Since moving from Yokohama to the Bay Area when I was 20 years old, I get a craving for the snacks I grew up with once in a while. Whenever my mom comes to visit me, I ask her to bring my favorite Butter Cookies called Hato Sabure (鳩サブレー) from the popular confectionery store Toshimaya.
What’s Hato Sabure?
Hato Sabure (鳩サブレー) is a brand of butter cookies sold at Toshimaya in Kamakura (鎌倉) near Yokohama. These sablé cookies go all the way back to 1887 (during the Meiji Era). Around that time, Japan started to open itself up to the world, allowing many foreign goods to come into the country. One day a foreigner visited this shop and gave the founder of the store a biscuit. That was the first time he tasted a western cookie, and he was immediately intrigued to make them. However, butter wasn’t a common ingredient in Japanese food at that time so he had to look for butter in neighborhoods where Westerners lived. Since then he tested and created this version – that’s Hato Sabure.
Why Dove-Shaped?
You may wonder why these famous Japanese butter cookies have a dove shape. The name “Hato Sabure” means dove sablé; Hato (鳩) is a dove in Japanese, and sabure (サブレー) is the Japanese spelling for sablé. This famous confectionery store is very close to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu shrine (鶴岡八幡宮), where the founder often went to pray. He was inspired to make dove shape cookies because children at the shrine adored doves. Also, the shrine’s name contains Japanese character number eight “八” which resembles the shape of two birds facing each other (more in Japanese here).
Making Homemade Hato Sabure
I was inspired by a Japanese blog (unfortunately, the website no longer exists) where the blogger dedicates his time to making the perfect Hato Sabure! After reading his blog and comparing it with sable cookie recipes online, I came up with this simplified recipe that works very well, which I will share today. This butter cookie recipe is made with only 5 ingredients:
All-purpose flour Sugar Unsalted butter Egg Baking powder
You can add vanilla extract if you like, but the original recipe didn’t include it.
Downloadable Dove-Shaped Pattern
I also made the dove pattern with parchment paper (you can download and print out here). I was extremely happy that they tasted and looked just like the Hato Sabure I love!
These Butter Cookies are:
Super buttery, yet light Crisp on the edges Quick– only 30 minutes of chill time Can be rolled into a log shape and sliced, or cut out with cookie cutters Versatile – dip in melted chocolate or matcha chocolate and/or sprinkles
They are delicious, and it’s fun to make especially with your kids who can help cut out the dough with cookie cutters. Enjoy!
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
