My French Butter cookies recipe creates crisp, rich, buttery, melt in your mouth deliciousness. These classic cookies are super easy to make with just 5 basic ingredients!
French Butter cookies or Sable as they are known in French are probably the most loved cookies in France.
Deliciously crisp on the outside and buttery and crumbly on the inside. Rolled in sugar and sliced creates a beautiful glittery ring around the baked cookies. They make the ideal gift or perfect for any celebration.

As with my Danish butter cookies, Italian Butter cookies, Strawberry butter cookies and 3 ingredient butter cookies, these are incredibly easy to make.
The dough is super easy to be made in advance, ready for you to simply slice and bake.
Ingredients for French Butter Cookies
You need a few staple ingredients to make French Butter cookies. With so little ingredients, you want to make sure you’re using the right ones, and the best quality ones.
Scroll down to the end of the page for the printable recipe card with all measurements and complete instructions
- Butter: Use what you have, either salted or unsalted. If you are using unsalted butter, then add a pinch of salt to your flour. Salted butter will not require adding salt to the recipe. Make sure that you are using room temperature butter.
- Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioners sugar or icing sugar, it mixes easily with the butter to form a smooth creamy consistency.
- Egg yolk: Just one egg yolk is needed to help bind the dough together. It also contributes to the flavor and texture of the cookies. Its best to let the egg yolk come to room temperature before mixing in.
- Vanilla extract
- Flour: Use either cake flour, all purpose or plain flour. Do not use self rising flour. Self raising flour is not recommended as it changes the flavor and texture, making it dense instead of crisp and light.
How to make French butter cookies
This is just the overview so you can see the process. When you are baking, you’ll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
All you need to mix the dough is a bowl and spatula. That is why its best if your butter is softened to room temperature. It makes it much easier to work with when combining with a spatula.
- Make the dough
Cream the butter and sugar: Use a spatula to mix the butter and sugar until it turns pale in color and light in texture.
Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract: Mix in until combined.
Sift in the flour: Add the sifted flour and mix to form a soft dough.
- Refrigerate the dough
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes
- Divide and roll the dough
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it in 2 pieces
Roll each piece into a log shape of approximately 4 inches (10cm) in length and 1 inch (3cm) in thickness (diameter)
- Freeze the shaped dough
Wrap the log shapes separately in plastic wrap and freeze for 45 minutes.
- Roll in sugar, slice and bake
Remove from the freezer and unwrap the shaped dough
Roll each of the log shaped dough in sugar, coating them evenly.
Cut each log into slices that are ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick, and then arrange them on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden.
Remove the tray from the oven but leave the cookies on the baking tray for 5 minutes. The baked cookies will be soft when you take it out of the oven but crisp as they cool.
After 5 minutes on the baking tray, the cookies will be firm and crisp enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Once completely cool store the cookies in an airtight jar.
Frequently asked questions
The cookie dough can be prepared up to 2 months in advance! Make the dough, refrigerate for 20 minutes then shape into a log (according to the recipe size suggestions).
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.
When ready to use, remove from the freezer and as soon as you are able to, slice the dough into disks while still cold.
Don't allow it to get too warm, as the dough will be soft making it difficult to handle and slice.
Yes, sure, simply roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Then refrigerate for 45 minutes before cutting into shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes if cut thinner than 1 inch (3cm) thickness.
Tips for the perfect French Butter Cookies
Ensure that your butter is softened to room temperature. Get it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking. All the ingredients are incorporated much easier and quicker in soft butter. This also prevents overworking the dough, which produces dense instead of crispy cookies.
Refrigerate the dough if it becomes difficult to handle: The dough has a high ratio of butter and can get difficult to work with if it gets too warm. If the dough gets too warm, simply put it back into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. This helps to cool the butter, making the dough much easier to work with.
Do not skip the steps of chilling the dough. First after mixing (refrigerated for 20 minutes) and second after dividing and shaping into a log (freezing for 45 minutes) These are important steps. The first refrigeration firms the dough, making it easy to roll into a log. The second time (freezing) cools and firms the log shapes making it easy to slice into disks.
