Galettes au Beurre | French Butter Biscuits

32 Replies

Galettes Au Beurre | Gather and Graze

I’ve been craving buttery French biscuits over the past few days.

While perusing the shelves of our local library, I came across a wonderful book of artisanal recipes from the Parisian Chocolatier ‘A La Mere de Famille’. It’s filled with the most mouth-watering treats, ranging from cakes and biscuits to chocolates and confectionary and then continuing on to jams and ice cream. The original shop, situated on the Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre in the 9th Arrondissement was first opened in 1761 and looks like a truly magical place to visit… especially for one with such a sweet tooth.

My other inspiration came from my friend Linda at ‘La Petite Paniere’ who recently posted some beautiful ‘Palets Bretons’ that are along slightly similar lines, though I imagine perhaps richer due to the fact that they use only egg yolks, rather than the whole egg. They will be the biscuits that I make next…

The recipe below has been adapted from one in the French cookbook mentioned above. I found the original recipe created too sticky a dough… and also had I left them in the oven for the specified 20 mins, they would have been burnt to a crisp! I roughly halved the quantity… two trays of galettes seemed more than enough to me… though watching them disappear so quickly, I’m now not so sure.

Galettes au Beurre | French Butter Biscuits | Gather and Graze

  • Servings: Approx 25-30 Galettes
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 125g Salted Butter (Softened)
  • 125g Icing (Powdered) Sugar
  • 1 Free-Range Egg
  • 250g Plain Flour (Sifted)
  • Pinch of Salt (optional if using salted butter)
  • Milk (For Brushing)

Instructions

Beat together the butter and icing sugar in an electric mixer. Stir in the egg and then the flour and salt. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Roll out the dough (between 2 sheets of baking paper) to a thickness of about 3-4mm. Refrigerate the sheet of dough for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C and line 2 baking trays with baking/parchment paper.

Using a fluted pastry cutter, cut out the biscuits and arrange on the baking trays. Brush each one with a little milk and use a fork (or knife) to lightly score a striped effect on top. Bake for approximately 13-14 minutes, until golden. Be sure to watch them towards the end, to make sure they don’t brown too quickly… or burn!

  • I feel that these Galettes are best made with a good quality Salted Butter, or be sure to add a good pinch of salt if you choose to use Unsalted Butter.

32 thoughts on “Galettes au Beurre | French Butter Biscuits”

  1. Francesca

    I know the book, Margot. It’s full of super cute illustrations (I have an illustrations’ obsession 😍). Your galettes look just perfect and yummy!

    Reply ↓
    1. Margot @ Gather and Graze Post author

      It does indeed Francesca! The illustrations (particularly those at the start of each chapter) are so beautifully done! Do you illustrate too?? Thanks for your generous comment. Enjoy the weekend! 🙂

      Reply ↓
    1. Margot @ Gather and Graze Post author

      I think you’ll LOVE it Karen! I’ve seen so many recipes I’d like to try, that I’m tempted to buy a copy to have on hand – so much yumminess! 🙂 Look forward to hopefully visiting the shop one day too!

      Reply ↓
  5. Kitsch n flavours

    Have to say, they do look perfect. Your biscuits always do! Are these similar to sablé? I’m feeling drained tonight, partly as it’s so cold. And it’s been a long, long few days. Right now I can’t be bothered to check notebooks for my recipe. Okay, I’m feeling lazy! Hopefully your post will spur me into making those shortbread things tomorrow, as I might even get prep shots during the day. And as I have one egg left I might try these as well. On the other hand, I’ve just checked how many your recipe makes. Even I couldn’t eat that many! Half the recipe? It’s cold. And I feel like pigging out. 🙂 I’ll keep them to a dozen.

    Reply ↓
    1. Margot @ Gather and Graze Post author

      Ooooh, it looks like your logo has changed again Johnny! I’ll have to come across to have a closer look.
      Thanks re the biscuits… I think sables are very similar, though perhaps use granulated sugar and only the egg yolks (like Linda’s Palets Bretons). Perhaps also the addition of baking powder? I’m keen to make a batch and try them… to taste the difference! These biscuits were only quite small, but yes, 30 might be a little over the top.
      Sorry to hear you’re feeling rather drained at the moment… must come part and parcel with starting up your own business. Hope your last meeting went well on Monday!? M

      Reply ↓
  10. trixpin

    I’m making these next! I made some cookies yesterday but I think I’ll have to try your galettes next time we need biscuits because the family love them and yours look perfect 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Margot @ Gather and Graze Post author

      Thanks Anne! The photo in the cookbook showed very simple, similar lines on their galettes… I thought it was perhaps a little more stylish than the more usual criss-crossed fork pattern.

      Reply ↓
  13. lapetitepaniere

    Margot, your Galette au Beurre look amazing. I like the shape and the pattern on the top of each Galette. I’m so glad that my recipe inspired you to make these Delicious little sweet treats 🙂 Have a wonderful day 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Margot @ Gather and Graze Post author

      Oh Linda, the only problem is… that I can’t stop eating them! My children are already asking for another batch to be made. They’re so buttery and yummy! Thanks again for your always inspiring posts – looking forward to trying out the palets! Hope you have a great day too 🙂

      Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Margot @ Gather and Graze Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.