Cornuelle

Cornuelles (French Lemon-Scented Butter Cookies)

Cornuelles are small, tender French butter cookies flavored with lemon zest, traditionally piped into crescent or ring shapes and baked until just pale gold at the edges. They share DNA with the buttery Breton sablés and are perfect alongside tea or a glass of sweet wine.

Prep

20 min

Cook

12 min

Total

32 min

Serves

24 cookies

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (1 cup / 7 oz) all-purpose flour
• •100 g (½ cup / 3½ oz) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, French-style (82% fat) preferred
• •80 g (⅓ cup / 2¾ oz) granulated sugar
• •2 whole (2 large) eggs, 1 whole + 1 yolk for the dough; reserve the white for brushing if you like a glossy finish
• •1 whole lemon, zest only; untreated/organic preferred
• •1 pinch fine sea salt
• •0.5 g (⅛ tsp) vanilla bean paste or extract, optional, adds a rounded aroma

Steps

1. 1 In a large bowl, cream the softened butter with the sugar using a wooden spoon or stand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. 2 Beat in the whole egg, the extra yolk, the lemon zest and the vanilla (if using). Mix just until smooth.
3. 3 Add the flour and salt all at once and stir gently to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. Do not overwork.
4. 4 Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with a medium star tip (8–10 mm). Pipe small crescents, rings or S-shapes about 4 cm long onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 3 cm of space between them.
5. 5 If you saved the egg white, lightly brush the cookies for a shiny finish. (Skip this if you prefer a matte, sablé-like look — more traditional in some regions.)
6. 6 Chill the piped trays in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so the cookies hold their shape during baking.
7. 7 Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F (fan 160 °C / 325 °F). Bake one tray at a time for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just turning pale gold but the centers still look soft. Do not let them brown.
8. 8 Let cool on the tray for 5 minutes — they are fragile while hot — then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
9. 9 Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to 5 days; the flavor deepens after a day.