Mime’s Sand Tart Recipe (Half Batch)
Every year, my family makes sand tarts—thin and crispy butter cookies decorated with colored sugar or cinnamon-sugar. These festive cookies are always a hit and never last long!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ lb butter (room-temperature)
- 2 eggs
- colored sugar, sprinkles, or cinnamon-sugar (for decorating the cookies)
Note
- I halved the original recipe because it makes a lot of dough. But, feel free to make the full batch, if you want, the dough freezes well.
- Also, if you have a dairy allergy, you can make this dairy-free by substituting Earth Balance butter in equal amounts; I tried it this year and it worked well.
Directions
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Step 1
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| Using a stand mixer (or hand-held beater) beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add the flour. Stir until just incorporated. |
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Step 2
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| Divide the dough into 4 balls. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator to chill overnight. |
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Step 3
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| Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a sheet of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet on the counter and place one of the dough balls on top (leave the rest in the fridge until ready to use). Flatten the sand tart dough slightly with your hand. You might have to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften it for rolling. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough. Roll out the sand tart dough until it’s very thin, an 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch, almost as thin as you can make it. |
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Step 4
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| Remove the top sheet of parchment paper. Cut out the sand tarts using festive cookie cutters. |
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Step 5
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| Carefully peel the dough from around the sand tarts. If the dough is too soft, you may have to put it into the refrigerator for a few minutes before doing this step. Save the leftover dough to reuse. |
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Step 6
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| Decorate the sand tarts with colored sugar, sprinkles, or cinnamon sugar. |
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Step 7
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| Transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to a cold baking pan and bake at 325°F for 10-14 minutes, until they just slightly have some brown coloring around the edges. Start checking at 10 minutes; they cook fast and you don’t want them to overcook. |
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Step 8
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| Transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to cool. |
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Step 9
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| Repeat steps 3-8 with the remaining dough. |
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