One of my folk recipe collections is a book written by Amish women for Amish women. First thing I noticed when I flopped it open was the first cookie recipe was "Sand Tarts" and there were nearly a dozen variations. This is something I've never heard of, so of course I had to try it.
Most sand tarts, apparently, are rolled cookies, topped with cinnamon sugar in an egg wash. With Fibro, I find rolling and cutting cookies to be uncomfortable. So I opted to try the two (identical, by the same person, Mrs. Mary King) "drop" sand tart recipes, with a few ingredients added from the rolled versions.
What's written:
Drop Sand Tarts
1 lb butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
4 c flour
Drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 or 375.
What I did:
I creamed butter and sugar really well. I'm a big fan of vanilla, so I added 3 tsp of vanilla and two eggs and beat well. Then we added the flour, a pinch of salt, and 1/8 tsp baking soda. Mixed it good and dropped it on a greased cookie sheet. The dough was much stiffer than drop cookies usually are. They worked better when I flattened them slightly with my fingers or a fork (you could also use a sugared bottom of a tumbler). I baked them 8 minutes and removed them immediately from the cookie sheets to a cooling rack. 375 crisped the edges too much; I cooked the later batches at 355 and they came out brilliant.
I love the pure vanilla flavor of these cookies. I love the texture--half way between a soft sugar cookie and shortbread. Actually, the flavor is about half way between as well.
This is definitely going on my list of go-to favorite cookies.
Most sand tarts, apparently, are rolled cookies, topped with cinnamon sugar in an egg wash. With Fibro, I find rolling and cutting cookies to be uncomfortable. So I opted to try the two (identical, by the same person, Mrs. Mary King) "drop" sand tart recipes, with a few ingredients added from the rolled versions.
What's written:
Drop Sand Tarts
1 lb butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
4 c flour
Drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 or 375.
What I did:
I creamed butter and sugar really well. I'm a big fan of vanilla, so I added 3 tsp of vanilla and two eggs and beat well. Then we added the flour, a pinch of salt, and 1/8 tsp baking soda. Mixed it good and dropped it on a greased cookie sheet. The dough was much stiffer than drop cookies usually are. They worked better when I flattened them slightly with my fingers or a fork (you could also use a sugared bottom of a tumbler). I baked them 8 minutes and removed them immediately from the cookie sheets to a cooling rack. 375 crisped the edges too much; I cooked the later batches at 355 and they came out brilliant.
I love the pure vanilla flavor of these cookies. I love the texture--half way between a soft sugar cookie and shortbread. Actually, the flavor is about half way between as well.
This is definitely going on my list of go-to favorite cookies.
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