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.
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Dutch Cook Book
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.
FAQs
Yes, I know of many families that use walnuts, and they make a fantastic cookie.
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
Recipe
PA Dutch Sand Tarts
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
- 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 it onto a floured countertop. Add flour on the top of the disc and roll your dough out to about ⅛ of an inch thick. If you can get it thinner, all the better. 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 does 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 with ⅛-inch thickness 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 pan 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°F (175°C or 180°C).
- 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°F (175°C or 180°C) 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.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
Diane G says
Love this recipe being a Lancaster girl at heart.could you just slice the cookies into squares rather than use a cookie cutter? Quicker I would think!
Barbara says
Hi Diane, Yes you can do squares, 😊 as long as they are thin it really is up to you what shape you make them. - Barbara
Shiloh Strain says
I was born in Lancaster County, along with my dad, grandpa, and great-grandparents. Sand Tarts are my dad’s favorite cookie and impossible to find in the south where we all live now. This recipe is exactly like what we get in PA. I make them for Father’s Day every year. Thank you!
Barbara says
Hi Shiloh, I am so glad to see another person from Lancaster County. These are one of my mom's favorite cookies also so I can relate. Today is Father's days, mine passed away a couple of months ago but I am so happy you still can share this day with your dad. - Barbara
Sandra K Ostermeier says
I’ve made these for over 50 years. Instead of rolling out the dough and then cutting with cookie cutters, I pinch off a piece of dough and put it on the parchment paper where it will bake. Then I press the bottom of a cup or glass on the dough, repeatedly dipping in sugar (so it doesn’t stick to the glass), until my cookie is very, very thin and round (it will not be sharp round “cut” like you’d get with a cookie cutter— but is pretty anyway. It’s important tthe glass bottom is not concave with a rim, but perfectly flat. Instead of a pecan half, on some cookies I place a candied cherry half in the center.
Barbara says
Hi Sandra, I have done that trick with a glass on other cookies but just didn't make the connection to use it for this cookie. Thank you so much and I love the candied cherry idea! Happy Holidays! - Barbara
Cale says
I have this same recipe hand written by my great-great grandmother. of course I am missing the personal touch and tips passed along, so I found this recipe online for some additional guidance and it has the same measurements. Excited to bake these this year
Barbara says
Hi Cale, I am so glad you found my recipe! I hope you find that combining your great-great-grandmother recipe and my tips brings you joy this holiday season. Merry Christmas!!! - Barbara
Joyce says
nice recipe
Barbara says
Thank you so much Joyce!
Shawna says
My family is PA Dutch and I have my grandmother’s handwritten recipes. Sadly, she used a felt-tip marker for some and 40+ years later, the ink is starting to run. I googled and found your recipe and your ingredients are the exact proportion for my grandmother’s. I was thrilled! Thank you!
Barbara says
Oh Shawna I am so happy I was able to give you a gift of updating your grandmothers handwritten recipe. I wish you luck in updating any of the other precious recipes in the future. Happy Holidays - Barbara
Tammy says
Me n my grandmother would make these every year .had fun decorating them when I was a child
Barbara says
Oh Tammy I love hearing that these cookies bring back such good memories. I hear this so often and it still makes me smile. - Barbara
Nora says
With Amish and Mennonites in my family tree, baking sand tarts was a family affair every Thanksgiving weekend during my youth (1941-1959) in Lancaster County. My mother was great at rolling them so thin you could see light through them when baked, a talent I never acquired. The mennonite side of the family pressed chopped peanuts in their sand tarts while the Amish side preferred black walnuts. These were sealed in air tight cans during the few weeks until Christmas so that the black walnut flavor mellowed through the cookies.
Barbara says
Oh, Nora what a wonderful memory of the baking of Sand Tart cookies. Thank you so much for sharing your story. - Barbara
C T says
I divide the dough and wrap each half on a piece of parchment paper and roll back and forth into a cylinder and then place them in the refrigerator overnight.
This makes it easier to cut the dough into 1/8" pieces and add the egg wash, cinnamon, pecans then bake.
Barbara says
Hi CT, I agree but I always have such a hard time cutting anything that thin with a knife. lol I have had many people say they make them just like you do. Thank you so much- Barbara