meringue sablé cookies

for my holiday cookie box (and maybe yours as well!)

two years ago i made these meringue sablé cookies and gave them to friends and clients in a holiday cookie box. one of my subscribers asked for the recipe earlier this year, and thought it would make a great recipe to send out around the holiday season - so here it is.

i wanted to create a holiday cookie box that contained cookies with a whole range of flavors but all looked similar to each other. royal icing-piped cookies were out of the question because i did not have the piping skills. so, i instead opted to top the cookies with meringue. not only is meringue the easiest thing to pipe (in my book) the effects are always so dramatic and over the top - i love it visually.

truth be told though, i am not a fan of meringue’s texture/flavor - i find it too sweet, one-note, and hard. however, when paired with these cookies, i actually really enjoy it. the cookie itself adds additional flavor and their buttery, crispy, and crumbly texture compliments the harder crunch of the meringue. they really pair beautifully together, even melting in your mouth at the same time.

you can also incorporate jams, pastes, and creams into the cookies for added dimension. i love pairing the vanilla cookie with a jam, the pistachio cookie with pistachio paste (but a pistachio cream would also be so dreamy), and i add caramel cream to the spiced cookie. i have yet to try these, but i can only imagine how delicious the pistachio cookies would pair with raspberry jam or ganache, the vanilla cookies sandwiched with hazelnut chocolate spread, or a bit of almond frangipane between the spiced cookies (i could go on but you get the deal). regardless of what spreads/pastes/jams you want to add, i have included directions on when/how to add it. and if you think up any other pairings, feel free to ask in the comments how to best incorporate them – i’m more than happy to give you my best guess.