without the stem in a small bowl. Massage the sage leaves into the sugar until it’s been broken down and it’s oils are released.

Unwrap one of the dough logs and firmly roll it in the sugar mixture. Roll and press the log until its entire surface is evenly coated with the sugar. Use a thin, sharp knife to slice the log into 1/3 inch discs; you should get around 16-18 cookies per log. Place the discs on a parchment lined baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart. Refrigerate these cookies, and repeat the process with the other log.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit on the upper and lower racks for 16-20 minutes switching and rotating the sheets halfway through. This depends entirely on your oven, so check your cookies frequently and remove them when they are just slightly golden on top.

Remove and let cool completely on the baking sheets—and most importantly, enjoy!