La Sablésienne, artisanal Petit Sablés from Sablé-sur-Sarthe
La Sablésienne is an artisanal biscuit maker from Sablé-sur-Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire region, baking authentic pure-butter Petit Sablés since 1670. These round, scalloped butter cookies made from just a few high-quality ingredients are shaped and sorted by hand, and are today led by Amélie Loret Scherrer.
La Sablésienne represents the authentic Petit Sablé, the buttery shortbread from the French town of Sablé-sur-Sarthe that bears its name. The artisanal biscuit maker preserves a recipe dating back to 1670, a part of France's culinary heritage, and combines it with the personal touch of Amélie Loret Scherrer. Butter, free-range eggs, and regional flour—a good Sablé needs little else, and that is exactly what you taste in every bite.
A cookie for the court and the Marquise
In July 1670, a small round butter cookie caused a sensation at court and became the legend of the Petit Sablé.
According to tradition, Vatel, the maître d'hôtel for the Grand Condé, had a multitude of small, round, scalloped cookies served on trays on the first Monday of July 1670. Monsieur, the King's brother, found them to be of honest lightness and requested them for his breakfast every day thereafter.
As a guest of honor that day sat Madeleine de Souvré, the Marquise de Sablé (born 1599), a celebrated beauty and, as the chronicler Tallemant des Réaux wrote, "the greatest gourmet in the world." She made the little cookie famous at court, and ever since, it has borne her name and that of her town, Sablé-sur-Sarthe. A letter from Madame de Sévigné captures the scene to this day.
The name Sablé means "sandy" in French and accurately describes the crumbly, delicate texture of the cookie. Over generations, the recipe passed from confectioner to confectioner, always rooted in the town on the Sarthe river. It is baked with good butter, flour, sugar, egg, and a pinch of salt—nothing more. It is this very simplicity that has endured for centuries. This loyalty to the original is what distinguishes the Petit Sablé from industrial cookies, and it is still cultivated with pride in Sablé today.
From pure to tout chocolat
We carry eight varieties of Petit Sablés from La Sablésienne, ranging from the pure butter cookie to the doubly chocolatey "tout chocolat," each with its own character.
The original is the pure butter cookie, nature au pur beurre frais, from which all others evolve. They get fruity with the raspberry Sablés and their fine berry acidity, sunny with the apricot Sablés, and fresh and light with the lemon Sablés. The caramel Sablé plays a sweet-and-salty tune with Fleur de Sel from Guérande.
Chocolate comes in two forms: as a Sablé with chocolate chips that melts with the first bite, and as the dark tout chocolat with cocoa in the dough. For those who love aromatic flavors, the tonka bean cookie offers hints of vanilla and caramel. Every fruit ingredient is added as real pieces in the dough, not as artificial flavoring from a bottle.
Those who sample the varieties side-by-side will taste the same buttery base in each, while fruit, chocolate, or tonka bean simply provide the respective accent. Each variety comes in a square 100g box with four bags of four Sablés each, so the rest stay crisp when you open one. This way, everyone can find their favorite, whether with coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, or as dessert in the evening.
Natural ingredients, craftsmanship, no fuss
La Sablésienne bakes without artificial flavors, dyes, or preservatives, using raw materials sourced predominantly from western France.
The dough is kneaded, shaped, and stamped by hand by the Maître Pâtissiers, placed on metal trays, and, after baking, individually picked up by hand—just as the company has done for over fifty years. Butter, free-range eggs, and Sarthoise flour form the foundation, and with so few ingredients, every single one counts. No assembly line replaces the human hand; no aroma replaces the real ingredient.
The recipe dates back to 1670 and is registered in the French culinary heritage as the authentic Petit Sablé pur beurre from Sablé-sur-Sarthe, appearing in the 22 volumes of the Conseil National des Arts Culinaires between 1990 and 2003. Even the Larousse Culinaire mentions it, a great honor for La Sablésienne.
The Petit Sablé is the most famous of the three specialties of French culinary heritage that the house maintains, alongside their airy meringues and soufflés and delicate Langues de chat. Anyone who watches the golden cookies being picked from the trays understands why they taste like home. This manual work is labor-intensive, but it is the reason why every Sablé looks a little different, yet always authentic.
A pioneer with its own chocolate workshop
Since the 1980s, La Sablésienne has been one of the first Ecocert-certified biscuit makers in France and operates its own chocolate workshop at the heart of its bakery, processing biscuits and cocoa under one roof. This makes the company one of the few biscuit makers that produce its own chocolate.
The company was founded in 1962 by confectioner Georges Justier. In 2003, Amélie Loret Scherrer—the great-granddaughter of a confectioner and daughter of a biscuit baker who stood by the baking sheet at age six and bet everything on her dream at 31—took over. She hunts for forgotten recipes and brings them back to today's table without losing their historical character.
Curiosity drives Amélie: she travels, tastes, and draws inspiration from foreign kitchens, especially from Japan and its culture of beautiful gifting. This openness is reflected in the packaging, which is often as beautiful as its contents. The company also supports a local social integration program through employment.
Today, La Sablésienne has boutiques in western France and Paris, invites visitors to the biscuit factory, and carries the Petit Sablé as far as Asia and the USA. The once-small operation has become a refined French cookie culture that consciously chooses not to replace manual work with machines. During visits, you can look over the pâtissiers' shoulders in the bakery.
The best way to enjoy the Sablés
The Sablés are right at home with coffee and tea, but the assortment can do more.
The dark "tout chocolat" pairs perfectly with an afternoon espresso, the fresh lemon Sablé with tea time, and if you are expecting guests, prepare a colorful plate of raspberry, apricot, and caramel. Also, try the Sablés crumbled as a crust for cheesecake or tiramisu, no oven required, or as a crowning touch over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. These buttery cookies also cut a fine figure with a glass of cider or a dessert wine.
During the Christmas season, the Sablés become a classic on the gift table; in summer, a light companion to ice cream and sorbet—a cookie for every season, never going out of style.
As a gift, the pretty box is always a pleasure, whether alone or in a basket with other delicacies. If you enjoy French pastries, you will also find Goulibeur's Galettes from Poitou next door—thick, buttery, and completely different in character. Sample your way through the assortment, variety by variety, until you have found your favorite.