Adjust the baking time if cutting the cookies thinner or thicker than specified in the recipe
Do not overbake the cookies. They will be soft after baking straight out of the oven, but will crisp and get firm as it cools.
Enjoy 🙂
French Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened to room temperature see note 1
- ½ cup powdered sugar sift the powdered before measuring
- 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅛ cups all-purpose or cake flour see note 2
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for coating the shaped dough, before baking
Instructions
Make the dough
- Cream the butter and sugar: Use a spatula to mix the butter and sugar until it turns pale in color and light in texture.
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract: Mix in until combined.
- Sift in the flour: Add the sifted flour and mix to form a soft dough.
Refrigerate the dough
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. see note 3
Divide and roll the dough
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide it in 2 pieces
- Roll each piece into a log shape of approximately 4 inches (10cm) in length and 1 inch (3cm) in diameter. See note 4
Freeze the log-shaped dough
- Wrap the log shapes separately in plastic wrap and freeze for 45 minutes.
Roll in sugar, slice and bake.
- Preheat the oven to 356° F / 180° C (160° C fan)
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking silicone mat
- Remove from the freezer and unwrap the shaped dough
- Sprinkle ¼ cup of granulated sugar onto a tray or large plate.
- Roll each of the log-shaped dough in the sugar, coating them evenly.
- Cut each log into slices that are ⅜ inch (1 cm) thick, and then arrange them on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden.
Cool and store
- Remove from the oven but leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. The baked cookies will be soft when you take it out of the oven but crisp as they cool.
- After 5 minutes on the baking tray, the cookies will be firm and crisp enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
- Once completely cool, store the cookies in an airtight jar for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Butter: Use what you have, either salted or unsalted. If you are using unsalted butter, then add a pinch of salt to your flour. Salted butter will not require adding salt to the recipe. Get the butter out of the fridge at least 1 hour before baking. All the ingredients are incorporated much easier and quicker in soft butter. This also prevents overworking the dough, which produces dense instead of crispy cookies.
- Flour: Use either cake flour, all purpose or plain flour. Do not use self-rising flour. Self-rising flour is not recommended as it changes the flavor and texture, making it dense instead of crisp and light.
- Do not skip the steps of chilling the dough. First after mixing (refrigerated for 20 minutes) and second after dividing and shaping into a cylinder (freezing for 45 minutes) These are important steps. The first refrigeration firms the dough, making it easy to roll into a cylinder. The second time (freezing) cools and firms the cylinder shapes making it easy to slice into disks.
- Refrigerate the dough if it becomes difficult to handle: The dough has a high ratio of butter and can get difficult to work with if it gets too warm. If the dough gets too warm, simply put it back into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. This helps to cool the butter, making the dough much easier to work with.
Nutrition
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Diana Buck says
I do not see an oven temp for baking these cookies
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Diana, the baking temperature (356° F / 180° C (160° C fan) and time ( 15 to 18 minutes ) is included in the recipe card at the end of the post.(scroll to the bottom of the post) The post itself contains information like ingredients and substitutes, frequently asked questions and a visual of the recipe steps.
I hope this helps 🙂 Feel free to ask me anything else you might be wondering about - I'm happy to help 🙂
Caroline Campbell says
180 degrees Celsius, or 356 degrees Fahrenheit. It is at the beginning of the recipe.
jj says
do I have to use a spatula or can I use a hand mixer which I find better
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi jj, Certainly, it is possible to use a hand mixer to combine the butter and sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. However, to avoid ending up with dense cookies, I recommend using a spatula to mix in the flour instead of using the hand mixer.
I hope this helps 🙂
Happy baking
Diane says
Delicious cookies. One small discrepancy - the 2x version of the recipe still only calls for dividing the dough in half,(same as 1x recipe) and making 2 cylinder, even though there is double the dough, and we should make 4 cylinders. I didn’t read the 1x recipe through, and chose to do the 2x recipe, so I didn’t realize until I made 2 cylinders that were huge 😂. So I just cut them at 1 cm and made bigger cookies.
