This 200-Year-Old Cookie Recipe Is Just as Delicious Today
Sand tarts are a classic retro cookie that dates back generations. They’re right in between buttery, crumbly shortbread and sugar cookies, with a pecan half pressed in the center. This foolproof recipe is ideal for Christmas, Easter, or any old gathering.
As a New Englander, I have a well-worn copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook that’s guided three generations of home cooks and bakers. I browse my family’s old cookbooks like this for illegible scribbles, stars, exclamation points—anything that suggests a good bake and a fun story.
Believe it or not, sand tarts are not tarts. They’re crisp, buttery cookies halfway between shortbread and a sugar cookie, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a pecan half (though Fannie Farmer calls for almonds). They’re a popular Christmas and Easter cookie, but their addictive buttery, nutty flavor makes them a satisfying treat year-round.
So why the name? Sand tarts have a sandy texture, in a good way, like crumbly shortbread that breaks into buttery bits with each bite. Many old European cookies also include sand in the name. Norway has sandbakelse, Germany has Heidesand, and France has sablés. Since these cookies are Pennsylvania Dutch, they most likely evolved from these classic sandy shortbread recipes brought over long ago.
My Ideal Sand Tart
Because sand tarts have been around for so long, I found numerous versions of the cookies as I learned more about them.
My version—after testing, tinkering, and tasting—leans a little closer to the shortbread end of the spectrum than sugar cookie. Most versions call for an egg in the dough and an extra egg white brushed on before baking to get the toppings to stick. But I like the neatness of using one egg: a yolk in the dough and saving the white for the topping. This also makes for a richer, crumblier cookie.
I like to mix the dough in the food processor, cutting cold butter into the flour, rather than creaming room-temperature butter and sugar together with a mixer. And I opt for powdered sugar over granulated sugar. These choices push my version closer to a shortbread, but also shorten how long the dough needs to chill before rolling them out.
Tips and Tricks for Rolling Out the Dough
I’ll be upfront about it, sand tart cookie dough is not the easiest to work without some patience. The dough can stick to the counter, the rolling pin, and your hands. Here are my tips for keeping the dough in check:
- Keep the dough cold. After mixing, chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling it out, and chill as needed throughout shaping.
- Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Not only does this prevent the dough from sticking to the counter and rolling pin, but it also makes it easy to transfer the whole package, dough and parchment, into the fridge or freezer at any stage if it gets too soft.
- When in doubt, pause and let it chill. If the dough gets soft or sticks, let it chill in the freezer for 10 minutes, then try again. When the dough is cold and firm, it should release easily from the parchment paper.
More Retro Cookie Recipes
Make the cookie dough:
Add the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse a few times to combine.
Add the butter. Pulse several times until the butter has been cut into the flour and the mixture resembles coarse sand.
Add the wet ingredients:
In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the yolk, cold water, and vanilla extract.
With the food processor running on low, slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Stop the food processor as soon as the dough starts to come together.
Chill the dough:
Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and transfer the dough onto the plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a disk about 1 inch thick. You can use the plastic to help shape the dough without it sticking to your hands.
Seal the dough and set it in the fridge to chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside until ready to use. If you don’t have 3 baking sheets, you can bake them in batches, making sure to let the pans cool completely in between batches.
Cut 2 more large sheets of parchment paper about 16 inches long to roll out the cookies with.
Roll out the dough:
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. Wrap one of the halves back up in the plastic and place it back in the fridge so you can work with one half at a time.
Roll out the dough between the two sheets of parchment paper to between 1/16 and 1/8-inch thick. Place the dough, still between the sheets of parchment, on a baking sheet and set it in the freezer to chill for 5 minutes.
Cut out the cookies:
Take the dough out of the freezer and put it back on the counter. Peel off the top sheet of parchment. Cut out the cookies with a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter and transfer to one of the parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart.
The dough scraps can be gathered into a ball, then flattened into a disk and chilled to re-roll two more times. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to work with, chill it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place the cut-out cookies in the freezer or refrigerator to chill while working with the second half of the dough.
Add the toppings:
Beat the egg white in a small bowl with a whisk or a fork until frothy. In another small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and the cinnamon.
Brush the tops of the cookies with the egg white. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and add a pecan half to the center of the cookie.
Bake:
Bake the cookies in batches, two trays at a time, rotating the sheets between oven racks halfway through baking, until the cookies have set and the edges are just barely beginning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes.
Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Sand tarts can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to 1 week.
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