Sand Tarts are a classic cookie, crispy and thin, with a light shower of cinnamon sugar and topped with a pecan or 3 almonds. This is a popular Christmas cookie in the U.S. The three almonds are said to represent the Three Wise Men.
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Cookie Spotlight: Sand Tarts
Sand tarts are a delicious cookie with minimal ingredients BUT this is not the easiest cookie to make.
But, sand tarts, so called because they have a sand like texture--thanks to a generous helping of granulated sugar-- are worth the effort.
Ideally, these cookies are rolled quite thin, an â…› of an inch thick or less.
If you have trouble with the dough sticking, put it back in the fridge to cool down for 15 or 20 minutes.
If you're a sand tart or pecan lover, you might also like Pecan Mini Tarts or Pretzel Chocolate Pecan Cookie Recipe, Best Mexican Snowballs or Clumpy Molasses Pecan Granola Recipe.
If you're looking for holiday cookies, you must try my personal favorite, Gingersnaps (Just Like Grandma's!) or Gingerbread Snowflakes or Best Italian Butter Cookies You Ever Tasted or Best Mexican Snowballs, also known as Butterballs.
Recipe Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Kosher or sea salt
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Pecan halves or almond slivers
- Ground cinnamon (for topping)
See Recipe Card for amounts
You also need pecan halves or slivered almonds to top the cookies before baking.
Step By Steps
- Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.
- Add egg and vanilla extra and mix until combined
- Add dry ingredients and stir until no white streaks remain.
- Divide dough in half.
- Wrap dough in Saran Wrap or a resealable bag or container. Chill for at least two hours or overnight.
- Working with one dough parcel at a time (leave the other one in the fridge) roll out using a rolling pin between two pieces of parchment paper. You may need to dust parchment with a bit of flour or powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking to the parchment.
- Roll out the dough as thin as possible. I rolled mine to a quarter inch thickness, which is really too thick. You want to aim for an â…› of an inch if possible.
- Cut the dough into shapes, a circle is traditional but you could use Christmas cutters or any shape really.
Baking Tip: Measuring Flour
Too much flour or not enough can ruin your batch of cookie dough. Weighing flour is best using a kitchen scale but failing that, use the dip and sweep method to measure your flour. Pour flour into a bowl and fluff it up with a spoon. Now spoon flour into your measuring cup until slightly heaped. Then slide a butter knife or a bench scraper across the top of the measuring cup to remove the excess.
Sand Tart Recipe Tips
The dough can be fussy when you're rolling it out. It may stick to the counter.
To counteract that problem, roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper, which you've lightly dusted with flour or powdered sugar.
If it's sticky when you're removing it from the parchment, just slide the parchment paper with the rolled out dough onto a cookie sheet and put it in the refrigerator for ten to 15 minutes until it cools down and can be handled again without falling apart.
Sand Tarts may be related to this Norwegian cookie.
Cookie Baking Advice
You may find these baking posts helpful, from Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays.
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Recipe
Sand Tart Cookie Recipe
Sand Tarts are a classic cookie, especially during the holidays and so named because of their sandy like texture.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 & ½ sticks unsalted butter softened but still firm.
- 1 & ¼ cups granulated sugar
- Two large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For cookie topping
- 50 pecan halves or almond slivers
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add egg and vanilla extra and mix until combined
Add dry ingredients and stir until no white streaks remain.
Divide dough in half.
Wrap dough in Saran Wrap or a resealable bag or container. Chill for at least two hours or overnight.
Working with one dough parcel at a time (leave the other one in the fridge) roll out using a rolling pin between two pieces of parchment paper. You may need to dust parchment with a bit of flour or powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking to the parchment.
Roll out the dough as thin as possible. I rolled mine to a quarter inch thickness, which is really too thick. You want to aim for an â…› of an inch if possible.
Cut the dough into shapes, a circle is traditional but you could use Christmas cutters or any shape really.
You might also like these holiday recipes: Pecan Tassies
Or Mexican Wedding Cookies aka Butterballs
Notes
The dough can be fussy when you're rolling it out. It may stick to the counter.
To counteract that problem, roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper, which you've lightly dusted with flour or powdered sugar.
If the shapes stick when you're removing it from the parchment, just slide the parchment paper with the rolled out dough onto a cookie sheet and put it in the refrigerator for ten to 15 minutes until it cools down and can be handled again without falling apart.
Recommended Products
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Joseph Joseph PrecisionPin Baking Adjustable Rolling Pin - Consistent and Even Dough Thickness for Perfect Baking Results, Multicolor -
Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet, 2-Pack, Silver
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Etekcity Food Scale, Digital Kitchen Scale, 304 Stainless Steel, Weight in Grams and Ounces for Baking, Cooking, and Meal Prep, LCD Display, Medium
Nutrition Information
Yield 36 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 70Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 14mgSodium 32mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 0gSugar 3gProtein 1g
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