Sand Tarts have been around my area for as long as I can remember. Sand Tarts are my mother's favorite Christmas cookie, and I wanted them last year. But, unfortunately, I have heard how tricky they can be, so I had to try my hand at baking these wafer-thin cookies for this year's Christmas dinner.
Lancaster County, PA, has a large Amish and Mennonite population, and sand tarts are a favorite Christmas cookie recipe for this region.
Most of the local folks have a favorite family recipe for Sand Tarts. Their favorite shape, thickness, and which nut to put on top, to name a few things.
Ingredients
- Flour
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Eggs
- Butter
- Pecan Halves
Many of the local churches have women members that have created cookbooks to raise money for their church. The recipes in these books have been handed down from one generation to another. One such book is the Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook, published in Reading, PA, and edited by Claire S. Davidow. As a result, I am familiar with many recipe names and have fond memories of tasting as I grew up.
The Sand Tarts recipe from the book was a terrific starting point. But I was not having fun rolling this cookie dough out, so I have added my way to making this recipe. I am positive my grandmother did not make them my way, but what the heck, as long as they taste the same, it doesn't matter how you get there.
Instructions on Making Sand Tarts
Once you have all of your ingredients well combined, wrap the dough in four sections in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Carefully flour a sheet of parchment and lay one section of dough in it. Top with another sheet of parchment and carefully roll it out as thin as possible between the sheets. Mine are half sheet pan size.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out your desired circles. Then you can add egg wash, cinnamon, and pecan halves, so they are ready to bake.
This wonderful cookie is sparkly and crisp and will melt in your mouth.
FAQ's
Can I use other nuts besides pecans? Yes, I know of many families that use walnuts, and they make a fantastic cookie.
Can I make my Sand Tarts any thickness? Well, of course, you can. 🙂 But if you want to have the old-fashioned German traditional PA, Dutch Sand Tarts need to be very thin and snap if broken in half.
More Holiday Cookies to Try
PA Dutch Sand Tarts
Barbara HallIngredients
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups (250 g) Sugar white
- 1 (1 ) Egg
- 2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour sifted
TOPPING
- 1 (1 ) Egg whites
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar white
- 1 cup (99 g) Halved Pecans
Instructions
- In a mixer, add the butter and mix until light and fluffy about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugar and blend for another couple of minutes. Add the egg and incorporate it into the butter-sugar mixture. Turn the mixer down and slowly add the sifted flour till all the flour is blended in. Place the dough onto a countertop or a pastry sheet and divide it into equal quarters. Take the four sections and flatten each one into a flat disk shape. Wrap each section with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Now comes the tricky part. Taking one disk of cookie dough out of the refrigerator, you put onto a floured countertop. Add flour on the top of the disc and roll your dough out to about 1/16 of an inch thick. For me, everything stuck to the countertop, the rolling pin, and even a pastry sheet. I was frustrated lol. If it works for you, you can skip to Step 5. If it did not work for you, I have an alternative way in Step 3.
- This step takes longer, but I got excellent results. I buy my parchment paper in half sheet sizes for baking my cookies. I took two sheets of parchment paper and place about ½ of 1 of the disks lightly floured between the two layers of parchment paper. I also have a rolling pin that has discs at each end to help maintain the thickness of my dough. After rolling the dough out, I placed the whole thing onto a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
- I bring the cookie sheet out of the freezer and peel the top piece of parchment paper off. Using a 2 or 3 inch round cookie cutter cut out the circles. If your dough is still soft and the cookie circles will not come off the parchment paper, stick it back into the freezer. Once they have firmed up, they come off much smoother. Transfer to a cookie sheet (I baked them right on the pan with no parchment paper). I keep the partial filled cookie sheet pan in the refrigerator to keep them cold till I can fill a cookie pan. Since I used a 3-inch circle cutter, it took me two rounds to fill one cookie sheet pan of 12 cookies. Preheat your oven to 350°.
- Once the cookies are on the pan and ready for the oven, take the egg white and slightly beat till a little frothy. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and white sugar and mix them. In another small bowl, have your pecan halves ready. Brush the egg white on the top of each cookie dough. Next, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar onto the egg white. Last put a pecan half in the center of the cookie — Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes. If your oven runs hot, keep an eye on them after 7 minutes. It does not take long for them to be overdone. Once out of the oven, move to a cooling rack. They should be thin, and the egg wash makes them crispy.
Joshua
From my wife's family in Western PA, they did not roll out the dough, but made small balls, and using the floured bottom of a sturdy glass, pressed the balls into thin flat disks.
