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nicky's sand tart cookies

(3 ratings)
Mysstyblue avatar
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Caroline Reznicek
@Mysstyblue
Goochland, VA

As a child, we always made a 4 hour drive to spend the Christmas week at Grand Mother Nicky's house. She always had wonderful things baked for us kids and the thing I looked forward to sinking my teeth into the most was her sand tarts. They were so thin and delicious that I know I could have eaten the whole huge cookie tin all by myself. After Nicky passed away in 1976, I looked through some of the cook books that my mother had been given from her, 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. ENJOY!

Blue Ribbon Recipe

A really tasty, light cookie! With a delicate lemon flavor these are both refreshing and addictive.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(3 ratings)
yield serving(s)
prep time 3 Hr 30 Min
cook time 5 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For nicky's sand tart cookies

  • 1 1/4 c
    sugar sifted
  • 3/4 c
    real butter
  • 1
    egg
  • 1
    egg yolk
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla
  • 1 tsp
    lemon zest (grated lemon rind)
  • 3 c
    bread flour sifted
  • 1/4 tsp
    salt (if butter is unsalted)
  • 1
    egg white
  • 1/2 c
    almonds, split and blanched
  • OPTIONS
  • A GOOD SAND TART WITH A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FLAVOR MAY BE MADE BY FOLLOWING THIS RECIPE AND SUBSTITUTING 1 1/3 CUPS OF BROWN SUGAR FOR WHITE SUGAR

How To Make nicky's sand tart cookies

  • 1
    Beat butter until soft and gradually add the sugar until all is creamy.
  • 2
    Then beat in one at a time, the egg, the egg yolk, the vanilla and the lemon zest.
  • 3
    Sift flour and salt (if necessary) together and gradually add into the butter mixture until the ingredients are well blended.
  • 4
    Chill the dough for several hours.
  • 5
    When chilled, roll the dough until it is very thin. Cut it into inch and a half rounds or any desired shape and place on greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.
  • 6
    Brush tops with egg white.
  • 7
    Sprinkle them generously with sugar, and garnish them with the blanched split almonds.
  • 8
    Bake them at 350F for about 5 minutes or until the edges begin to turn slightly brown. Remove from heat immediately as they can burn quickly.
  • 9
    HINT: I am not an accomplished baker, and usually would tear the thinly rolled dough getting the cookies to the parchment paper. I found that I could roll the dough out on the parchment, then transfer 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! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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