They’re very popular all throughout France and can be found in most bakeries around the country, ready to be enjoyed for “le goûter” (4pm French snack time). You can find them sold in most grocery stores in France too, but they’re a breeze to make at home from scratch – and the result is so pretty!

The Lunettes de Romans cookies are traditionally oblong in shape with two holes in the middle, which explains their name “lunettes” (eye glasses, in English). But because a scalloped oblong cookie cutter is harder to find, I opted for a simple scalloped round cutter and only one hole in the middle. This makes these Sablé Sandwiches more accessible and smaller too (so you can have more!).

Cooking notes :

• Do not over-knead the dough or the sablés will be tough.
• Keep on eye on the oven while you bake the sablés, as they have to remain quite pale in color (much paler than the Breton sablés, for instance) and can turn too golden very quickly. If too baked and golden, they will be tough and end up difficult to eat with the jam in the middle (they will crumble and the sandwich gets messy).
• Lunettes de Romans are traditionally made with Rasberry jam. I love to use Bonne Maman jams (no ads, I just love their jams!). But you can opt for the jam of your choosing: strawberry, blueberry, apricot, orange marmalade…or even lemon curd, caramel or hazelnut spread.
• I even prefer these Lunettes the next day. The Sablé cookie is a little bit more tender (from the moisture of the jam), the jam is less runny (it gets a bit stickier the next day) and the sandwiches are better sealed together – they are less messy and more even enjoyable to eat.

Raspberry Jam-Filled Sablé Sandwiches (Lunettes de Romans)

Print Recipe

Serves: 12 cookies Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes 20 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 3.6/5

( 31 voted )

Ingredients

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (95g), unsalted butter, cold and cut in small cubes
1 ¾ cup (220g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for the working surface
½ cup + 1 tbsp (75g) powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting.
½ tsp salt
3 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup (240g) Raspberry jam

Instructions

Make sure you read the cooking notes above before you start.

Step 1 – Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cubed butter, flour, powdered sugar and salt. Mix the ingredients using the palm of your hands to create a coarse sandy texture. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, and mix until the dough comes together into a smooth ball (do not over-knead). Cover with plastic film and chill for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, pre-heat your oven to 350F (180C) and prepare 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Step 2 – Shape and cut the sablés. Transfer the dough from the fridge onto a floured working surface. Roll it out to a 3mm thickness. Using a 2.5-inch (6.25 cm) cookie cutter (ideally, scalloped), cut out 24 cookie circles. Using a 1-inch (2.5cm) cookie cutter, cut a hole out of the center of half of the cookie circles.

Step 3 – Baking the sablés. Transfer the sablés circles (with no hole in the center) onto a baking sheet and the other half (with the holes) onto the other baking sheet. Bake the first batch (sablés with no holes – the “bottoms”) for 11-12 minutes, until the rims are just slighty golden. Transfer immediately to a cooling rack. Bake the second batch (sablés with holes – the “tops”) for 8-9 minutes.

Step 4 – Assembling the sablés sandwiches. Once the cookies are at room temperature, place 1 tablespoon (15g) of jam at the center of each cookie bottom. Dust the cookie tops with powdered sugar and place them on top of the jam, to close off the cookie sandwich.

Can be kept up to 4 days in an airtight container.

If you try this Raspberry Jam-Filled Sablé Sandwiches (Lunettes de Romans) recipe let me know!  Leave a comment or share a photo using #pardonyourfrench on Instagram. Bon Appétit!

A recipe adapted from Regal. 

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