Palet breton
Photo: Arnaud 25 · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The biscuit belongs to the same family as the flatter, wider sablé breton, and the two names are used loosely across Brittany, but the palet is by convention the thicker one, at least a centimetre deep. Both descend from the region's habit of baking with salted butter in quantities that would be unusual anywhere else in France, and both were sold from the late nineteenth century onwards by the Breton biscuit factories at Pont-Aven, Quimper and Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef. The fleur de sel and the yolks are what separate a palet from a British shortbread: it is saltier, richer and shorter, and it crumbles rather than snaps.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Eggs, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 12Hands-on 20 minTotal 2 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 150g salted butter, softened
  • 130g caster sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 200g plain flour
  • 8g baking powder
  • 2g fleur de sel
  • 1 egg yolk for glazing

Method

  1. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and light, then beat in the three yolks.
  2. Sift in the flour and baking powder with the fleur de sel and fold to a soft dough.
  3. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment to a thickness of 1cm and chill for at least an hour until firm.
  4. Stamp out 6cm discs and set each one inside a greased 6cm metal ring on a lined tray. The rings stop them spreading.
  5. Brush the tops with beaten yolk and drag a fork across in a criss-cross.
  6. Bake at 170C for 18 to 20 minutes until golden. Cool in the rings for five minutes before lifting off.

Tip from the editors. Without rings the dough spreads into thin biscuits. Metal poaching rings or a deep muffin tin both work if you do not have proper tart rings.

Where to eat palet breton

Palet breton in Rennes

Pâtisserie Le Daniel ★ 4.7

€€ BakeryFine pâtisserie and Breton specialities in salted butterCentreWalk-in only

Pâtisserie Le Daniel is the Meilleur Ouvrier de France house of Laurent Le Daniel in Rennes, running since 1998 with its flagship facing the Halles Centrales.

Worth the queueKouign-amann in salted Breton butter

TipOrder before 14:00 online and collect the next day; the Rue de la Monnaie boutique by the Lices is the quieter pick-up.

Directions

Maison Bouvier ★ 4.2

€€ BakeryPâtisserie, macarons and chocolateCentreWalk-in only

Maison Bouvier runs its pâtisserie and chocolaterie across Rennes, the Place Toussaints shop as flagship and a counter in the Hoche Visitation centre.

Worth the queueKouign-amann

TipMonday afternoon and Sunday openings close in July and August; the Visitation branch keeps longer standard hours.

Directions

Maison Larnicol ★ 3.9

€€ BakeryKouignettes and Breton confectioneryCentreWalk-in only

Maison Larnicol stacks its bite-size kouignettes on Rue Le Bastard in Rennes, the Breton chocolatier founded by Meilleur Ouvrier de France Georges Larnicol.

Worth the queueKouignettes in a dozen flavours

TipThe kouignette is the travel-size kouign-amann; the rum-raisin and salted-caramel-apple versions are the ones to mix into a bag.

Directions

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