Recipe: Salted Butter Break-Ups (cookies, French)

SALTED BUTTER BREAK-UPS

"Even if this weren't wonderfully good - and it is - I'd want to make it just because it's so much fun to serve. Essentially a large, butter, flaky, salty-sweet rectangular cookie with a pretty little crosshatch pattern on top, it is put in the center of the table, and guests serve themselves by reaching over and breaking off pieces of the sweet. Yes, it's messy - it's impossible for this to be a crumbles endeavor - but everyone, young and old, easygoing and stuffy, likes it. For neatness's sake, you could break the cookie up in the kitchen, or you could even cut it into cookie shapes after roll it out, but that wouldn't be as amusing, would it?"

1 3/4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 18 pieces
3 to 5 tablespoons cold water
1 egg yolk (for the glaze)

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Drop in pieces of butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal - you'll have both big pea-sized pieces and small flakes. With the machine running, start adding the cold water gradually; add just enough water to produce a dough that almost forms a ball. When you reach into the bowl to feel the dough, it should be very malleable.

Scrape the dough onto a work surface, form it into a square, and pat it down to flatten it a bit. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill it for about 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months.)

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the fridge and, if it's very hard, bash it a few times with your rolling pin to soften it. Put the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper and roll it into a rectangle that's about 1/4-inch thick and about 5x11-inches; accuracy and neatness don't count for a lot here. Transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet.

Beat the egg yolk with a few drops of cold water and, using a pastry brush, paint the top surface of the dough with the egg glaze. Using the back of a table fork, press into the cookies across the top, decorating the cookie in a crosshatch pattern.

Bake the cookie for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is golden. It will be firm to the touch but have a little spring when pressed in the center - the perfect break-up is crisp on the outside and still tender within. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and allow the cookie to cool to room temperature.

TO SERVE:
If fun is what you're after, bring the break-up to the table whole and let everyone break off pieces big and small; if order suits you better, break up the cookie in the kitchen and serve the pieces on a plate.

TO STORE:
The baked cookie will keep in an airtight container for about 3 days.

ABOUT THE RECIPE:
"Called broye in French, meaning crushed, the cookies is a tradition in the Poitou region, a part of western France where butter is prized. Butteriness is one of the cookie's defining characterizes, and saltiness is another - it's undeniably salty, and now and again, you can even feel the salt on your tongue. In France, the cookie is made with sel gris, a moist, slightly gra (gris) sea salt with crystals that are large enough to be picked up individually. If you can't find red gris, go with kosher or another coarse salt."

Makes 4 servings
Adapted from source: Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan