viennese chocolate sablés

* from 'chocolate desserts by pierre hermé'

ingredients:

1 3/4 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 sticks plus 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons lightly beaten egg white
confectioner's sugar for dusting

directions:
1. Position racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and put aside. Fit a pastry bag with a medium-sized open star tip (#'s 20, 21, 22) and put aside.

2. Whisk together the flour and cocoa in one bowl. In a larger bowl beat the butter with a whisk until it is light and creamy. Whisk in the sugar and salt, then stir in the egg whites. Gradually add the flour-cocoa and blend only until it is incorporated - you don't want to work the mixture too much once the flour is added, a light touch is what will give these cookies their crumbliness.

3. Spoon about 1/3 of the dough into the prepared pastry bag. Pipe the dough into w-shaped cookies, each about 2 inches long and 1 1/4 inches wide, 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

4. Bake the cookies for 10 - 12 minutes -- NO MORE -- or until they are set but neither browned nor hard. Transfer the cookies using a spatula to a rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure that you don't put the to-be-baked cookies on hot baking sheets. Before serving, dust cookies with confectioner's sugar.

notes: