Pecan Sandies Recipe

This Pecan Sandies Recipe is a shortbread type cookie.

Using granulated sugar and a few other adjustments to a standard shortbread recipe makes a cookie up to the standards of the Keebler Elves.

One of the adjustments, along with the addition of a little water and vanilla extract, is creaming the butter and sugar. If you're not familiar with that process you can read more about it below.

Pecan Sandies Recipe

1 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp water
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour sifted
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add 2 teaspoons water and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Add 2 cups sifted flour and 1 cup chopped pecans.

Chill 3-4 hours. Form balls place an ungreased cookie sheet. You can bake them as balls but I prefer flattening them out to a more traditional cookie shape.

Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. This pecan sandies recipe makes about 36 cookies.

This pecan sandies recipe requires the creaming of butter and sugar. A lot of people don't really understand the meaning of the creaming method. Here is how I do it:

Have all ingredients at cool room temperature. 65 to 70 degrees f.

Put the butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer and cream at low speed for about 1 minute or until it's soft. Add the sugar. Change the speed of the mixer to medium and leave it alone for at least 4 minutes.

This is the single most important step in the creaming method. Because this is where bubbles are formed. The sugar perforates the butter and the holes are where the bubbles are formed. The bubbles are later going to form the texture.

After a few minutes on high you can see the butter mixture has fluffed up and has turned a lighter color. That's because air bubbles change the way light reflects off the butter.

You can also cream with a hand mixer but it will take much longer. I'm sure in the past it was done by hand but I wouldn't attempt it.

Enjoy the Pecan Sandies Recipe.

More About Shortbread Cookies

Thanks to the Internet we can purchase things today that we never could before. I've never seen shortbread pans or shortbread molds in my usual cooking supply stores but they're readily available over the Internet.

The same is true with Walker shortbread cookies. I'm not sure if they make a Pecan Sandies Recipe, but just imagine being able to buy buttery shortbread cookies made in the Scottish Highlands prior to the Internet.

Use the search box at the bottom of the page and you'll be able to find them all.

Walker Shortbread Cookies

English shortbread is a tradition in the British Isles but Walker shortbread cookies are Scottish. This buttery shortbread is baked at the Walker family bakery located in a secluded village in the Scottish Highlands.

Walker Shortbread Cookies are classic pure butter shortbread. Walker shortbread cookies are baked fresh daily in small batches with only the finest shortbread ingredients available.

Shortbread Pans and Shortbread Molds

To keep basic Scottish shortbread cookies traditional they should be baked in shortbread pans or shortbread molds. Shortbread was originally baked in wooden shortbread molds that were notched at the edges to signify the rays of the sun.

Today shortbread pans and shortbread molds are made of ceramic and come in many sizes and shapes. Most also have a decorative design.

Shortbread pans and shortbread molds need to be dusted with flour or powdered sugar before filling with the Pecan Sandies Recipe to ensure easy release. After filling with the Pecan Sandies Recipe dough they should be chilled about 15 minutes before baking so the designs will retain their shape.

You Might Need:

• Kitchen Supply Aluminum Half Size Sheet Pan 18-inch by 13-inch

• Calphalon 12-by-17-Inch Rectangular Nonstick Cooling Rack

• Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat

• Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoop