Crisp and buttery, these traditional Butter Cookies add a whimsical touch to any occasion. In this recipe, I recreated the famous dove-shaped Hato Sabure cookies from Kamakura, Japan (dove pattern included). Only 5 ingredients needed!
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-shaped 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 Copycat 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!
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Butter Cookies (Homemade Hato Sabure)
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- ½ cup sugar
- 6–8 Tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature; use more butter for an extra buttery taste)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature; beaten)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract (optional; I did not add since the original Hato Sabure does not include it)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Sift 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour). I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric" button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.If you want to make dove-shaped Hato Sabure cookies, print out the image and trace the pattern on parchment paper.
- Fit an electric mixer with the whisk attachment and combine ½ cup sugar and 6–8 Tbsp unsalted butter (at room temperature) in the bowl. Whisk on high speed until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) and mix to combine. Optionally, add ½ tsp pure vanilla extract now if you‘re using it.
- Change the whisk to the beater attachment. Add the flour and 1 tsp baking powder and mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated.
- Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or freezer for 15–20 minutes). Tip: Form the dough into logs at this stage if you plan to make slice-and-bake cookies. For how to make cookie dough logs with step-by-step photos, see my recipes for Matcha Cookies and Miso Butter Cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). After one hour of chilling, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, to ¼ inch thickness. Tip: I place long cooking chopsticks (they are about ¼ inch thick) on either side of the dough to use as a guide when rolling. This keeps my dough an even thickness.
- To make dove-shaped cookies, cut the cookie dough around the dove pattern with the tip of a sharp knife. For round cookies, you can use a 2-inch round cookie cutter or a tall glass.
- Use a large spatula to transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. Use the tip of your knife to add the dove‘s eye and wing details, if you wish. Tip: I highly encourage you to use a light-colored aluminum baking sheet and check your oven‘s temperature with an oven thermometer; see the Notes section below for details.
- Bake until golden brown on the edges, about 15–20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!
To Store
- These cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. I usually reheat the cookies at 350ºF (180ºC) in the toaster oven (or oven) until crisp.
I visited beautiful and sacred Kamikura with my mom while visiting her side of our family when I was a child, but don’t remember these cookies. I’m wondering about the correct size. In the photo where you are cutting it out, it looks quite large. Can you tell the length and width of the dove? Arigato!
Hi Linda! Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post!
The size of this cookie is 12 x 9 cm.
We hope you enjoy this cookie!
Hi may I know if I am able to pipe these cookies?
Hi WY, Sorry…No. This will not work for piping. The dough needs to be chilled and hard, and if the dough gets soft, it will melt in the oven.
How much cocoa powder should I add if I wanted to make it chocolate butter cookies instead?
Hi Crystal,
To experiment with cocoa powder, we normally substruct the cocoa powder amount from the flour amount and adjust the recipe’s liquid amount to get the texture right. You may add 2 Tbsp or more cocoa powder as you like to get more cocoa taste.
We haven’t tested this recipe with cocoa powder and currently don’t have a perfect recipe to share. Sorry…😞
No worries! thanks for the response!
actually, i just tested with cocoa powder – i added 1.5 tbsp in this recipe and it seems to work out.
im not sure if the original recipe is supposed to be a softer cookie, but adding the cocoa powder seemed to make it bit a crispier/firmer, which i enjoyed anyway.
Thank you!
Hi Crystal, Fantastic! Thank you very much for sharing your baking experience with us!
Hato Sabure! Ureshii!!!!! Love your recipes, by the way. I used to live in japan, and miss it a lot. I live in Mtn View, ca.
Hi Stacey,
We are so glad to hear you enjoy many of Nami’s recipe! Arigato!
Yes. We miss Japan a lot too, especially this year… We hope good homemade Japanese foods and sweets are making you feel like you are in Japan.
Have a wonderful New Year!
