Something is going on.

While I have a deep fondness for Paris ever since my trip there in 2010, the past few weeks have been filled with an almost unbearable longing to go back.

Maybe it’s the cover of the latest issue of Bon Appétit. Maybe it’s the promise of spring. Maybe it’s all the French cheese I’ve been eating.

Whatever it is, I want to go back. Desperately.

This longing wasn’t helped when I opened Issue 116 of Fine Cooking only to come across an article by Dorie Greenspan that included a recipe for Vanilla-Bean Sablé Cookies.

Have you ever heard of Punitions? They are buttery-crisp cookies made famous by the ubiquitous Poilâne in Paris. I trekked across the city to buy some of those precious buttery wafers. I carried them home with the kind of care and attention that one would devote to a Fabergé egg.

If you’ve never tried them, do so and you’ll understand.

I seized upon Dorie’s recipe and they, temporarily at least, have eased some of my Paris yearning.

This is the recipe where you want to use the very best butter that you can find. It’s worth it. Buttery, crisp with a melt-in-your-mouth quality and redolant of vanilla, they are quite simply beautiful.

If you can’t get to Paris, bring Paris to you.