nicky's sand tart cookies
As a child, we always made the drive to spend the Christmas week at Grandmother Nicky's house. She had wonderful things baked for us kids, and I looked forward to sinking my teeth into the most was her sand tarts. They were thin and delicious. I could have eaten the whole huge cookie tin all by myself. After Nicky passed away in 1976, I looked through some of her cookbooks, but no sand tart recipe! Years later, I was reminiscing with a cousin, and she happened to have that particular recipe. So here it is. For a slightly different flavor, substitute 1 1/3 cups of brown sugar for white sugar.
Blue Ribbon Recipe
Enjoy these thin, crisp sand tart cookies for just about any occasion, but they're especially wonderful during the holidays. They're a thin, crisp old-fashioned cookie that's buttery and almost has the feel of a plain sugar cookie with something a little extra. Sprinkling the cookies with sanding sugar and almonds adds a little extra flavor and crunch. This is an easy cook recipe.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup real butter
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, sifted
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 cups bread flour, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if butter is unsalted)
- 1 large egg white
- 1/2 cup almonds, split and blanched
How To Make nicky's sand tart cookies
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Step 1Beat butter until soft. Gradually add the sugar until all is creamy. -
Step 2Then beat in one at a time, the egg, then the egg yolk (reserve the egg white).
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Step 3Beat in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest.
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Step 4In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
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Step 5Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
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Step 6Beat until just combined.
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Step 7Chill the dough for several hours.
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Step 8When chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll the dough until it is very thin. Cut it into inch and a half rounds or any desired shape.
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Step 9Place on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.
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Step 10Brush tops with egg white.
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Step 11Sprinkle them generously with sugar, and garnish them with the blanched split almonds. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until the edges begin to turn slightly brown. Remove from heat immediately, as they can burn quickly.
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Step 12Hint: I am not an accomplished baker, and usually would tear the thinly rolled dough, getting the cookies onto the parchment paper. I found that I could roll the dough out on the parchment, then transfer the whole thing to my cookie sheet, cut my cookies out in neat rows, and remove the excess dough from around them, then egg, sprinkle, garnish, and bake.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
