Pecan Sandies
I've never been a huge fan of nuts in desserts.... and then I made Peach and Pecan Sandy Crumble, and the toasted pecans blew my mind! So, of course I made these next, and devoured almost the entire batch on my own.
1 cup (about 110 grams) pecans
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour 1 cup (225 grams or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup (80 grams) confectioners’ sugar 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons (25 grams) turbinado (raw) sugar |
Toast the pecans
Preheat the oven to 300°. Spread the nuts out in one layer on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until well toasted and fragrant, about 10-13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Make the cookies In a food processor, grind the nuts with 1/4 cup flour as fine as possible, then set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Sift together the remaining flour, salt and baking powder and add to the dough. Mix just until combined. Stir in the nut mixture to combine. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours. Preheat the oven to 325°. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper into a 10x16 rectangle, about 3/16" thick. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1 inch squares. Using a fork or a chopstick, poke 4 holes in each cookie (so they look like dice) then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. If the dough gets too warm to work with, place back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up. Place squares 1 inch apart on a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until pale golden all over. Cool on a wire rack. |
Source
Notes:
Notes:
- The first time I made these I accidentally mixed the turbinado sugar into the dough. It made for a delightful crunch to the cookies!