The Petit Beurre, or Véritable Petit Beurre, also known by the acronym VPB, is a shortbread cookie from Nantes, very well known in France and particularly in the Loire region.
The noun Petit Beurre is a generic term; it has a hyphen and when pluralized it is often written incorrectly when referring to “cookies.”
It is called “Petibör” in Turkey and “Πτι-Μπερ”/”PteeBer” in Greece.
It measures 65 mm (2 9/16 in) in length, 54 mm (2 1/8 in) in width and 6.5 mm (1/4 in) in thickness, with a unit weight of 8.33 g (0.29 oz).
LU PETIT-BEURRE NANTES is the inscription printed on the front; it is decorated with four corner “ear” shapes and has twenty-four dashes arranged in four rows of six.
The ingredients are simply butter, powdered sugar, water, flour and a pinch of salt. I made them with lavender: PETIT-BEURRE À LA LAVANDE (round because I didn’t have the rectangular cutter 😅).
In honor of the lavender bloom in Provence from mid-June to mid-August.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 20 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 7 tbsp salted butter
- to taste lavender
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Mold Petit Beurre Cookie Press Mold
Steps
Combine the butter, preferably salted, with the dried lavender, powdered sugar, water and a pinch of salt and work the mixture for about 20 minutes; then add the flour and baking powder.
Let rest in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
Roll out the dough and cut the cookies with the appropriate mold or with your own cookie cutters.
Brush with milk and bake in the oven at 356°F for 12–15 minutes.
Why not consider creating an online WEDDING REGISTRY?
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What is the difference between pasta frolla, pâte sucrée and pâte sablée?
They are made with the same ingredients, but not in the same proportions.
Pasta frolla (Italian shortcrust pastry) differs from pâte sucrée mainly because it contains a larger quantity of butter.
Pâte sucrée contains less butter but is sweeter; it is generally more compact and easier to spread. It has a finer, tighter, but drier texture. This structural difference can also be explained by the fact that the ingredients are not incorporated in the same order.
The pâte sucrée is usually obtained by the so-called “creaming” method: whip the butter until creamy before adding the sifted powdered sugar, the beaten eggs, the sifted flour and the salt. The butter and eggs should be at room temperature to avoid graininess.
Pasta frolla can only be made with the “sabbiate” (rubbing) method. Sift the flour and sugar together, add the salt, then incorporate the cold butter cut into small pieces, and finally the beaten egg.
Pasta frolla is denser and has a higher butter percentage. The pâte sablée, on the other hand, contains less sugar and has a “sandy” and crumbly texture.
