Pecan Sandies

Easy Pecan Sandies that are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. These are shortbread cookies sprinkled with roasted pecans throughout the dough and real butter goodness. They’re sweet, crumbly yet soft, and exceptionally good! A fun treat to make with the kids or as edible gifts for the holidays!

No way we’d run out of cookies in our jar. I’ve kept it stacked all the time for my son (**coughs**also for me**coughs). But for the last few days, I wasn’t feeling well due to my insomnia. It turned out that our cookie jar was left empty for days without me knowing.

Thankfully, I had my eyes all set in these buttery, nutty sandies cookies. These humble-looking cookies will make you want to reach one after the other. And if I remember it correctly, we’ve probably eaten the whole batch in one sitting. Yikes! I guess rewatching the Harry Potter movies in one go improved our appetite. Or is it?🤔😅

What are Pecan Sandies?

If this is your first time hearing about these golden brown cookies, well treat yourself. These Pecan Sandies, or sometimes referred to as sablé, is a type of sugar and shortbread cookies. It uses common cookie ingredients such as flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and the likes. And sometimes, pecans are thrown into the dough or placed atop the chookie as a finishing touch. But either way, you’d appreciate that nuttiness aroma from pecans that truly elevate this cookie far from others.

Pecan Sandies Cookies Ingredients

As mentioned, you only need easy peasy daily baking ingredients to recreate this sandie cookie recipe.

• Room temperature butter
• Pecans
• Light brown sugar and granulated sugar
• Egg yolks
• All-purpose flour
• Vanilla Extract (Homemade HERE)
• Salt

You probably might have noticed though that some Pecan Sandies Cookies uses confectioner’s sugar, I opted instead a combination of granulated sugar AND brown sugar to keep it moist and not dry. Plus, brown sugar adds depth in the flavor department 

Another thing. Please take note that your cookie dough should have that consistency akin to playdough – not too wet and sticky AND dry and crumbly.

How To Prepare Pecans

I couldn’t stress far more enough the vital role that these pecans play in this deliciously addictive pecan cookies. Although these babies here are quite easy to put together, it may require you just a teeny tiny bit of preparation for these pecans. Don’t worry, you’ll be rewarded greatly at the end of this.

To prepare these pecans…

1. Spread the chopped pecans out in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Take note that you can buy already chopped pecans or buy them whole and chop them yourself.
2. Then bake the pecans for about 8-10 minutes or until fragrant and browned. (Our house smelled heavenly at this point!). Remove from the oven and let it cool.
3. After cooling, add pecans in a food processor and pulse until its ground, but NOT TOO finely ground.

That’s it! Honestly, at this age, I’m surprisingly in favor of pecans in my cookies rather than chocolate chips. I know, I know. Don’t hate me though, I think everyone’s preferences change over time. 

That nutty aroma from the roasted pecans, that deep brown sugar, and the buttery flavor are just intoxicatingly good. You’ll see what I’m talking about once you pop your first cookie.

Recipe Variations

I want you to put your own stamp with your cooking/baking. And for this baked treat, you can do any of these variations below and make it your own.

• Other than pecans, you can also use walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts.
• If you prefer almond extract over vanilla extract, then so be it. This recipe is pretty forgiving.
• Love more bite in your cookies? You can toss in like chocolate chips (weeew!), sprinkles, or dried fruits like cranberries and raisins.
• If you’re making it with the kids (which I know for sure you will if you have kids stuck with you), feel free to use different fun cookie cutters.
• You can top the cookies with powdered sugar if desired, or melted chocolate and/or caramel.

Can You Freeze Pecan Sandies?

These homemade pecan sandies are perfect for freezing. In fact, I have about 4 logs of sandie cookie dough stashed in my freezer as of this writing. Coz you’ll never know when your craving hits you.

It’s as simple as shaping the dough into logs, covering it with a plastic wrap, and putting in the fridge for an hour or until hard enough to touch. Then transfer them into a freezer bag for up to a month. When ready to bake, simply defrost the dough in the fridge overnight, then slice and bake.

Baked cookies also freeze well. Just place them in an airtight container and freeze for 1-2 weeks.

More Easy Cookie Recipes

Oh I know you’re gonna ask about that. So here are other cookies that you can make at home.

• Snowball Cookies
• Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Coconut Drop Cookie
• Southern Tea Cakes(They’re more like a cross between cookies, biscuit, and cake. But let’s put it here anyway.😉)

 

How to Make Pecan Sandies Cookies

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the pecans out in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then bake for about 8-10 minutes or until fragrant and browned. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Add pecans in a food processor and pulse until nuts are ground. 

Using a mixer, cream together the butter, and granulated sugar and brown sugar at medium to high speed until it’s fluffy, about 4- 5 minutes. Stir in egg yolks, followed by flour, salt, and vanilla extract. Add ground pecans and thoroughly mix until fully combined. 

Cut about 14-15 inch long piece of plastic wrap and place on a board or work surface. Divide dough in half and place one half on the plastic wrap. Transfer half the dough to the plastic wrap, roll and shape into a log, about 1 ½-inch-thick log. Repeat with the other half. Place in the fridge for about 1-2 hours or until firm. As soon as the dough firms up or when ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Then line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the plastic wrap around the dough and slice the dough into rounds about ¼ inch thick, rotating the log as you go so that it retains its shape. Gently press a pecan half into the center of each cookie. Transfer on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake until the tops are slightly browned, about 20 minutes, rotating the sheet pan halfway through, if possible. Let them cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.