Bâton Salé – French for ‘Salty Sticks’

12 years ago

A request – in the form of a challenge – was sent from
Sona G. for Bâton Salé (French for ‘salty sticks’):

Sona’s request:

“Wondering if you can help figure out a recipe my
grandmother used to make.

Whenever she
clarified butter for Baklava she kept the bottom milk solids and used it to
make a delicious bâton salé – a type of bread stick. I’ve tried searching for
recipes under baton sale but nothing is as good as my Nene’s…I’m sure you
hear that a lot!

I asked my sweet
momma but she can’t really remember and the recipe she gave me seemed like
something was missing. Anyway, got any
suggestions?

I just made 4
trays of Baklava for an event at my church so I have a lot of the milk solids
ready for use :)”

I googled BâtonSalé and the first recipe that popped-up came from ‘cookbook.armenians.com’, sent in by
a woman named Maral. I sent this recipe to Sona, and asked if she’d look it
over to see if this was a possibility.

Sona wrote: “Thanks for your reply. I did check out the
recipes online and finally revised one of my own using the buttermilk (milk
solids) that is left after butter is clarified. It came out delicious, and with
a few alterations for next time, I think I’ve nailed my grandma’s recipe :)”

Sona’s Bâton Salé

Here
is Sona’s recipe for Bâton Salé:

4
cups of flour

2
tsp. baking powder

1/2
tsp. salt

1/2
tsp. black caraway or nigella seeds

1/2
tsp. ground fennel

About
2 cups of **fresh buttermilk** made when I clarified butter.

(**
Robyn’s note: Sona’s reference to fresh buttermilk is actually the milk solids
which separate from the golden buttery liquid that sink to the bottom of the
pot as the butter melts. The buttery liquid rises to the top.)

Directions:

Clarify
butter (see below) as you would for baklava.

I
rolled mine into short little sticks, didn’t have time to do the little twist
sticks my grandmother used to make.

Baked
at 375°F for about 12 min.

You know me, I wanted to know how much butter was used,
and needed more specific details for the preparation for posting purposes.

Here is what Sona added:

“Well
I had just made 4 trays of baklava for a church event so I melted 6 pounds of
butter….but don’t worry, once clarified, I used less than a pound per tray.

I put
all the ingredients into my kitchen aid mixer and used the paddle (attachment) to
form the dough.

I
started to pinch off a little and roll it in 4 to 5 inch sticks but then I
really needed to be done with it so I rolled the dough out and cut circles with
an Armenian coffee cup.

I
lined the tray with parchment paper, no oil or cooking spray. (Baked as
mentioned above.)

I
have to say I’m not a baker, too technical for me but being in the kitchen
relaxes me!”

** To Clarify Butter: Melt 1 pound butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Don’t let butter turn brown. Remove any foam which rises to the surface. Remove from heat. After a few minutes remove any foam that remains on the surface. Transfer the clear butter to a storage container. Save any residue from the bottom of the saucepan for another use, or discard.
Cover the clarified butter and refrigerate. Use for frying or baking.

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View Comments

Anonymous says:

October 27, 2012 at 9:07 pm

i just tried making this recipe for this recipe and i am sorry to say it came out "awful". I did exactly as the recipe stated. I do make my own clarified butter. It was such a sad waste! :(
Robyn says:

November 1, 2012 at 10:51 pm

I'm terribly sorry to hear this! Since this recipe was not tested in The Armenian Kitchen, I cannot offer a suggestion for improvement. If you would like to email me the specifics of the failure, perhaps I can ask Sona for feedback. Write to: robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com
Anonymous says:

November 3, 2012 at 4:47 am

i really would like for you to test it in The Armenian Kitchen for yourself. But please do it exactly as the recipe states. the clarified butter is "ARTAR YOUGHE" in Armenian.
Robyn says:

November 3, 2012 at 1:44 pm

Dear Anon,
The next time I clarify butter, I'll experiment with the recipe. Please be patient as this may take a while.
Helena Worth says:

April 3, 2015 at 6:39 am

It is delightful to find such familiar recipes online. We have a similar recipe in our family which was always made to use up the salty residue of the butter from when the aunts were making the Easter sweets. Your recipe really helped translate my version out of colloquial Italian and add the missing details. Thanks.
Unknown says:

October 18, 2015 at 9:13 pm

My nana makes this cookie with 5 ingredients and it's absolutely delicious. It does not use buttermilk or clarified butter.
- Robyn Kalajian says:
  
  November 9, 2015 at 4:05 pm
  
  Would your grandmother be willing to share her recipe with The Armenian Kitchen? If so, please contact me: robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com. Thanks!
Unknown says:

December 7, 2017 at 5:15 am

We baton sale is an extremely old recipe from my family and there is no recipe like it on the internet. I make them for special occasions and everyone absolutely love them. Do you want the recipe?