Old-Fashioned Sand Tarts - Farm Bell Recipes

suzanne-mcminn

A Christmas classic.

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Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4 dozen

Prep Time: 30 minutes plus overnight Cook Time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

4 cups flour

2½ sticks butter

2 eggs

blanched almonds

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs, then the flour. Once you have added all the flour it will be very stiff and you might have to finish mixing it with a wooden spoon or your hands unless you have a heavy-duty mixer. Take about half the dough and roll it out to something less than 1/4-inch thick–thicker than pie crust but not much. Then cut into diamonds. Do this by cutting it into strips a little less than 2 inches wide and then cutting across those strips diagonally. The diamonds should be slightly longer than they are wide. Use a pizza wheel–the points tend to bend with a knife. Transfer to cookie sheets–the cookies are soft and a pancake turner-type spatula is best to do this. Using a pastry brush and beaten egg white, brush each tart. Dust with cinnamon.

For the traditional crowning touch–place a blanched almond in the center, aligned with the long dimension of the diamond. Let cut cookies stand overnight (or all day–eight hours or so). Cover with dish towels. (At room temperature, not in the refrigerator.) After at least eight hours of rest time, bake at 375-degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Categories: Cookies & Bars, Desserts, Entertaining, Holiday

Tags: Christmas Cookie