Sandies

These delicate and crumbly cookies are light and buttery. They are similar to Mexican Wedding Cakes, but Sandies have their roots in Minnesota!

Recipe

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

1 cup (8oz) salted butter (I recommend Kerry Gold), room temperature

¼ cup (29g) sifted confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon (15mL) water

2 cups (284g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (125g) pecans, toasted (see tips) and finely chopped

Finishing

About ½ cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar for coating

Yield: 36 1½-inch cookies

Prep Time: 15 min.

Bake Time: 20-30 min.

Total Time: 35-45 min.

Type of Recipe:
Drop Cookies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F. Arrange the oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and water and mix to combine, about 30 seconds.
Add flour gradually and mix until incorporated.
Stir in the chopped pecans. The dough will be very soft!
Using a small cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), place 1½ inch balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. They will not spread so I’m able to get 15 cookies on a 12x18-inch baking sheet.
Bake two sheets at a time in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned, rotating the sheets halfway through baking. (Smaller cookies will take less time.) To see if they’re done, carefully lift one of the cookies and check that the bottom is lightly browned. Be sure not to burn yourself, as the cookies are hot.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for at least 5 minutes, then while still warm, gently roll each one in confectioners’ sugar and set on cooling rack to cool completely. The warm cookies are a bit fragile, so handle them lightly. I place the cookie into a bowl of confectioners’ sugar and use a spoon to coat it with the sugar. Rolling the warm cookies in confectioners’ sugar is what creates the sweet sugary-buttery layer that surrounds the finished cookie.
Cool cookies completely. Dust with additional confectioners’ sugar if they don’t look “snowy” after they’re cool.
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

Tips — How to toast pecans in the microwave

I buy shelled pecans in bulk and store them in the freezer so that I always have them on hand. I toast them early on baking day so that I have them ready when I’m putting the dough together. Here’s how I toast them in the microwave:

Spread 1 cup (125g) of whole frozen pecans on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high for 1 minute; stir, then microwave for 1 minute more; stir, and microwave for 30 seconds more. Remove the pecans from the microwave and give them one final stir. Let the nuts cool completely before chopping them and adding them to the cookie dough.