Those tablea rounds in the photo aren’t tablea. They’re tablea cookies, shaped to look exactly like the tablea that they’re made of.
Filipino tablea or tableya, meaning "tablet", are pucks of pure chocolate. They are made with local cacao beans that have been fermented, dried, roasted, ground, and shaped into coins or balls. Tablea serves as the main ingredient for sikwate/tsokolate (Filipino-style hot chocolate) and champorado (chocolate rice porridge).
These cookies have crisp edges and a moist interior, making them the perfect snack to satisfy a chocolate craving. Shortbread cookies have a less wet batter, which makes them easier to shape into different things. Feel free to shape these cookies with cookie cutters!
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Make cookie batter: Combine room temperature butter, powdered sugar, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer attached with a flex edge beater or paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the flour and tablea to the butter mixture and beat until just combined, taking care not to overmix. For more control, you can switch to a rubber spatula and fold by hand.
Roll into logs: Place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on a clean work surface. Place half of the cookie dough onto the plastic wrap or parchment. Shape it into a rough log about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or parchment and roll on the counter to smoothen it out. Repeat with the remaining dough. Chill logs for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until firm but not rock solid.
Prepare for baking: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Slice and bake cookies: Using a sharp knife, cut the logs into ½-inch thick cookies. You can pop the cookies in the freezer while waiting for the oven to warm up—this helps them keep their shape. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are just set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool completely.
Tablea are chocolate tablets made from pure local cacao. To make them, you grind roasted and fermented cacao nibs into a paste, then shape them into coins, balls, or tablets.
Tablea is the main ingredient for traditional Filipino hot chocolate. You dissolve the tablea in hot water and froth it up with a batidor, a traditional hot chocolate stirrer made from wood.
Being made from 100% cacao, tablea tastes like pure, unadulterated chocolate.
Yes! Use ½ cup cocoa powder instead of tablea.
We used a polvoron mold to achieve the round pucks.
To get round cookies without a polvoron mold, you can roll the dough up into long, thin log (about 1 inch or so in diamter) and slice into ½-inch pieces, as directed in the recipe.
To use cookie cutters, roll the dough out into a ½-inch thick rectangle. Cut dough using cookie cutters, rolling up the trimmings to make more. You can also slice the dough with a knife to make your own custom shapes (or plain rectangles). Freeze shaped cookies for at least 30 minutes to help them hold their shape, then bake in the preheated oven.
You can also press the shortbread flat into a greased pan. Before baking, smooth the top out with your fingers and prick the dough all over to prevent the dough from bubbling. After baking, invert the shortbread onto a clean work surface and slice the shortbread while warm—it will firm up as it cools, making the cookies harder to slice then.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week.
Yes you can! Once cookies have been formed into logs, you can keep the dough in the freezer for 1 to 3 months. Slice and bake for tablea cookies anytime!
