Beaucoup Bakery’s Betty Hung shares her picks for making oh-so Parisian holiday treats.

How do you ace a Christmas cookie platter? You take it slow. Sure, you can churn out chocolate chip cookies in your sleep, but it’s the holidays—finally there’s time for leisurely afternoons spent in the kitchen, losing yourself in the baking process alongside the friends and family you’ve put to work in a joyful assembly line. And French cookie recipes are  the perfect match for this sort of savour-the-moment baking experience: patisserie classics like éclairs and sablés are challenging without being complicated, delicate without being fussy, and (most importantly) decidedly delicious. With the recent release of French Baking 101, author and Beaucoup Bakery owner Betty Hung has cemented her role as the West Coast queen of Parisian pastry—here, she shares the beautiful, buttery treats that will fill your kitchen with warmth this holiday season.

“I think great baking comes from baking with your senses. What do you smell? What do you feel? Follow the recipe, but also be present and in the moment. Once you get the hang of it, that’s the difference between mediocre and good.”

Read on for 5 of Betty’s favourite French cookie recipes

Gingerbread Éclairs

Strawberry Pink Peppercorn Viennese Sablé Wreaths & Spiced Pecan Sablés

“I try to bake with good ingredients, like real butter and vanilla: the time and effort are the same as if you bake with artificial vanilla or margarine, but the results are way better.”

Chocolate Hazelnut Raspberry Jam Financiers

Floral Langues de Chat

 

Want to learn more about Betty Hung and Beaucoup Bakery? Read on..

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose

Alyssa Hirose is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, illustrator and comic artist. Her work has been featured in Vancouver magazine, Western Living, BCBusiness, Avenue, Serviette, Geist, BCLiving, Nuvo, Montecristo, The Georgia Straight and more. Her beats are food, travel, arts and culture, style, interior design and anything dog-related. She publishes a daily autobiographical comic on Instagram at @hialyssacomics.