TWD: The Ugliest Sables in All the Land

Sables.  Why must they torment me so?

They are little medallions of pure cookie bliss.  When made correctly, they appear to be oh-so-beautiful and dainty.

So, why, oh why, after chilling in the freezer for 2 days, do they come out looking like this?

I know that many a-food blogger will comment on a less-than picture perfect dish and say "Well, it's not winning any beauty contests."  But mine go above and beyond not winning beauty contests.

You know the treasured community chest card in Monopoly that reads: "You just won second place a beauty pageant! Collect $20"? When you pull this card, you first joke around and talk about how pretty you are (you don't do that? Is it just me?) and then curse the person who beat you out. Then you wonder what kind of cheap-ass beauty pageant only awards $20?

Well, if there was a card that says, "You just got hit with the ugly stick!  You owe the hospital $200.", these cookies would be sure to pull that card.

Sure, I could have prettied it up with sprinkles and decorations, but I have been doing this and frankly was not in the mood. Yes, I burned the edges. And please, if you leave a comment saying "They look good to me!", I'll know that you are just being nice and you don't really mean it. But I appreciate the kind words. Thank you.

But they do taste good. Minus the ugly looks, they are perfectly buttery, with a slightly sandy texture that is a pleasure to eat.  I was sure to work with an even hand and not to overwork the delicate dough.  I rolled my logs using a Chopin piano pieces book, hoping that his grace would rub off on my cookies. But alas, I was left with strange shaped, burned cookies.  Deliciously, oddly shaped, burned cookies.

Check out Barbara of Bungalow Barbara for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD for some 1st place winners in the beauty pageants. I'd award them $100. Because I'm nice like that. And I'm the banker. 

Comments

[Maria]

We've made Dorie's sables, maybe not the prettiest, but they are tasty:)

[chocolatechic]

It doesn't matter to me what they look like...if they taste great, that is all that matters.

[Tracey]

You crack me up! Hey, as long as they taste good, they don't have to win any beauty pageants, right?

[Lauryn]

Wow...and I thought mine looked bad!! LOL -- just teasing! You made like 5 million sugar cookies, so your unphotogenic sables are definitely excused!!!

[Erin]

So frustrating...but I'm sure they tasted great!

[Lillian]

Yeah, they're ugly, but those other ones you linked to are gorgeous. My sables looked pretty good, but I've never made anything that looks as good as those frosted ones.

[Kim]

Mine failed to resemble the perfection that was in the book too. As long as they taste good who cares. Besides all those beautiful sugar cookies more than make up for these ones.

[Katrina]

Oh my gosh, you are so funny! Glad you at least still liked them for the eatin'. I hate when something turns out so badly that it literally just has to be thrown away!
And you should certainly be proud of all those decorated sugar cookies you've been making. (I have no skill there!)

[Susan]

LOL! You are too funny!! Yes, your cookies are a bit on the ugly side (it feels wrong to not say how pretty they are) but I am so glad they tasted better than they looked. :} Your other cookies more than make up the these! Beautiful work!

[Andrea]

See...and I don't think they look that bad - course I did think they were homemade cheese crackers at first. Either way, as long as they taste good who cares if it doesn't look like the picture? All of your stuff always looks so amazing, one burnt edge is not going to change that!

[Michelle]

They tasted good and that's what counts!!

[natalia]

Ciao ! Mine are even worst I had to cut the edges out because they were burned (I did put the coloured sugar )!!!! We can join another tipe of contest ! Baci !!!

[Jen]

I win! I've made cookies that were ugly and tasted awful. I bet that they would be so good in a cookie crust. Not that they are so ugly that they need to be crushed :)

[TIa]

aww... they are not the uglist!!! they've got "character" lol. :)

[vibi]

Ok, I won't say what you don't want to hear. But I'll say this: I used to have the same problem... until I learnt two things (that was a loooooong time ago). First, after getting an oven thermometer and learnt that my oven was burning 40° too much! Imagine the difference! Second but most impotantly... I learnt ages ago, from my baking mentor: when cookies are delicate, ALWAYS bake them on the HIGHEST oven rack (No matter what Dorie says!).

And wala! Since then, no burnt cookies. Take it or leave... but it worked wonders for me.

In the end... I'm glad they were tasty! :)

[Nancy (n.o.e.)]

OK, if there's one thing I've learned about the culinary world, it's "taste rules" - therefore you and your cookies rule!! I loved these too, and will be trying a variation next time. Oh, and I always reduce my oven by a bit because my cookie sheets are dark.

[Mary Ann]

The funny part about anything like this, is that it still tastes great even if it doesn't look exactly like we want it too.
I can understand why you left off the sugar after glancing at your beautiful sugar cookies!
At least they were delish!

[Jill]

You know why I only have a photo of one cookie on my post? Because I had a bunch that looked like yours! Yes, I feel your pain, but they were all tasty, regardless of looks.

[Janell]

Hmm...your cookies look like mine. We must have read the same recipe!

[Leslie]

Taste is far more important than looks, unless you did these for a catering gig. Plus didn't you say your camera was acting up...? Yeah, that's it...it's the camera's fault!