Barbara
Hi Joshua, You are correct. There are a lot of people that have found other ways to get these thin cookies made and baked. I love hearing all the creative ways people make these cookies. Thank you for sharing your wife's family secret. -Barbara
Saralee
Have you ever heard of brushing with rose water? Or am I thinking of another cookie my grandmothers made.
Barbara
I have not heard of brushing sand tarts with rose water, but I did hear of brushing rose water onto sugar cookies. I personally have not done this, but it is an interesting concept. Please, if you try it let me know how it turns out. Barbara
Patty
All time favorite. My mom would literally make six times the recipe. A tip…instead of rolling it out, make a long log, wrap in parchment or wax paper, then refrigerate. Easy to slice thin with a sharp knife. (I have an old saw blade knife just for this.) saves tons of time! We use black walnuts, hazel nuts being hard to find.
Barbara
Hi Patty, What a great idea for slicing the cookie dough logs thin. Also, I love black walnuts! You may want to try my Black Walnut Maple Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing for more black walnut cookies.
Amy
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and the techniques to get them nice and thin and crispy! I’ve never made sand tarts before, but my mother-in-law loves them and gets them at the local farmers market. I made them for her as a late Mother’s Day present, and can’t wait to give them to her tomorrow! I snuck one or two cookies, and they tasted delicious!
Barbara
Oh Amy thank you so much for sharing this story, I hope you and your mother-in-law have a perfect day tomorrow.
Sandy Bruce
My Mom, Sister and I used to make Sand Tarts as one of our cookie gifts each year. One year we decided to double our recipe and had so many cookies we never doubled it again!!! I’m not sure if my recipe is the same as yours but rolling them very thin is the key. We also use a dab of beaten egg in the unbaked cookie and then a nut piece or sometimes other things just to be different. We also made different shapes for the holidays including the traditional (in our family)of the shapes,from,playing cards - hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. I’m originally from York, PA where my maternal family has lived since the beginning of York - they jumped the river from Lancaster County around the 1740s or so. My family is still in York and York County and I still try to get up north for the food I crave - I need to add Sand Tarts to my list and find some good ones at the local markets.
Barbara
Hi Sandy, I know the feeling of getting back to this area for the food! So glad you get a chance to return. I know many people use different shapes for these cookies, and I love them all. Since your family has long-standing roots in this area, you probably have some very old recipes. Treasure them!
Julie
Roll chilled dough into small balls. Place on greased cookie sheet, about 3" apart. Place waxed paper over the dough-filled cookie sheet. Use bottom of glass jar to flatten dough. Remove waxed paper and apply egg wash. Sprinkle each with cinnamon-sugar, then Place fruit or nut to center. Bake!
Barbara
Hi Julie,
WOW! What a great idea, I love it. Thank you for sharing that unique way, I will have to try it the next time I make sand tarts. -Barbara
Charles
Try rolling the dough into a log and put it in the freezer for a few hours then slice them with a cheese slicer. With the thin wire. Very easy to do.
Barbara
Hi Charles, Oh, what a fantastic idea. I would not have thought of that. But it makes perfect sense, and I will have to try this method the next time I make Sand Tarts. I love hearing from people about all the different ways to get these cookies so thin. Thank you - Barbara
Stacey
In this recipe you say in the first step to combine the butter with cream until fluffy but you don't have cream in the ingredients???
Barbara
Hi Stacy, I am so sorry I didn't word that very well, it should be cream the butter. I did make the change and sorry about the confusion. There is no cream as an ingredient.
Barbara
Triscalynne
I’ve made these for years. We use hazelnuts or black walnuts instead of pecans. Instead of rolling out, I roll dough into log, refrigerate, then slice very thin w a knife — saves time and mess. Then follow rest of recipe. My mother would make 12 times the recipe! Stored in old potato chip cans.
Barbara
Hi Triscalynne, you would not believe all the different ways I have heard people make these cookies. I had one guy who moved to Texas and got a tortilla press and put a small amount of cookie dough between floured wax paper and did it that way. I thought that was clever, but I LOVE your idea.
Dawn
I make mine the same way. My step mom showed me this method years ago and my kids can’t get enough of them. Would you know how long the finished cookies would keep when refrigerated or do they even have to be refrigerated, or can they be frozen.
Barbara
Hi Dawn,
I do not refrigerate my Sand Tart cookies; they tend to get soft. So I did a little research, and you can freeze them in an air-tight container for a month or two. But, I have always liked my Sand Tarts baked the week I will serve them since I know they will snap from the baked egg wash when you break them in half. 🙂
Anna Milotta
This is the way my Grandmother made them. She was from Mt Pleasant PA. Definitely a family favorite.
Barbara
Hi Anna, Thank you! It is a favorite of my mother and husband!