Hi Nami, another winner – recipe was so easy and cookies were delicious. We had a zoom session and made cookies with as a group. Thank you.
Hi D,
Aww… We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and made it with friends!
Thank you very much for your kind feedback.😊
Hello Namiko-Sensai,
I cannot express how happy I am with this recipe! Every time I make them, they don’t last long. My neighbors, relatives, and friends eat them up before I know it. Everyone I know loves these. Whether they are Persian, Indian, American, Japanese, Chinese, or Mexican, everyone cannot get enough of these!
My friends and I recently tried these immediately after eating cookies from the store, and while the flavor is similar, there is a noticeable difference in taste and texture with these hato sabure cookies because they aren’t processed and only have 5 ingredients. They taste much cleaner than the store-bought cookies. We love how mildly sweet they are, and how they can be made into different shapes easily. I’ve experimented with this recipe by adding a bit of cacao powder to make chocolate sabure cookies. They taste delicious as well, but I had to add a bit more sugar to the mix because organic pure cacao is bitter.
Hi Ashton!
We are so happy to hear you and your family and friends and neighbors enjoyed this cookie! 🥰
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
These came out great! I added the vanilla extract which was nice. I don’t always love cookies or sugar cookies for that matter but these were so good and not too sweet at all. They taste great with icing! I didn’t use the bird shape, I went with a candy cane shape and circles and 15 minutes was too much, some of them started to burn a little. So I’d keep an eye on them once you hit 10 minutes if you use a different shape or perhaps make them thinner than intended. I am also not an experienced baker so this was all experimental for me. Overall, very yummy and so easy.
Hi Naomi!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We love your candy cane shape idea for the Holiday season! It’s a great cute idea.😍
Have a wonderful Holiday!
Hi Nami! I just made the cookies.. but my dough was way too soft to cut any shapes.. so I ended up rolling it in balls and pressed it down with a fork. The cookies came out a bit crispy. Just curious though, I used the measuring cup 200ml of flour — did I just not use enough flour? I feel like I may have got confused with 200g and 200ml as I thought they’re the same conversion. Would it be better if I follow the 1 2/3 cup measurement instead?
Hi Jasmine,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
Yes. If you are using a measuring cup, you need to follow the 1 2/3 cup flour measurement.
200g is for weight measurement, and you need a scale. 😉
We hope this helps!
Thanks for clarifying Nami! Well definitely try it again!!
Hi Jasmine,
It is our pleasure! Thank you for trying again!🥰
Made these for thanksgiving with turkey cookie cutters. They do taste like hato sabure!! My mom always buys some for me when she visits (I’m in Hawaii, and she’s in Japan) or sends it via EMS but I can’t get any this year. Thank you for the recipe! It’s easy and delicious. My son loves it too.
Hi Akiko!
Awww…. Turkey shape Butter Cookies! It must be so cute!
We are so happy to hear you and your son enjoyed it. Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Just made these today. They are WONDERFUL! I used all vegan ingredients and will need to make some adjustments over the next couple of batches before I get it just right, but these are perfect to enjoy with coffee or to relax with at the end of the day with some tea. Arigatou, Nami-san!
Hi David! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you can make this recipe vegan-friendly! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This is my first butter cookie attempt and I am glad that the entire family gave their thumbs up. Thank you for your generous sharing. I made 4 different kinds of butter cookies for variation i.e. with white chocolate buttons, with raisins, with sea salt and original. My fav is sea salt. I will definitely make this again as it is easy and really delicious!
Hi Esther! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed these cookies. 🙂
whaat type of sugar?
Hi Adeline! It’s white granulated sugar. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! can I make these by just using my arm strength and spatula? I love cookies and recently interested in learning more about baking.
Hi Charo! Yes, you can do that. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
It was great and they all tasted amazing! Definitely something I’d bake more often.
Hih Skiii! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you liked it. 🙂
May I know what type of sugar?
Hi Adeline! Granulated sugar. 🙂