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Diane, Thanks for trying out the recipe and sharing your experience. It sounds like you ended up with some gigantic cylinders instead of four smaller ones, but hey, look at it this way, bigger cookies = more deliciousness😁. But I am glad they turned out well for you 🙂
I apologize for any confusion caused by the double recipe issue.However the recipe card does not account for adjusting the method when doubling the ingredients. I'm really sorry if this caused any inconvenience or problems during your baking experience.
Kara P. says
These were so good! One thing I love about these is that there's little waste. Just rolled up and sliced. I made these for an open house I was hosting since I'm a realtor, the cookies were the perfect touch.
Kim Corbley says
Have you ever made these gluten-free? If so what flour would you recommend?
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Kim
I'm sorry, but I haven't made these gluten-free. However, when I bake gluten-free cookies, I find that Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour works really well.
It's a great alternative to regular all-purpose or cake flour for cookies.
You can just swap it in, using the same amount as you would regular flour in this recipe.
I hope this helps
Happy baking 😊
Dawn says
These came out perfectly ♥️
thanks for sharing
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Dawn, You're very welcome, I'm delighted to hear that they turned out perfectly 😊
cindy says
I made this recipe the first time and the cookies came out awesome. I made this recipe a second time but my cookies came out flat instead of 3/8 inches high. I also found the dough difficult to work with when I pulled it out of the refrigerator to divide. What did I do wrong?
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Cindy,
It's great to hear that your first attempt was successful. If your cookies turned out flat the second time and the dough was difficult to work with, a few factors could be at play. Here are some common reasons for flat cookies:
Ingredient Measurement: Double-check your ingredient measurements to ensure accuracy. Small variations can have a significant impact on the texture of the dough and the final outcome of the cookies.
Butter Temperature: Make sure your butter is at the right temperature. If it's too soft or melted, it can cause the cookies to spread too much. The ideal temperature is usually softened but still cool to the touch.
Chilled Dough: Overly chilled dough can be hard to work with. Allow the dough to soften slightly at room temperature before trying to divide or shape it. If it's too cold, it might resist forming into the desired shape.
Flour Type: Ensure you are using the correct type of flour specified in the recipe. Using a different flour or not measuring it accurately can affect the texture of the cookies.
Mixing Time: Overmixing the dough can lead to flat cookies. Mix the ingredients just until they are combined to avoid incorporating too much air.
Baking Temperature and Time: Make sure your oven is preheated to the correct temperature. Also, check the baking time; overbaking can cause cookies to spread excessively.
Parchment Paper: If you used parchment paper, make sure it's not too greasy from previous batches. Grease can cause the cookies to spread more than desired.
I hope this helps
Happy baking 😊
Cindy says
Thank you for the reply and troubleshooting ideas. I made this recipe again but I sifted my confectionary sugar after I measured out the half cup instead of measuring out the half cup after sifting. The ratio was perfect and the cookies were delicious. The cookies were the discussion at the dessert table and I have forwarded the recipe to many with all of my helpful hints.
The Gardening Foodie says
Hello Cindy, that's wonderful news, and you're truly welcome! 😊
I'm thrilled that the tips were useful, and your cookies turned out great. It's so satisfying to know that everyone enjoyed them and hope that they all find the same joy in baking these cookies as you did 😊
Leona says
Once baked can they be frozen?
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Leona, Yes, you can freeze the baked cookies for about 1 month. After this time, the cookies may start to develop freezer burn or lose some of their texture and flavor.
After baking and allowing the cookies to cool completely, you can store them in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
When you're ready to enjoy the cookies, simply take them out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature or warm them up in the oven for a few minutes.
Happy baking 😊
rosalie comizio says
the sugar in the photos looks more grainy than regular white sugar. do you use a different type? thank you. they look so pretty.
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Rosalie, thank you 😊
I use light brown sugar to roll the edges of the cookies because its larger granules provide a lovely texture.