Ingredients

• 420 grams (14 3/4 oz, about 3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (I used Poilâne T80 flour)
• 280 grams (9 3/4 oz, 1 cup + 6 tbsp) sugar (I use unrefined blond cane sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I use fresh cinnamon from Cinnamon Hill)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (I use unrefined grey salt)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon homemade vanilla extract
• 250 grams (8 3/4 oz, 1 cup + 2 tbsp) best-quality unsalted butter, diced and softened (I leave it out for about 2 hours at room temperature)

Instructions

1. Prepare the dough at least 8 hours in advance, and up to a day. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the eggs and the vanilla, and mix until combined.
2. Add the butter, a small lump at a time, and mix until incorporated before adding the next. The dough will be soft; it will firm up in the fridge. (If you want to make the dough by hand, I recommend you imitate Lionel Poilâne in this video, as he demonstrates how he makes punitions.)
   
3. Divide the dough in four equal(ish) pieces, shape each of them into a thick disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, and up to a day.
4. Line cookie sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. (For optimal productivity, work with three cookie sheets, so at any given time you can have one in the oven, one that you're working on, and one that's cooling.)
5. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
6. Remove one disk of dough from the fridge. On a generously floured work surface (ideally, marble, so the dough remains cold for as long as possible) and with a generously floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a little under 3mm (1/8") in thickness. To prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface, the trick is to rotate it by a quarter of a turn between each pass of the rolling pin, and throw a little more flour underneath as soon as it seems like it wants to stick.
7. Bonus tip: I use two chopsticks as "rails" under the rolling pin to roll out the dough evenly at first. I then remove them to roll out the dough more thinly.
   
8. Cut out the shapes of your choice using a cookie cutter, and arrange them on a cool cookie sheet. The cookies won't really expand while baking, so it's okay to crowd them a little (within reason). Gather the scraps into a ball, handling it minimally to prevent overheating, and re-roll it as needed to cut out more shapes. If you find it is becoming too soft, place it back in the fridge to firm up again.
9. Insert the cookie sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until pale golden. The cookies will still feel a little soft, though you should be able to lift one on the blade of a knife. If the cookie cutter shape you've used has weak points (such as the neck in the case of my little guys), let the cookies rest for 1 or 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a rack to cool.
10. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, making sure you let each cookie sheet cool completely before reusing it for another batch.
11. The cookies will keep for up to a month in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

https://cnz.to/recipes/cookies-small-cakes/christmas-sables-cookies-recipe/

Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier.