Homemade Pecan Sandies
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This recipe for melt-in-your mouth Pecan Sandies are way better homemade than the store bought kind! These old-fashioned shortbread sandy-textured cookies stand out for their deep toasted pecan flavor! It’s hard to turn down delicious, homemade cookies that are buttery with lots of vanilla flavor and crunchy pecans in every bite!
It’s perfect on the side with your morning coffee, a late-night treat and of course, Christmas baking with pecans, like these Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Chocolate Pecan Pie Brownies.
What Are Pecan Sandies?
The sandie or pecan sandie is a type of cookie made with shortbread and pecans. It’s not as hard as regular shortbread and has a softer texture. The pecans give the cookie a nutty, sweet flavor that lots of people love.
People say the name ‘sandie’ comes from the cookie’s color. Its origin is unknown, but some people think it comes from Arab cuisine.
What Makes a Cookie a Sandie?
Cookies with less sugar have a crumbly and soft texture, just like sand. Sandies have more butter added, which makes them airy and lighter when you eat them.
Why I Love This Pecan Sandies Recipe
- I love these buttery shortbread cookies, because they are so easy to make, firstly!
- These are the perfect pecan shortbread cookies on your cookie platter for the holidays! These are a favorite traditional pecan sandie cookie recipe that is loved by all!
- The ingredients you need are basic pantry items you already have!
- You can make the dough ahead of time, if you wish and bake the cookies the next day! The cookie dough has to chill at least 1 hour, but you can chill the dough for up to 2 days!
- Deliciously flavored with butter, vanilla and toasted pecans in every bite! Who can resist that?
Ingredients You Need
Pecan Sandies Recipe
- butter unsalted, cold & cubed
- powdered sugar
- granulated sugar
- salt
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- chopped pecans, roasted
/toasted
- almond milk or milk of choice, optional
How to Make Best Homemade Pecan Sandies
- For toasted pecans: Buy roasted chopped pecans
to use in recipe or you can preheat the oven 350F. Chop pecans and place on a baking sheet and bake for about 5-7 minutes. Toss them around after 3 minutes to ensure an even toasting. Set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cut the cold butter into cubes and using mixer, add butter, salt, and sugars. Mix on medium speed until the mixture is creamed into a paste, scraping the bowl down as needed.
- Add in the vanilla and flour and beat on low until almost combined then add the nuts and mix on low until incorporated. If your dough is still crumbly you can drizzle in a tablespoon of almond milk or milk of choice to help it come together.
- Turn dough out onto some saran wrap and mold into a log. Chill for at least an hour or up to 48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets
with parchment paper
then slice into coins between 1/2 and 1/3 inch thick. Place cookie coins on baking sheet about two inches apart and bake for 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden on the edge.
- Allow to cool completely on baking sheet or wire rack, then enjoy!
Shortbread Recipe Variations
- Nuts: Feel free to swap out the pecans for walnuts
, pistachios or hazelnuts
or a mixture of your favorite nuts!
- Add-Ins: Add white chocolate or drizzle some dark chocolate over the tops for a festive touch! You can add cinnamon or a little bourbon to amp up the jolly flavors too!
- Snowball Cookies: Roll cookie into dough balls, then bake them off. Then roll each cookie in powdered sugar to get those snowball cookies!
Storing Pecan Sandies
Cookies will last up to a week, in an airtight container.
Make Ahead and Freezing Cookies
- Cookie Prep Ahead: Make the dough and chill in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the dough or baked cookies for up to 3 months. These homemade pecan sandies may be frozen baked, but my favorite way to freeze Pecan Sandies is to scoop the dough balls and place onto a baking sheet as close together as you can but make sure they don’t touch. Freeze for about 30 minutes and transfer to freezer bags. Let thaw and bake as directed.
Cookie Tips
- Too much flour – Make sure you measure your flour correctly. Too much flour will result in dry, crumbly cookies. If you find the dough does have too much flour, try adding a tablespoon of almond milk or milk of choice to get some moisture back into your cookie dough.
- Cookies sliced too thin – If you slice the cookie coins too thin, this is fine, but keep in mind to not overbake too much.
- Overbaking cookies – These cookies are a little more forgiving when it comes to overbaking, but to get the best textured cookies, I found baking them for about 15 minutes for 1/2 inch cookies was just about perfect.
- Chilling the dough – We use cold butter, so we only have to chill the dough for an hour. However, you can chill the dough for up to 48 hours before baking them off. Chilling will help them not spread out as much, but they will spread and puff up some, so leave some room on your baking sheet.
You can’t beat the taste and easiness of this buttery pecan sandies recipe, so you better get to baking! This is the perfect pecan shortbread cookies recipe for the holidays!
More Delish Desserts!
- Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
- Pecan Pie M&M Blondies
- Cranberry Orange Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
- Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies
- Blueberry Lemon Bliss Cheesecake Bars
- Festive Chocolate Snowball Cookies
- Gingerdoodles
- Caramel Pecan Chocolate Oat Bars
Homemade Pecan Sandies
These melt-in-your mouth Pecan Sandies are way better homemade than the store bought kind! These old-fashioned shortbread sandy-textured cookies stand out for their deep toasted pecan flavor! It's hard to turn down delicious, homemade cookies that are buttery with lots of vanilla flavor and crunch pecans in every bite!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold & cubed
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon almond milk or milk of choice optional
Instructions
- For toasted pecans: Preheat oven 350F. Chop pecans and place on a baking sheet and bake for about 5-7 minutes. Toss them around after 3 minutes to ensure an even toasting. Set aside to cool.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and using mixer, add butter, salt, and sugars. Mix on medium speed until the mixture is creamed into a paste, scraping the bowl down as needed.
- Add in the vanilla and flour and beat on low until almost combined then add the nuts and mix on low until incorporated. If your dough is still crumbly you can drizzle in a tablespoon of almond milk or milk of choice to help it come together.
- Turn dough out onto some saran wrap and mold into a log. Chill for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper then slice into coins between 1/2 and 1/3 inch thick. Place cookie coins on baking sheet about two inches apart and bake for 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden on the edge.
- Allow to cool completely on baking sheet or wire rack, then enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 219kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 66mgPotassium: 44mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 319IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
Tried This Recipe?Let us know how it was by commenting below!
I’m with ya! Yay!
So dear, let’s start baking! So yummy !
Thank you so much Valentina!! I can guarantee they taste amazing!! 🙂
These sound so delicious. I love the maple-y flavor of pecans! What a great cookie for the holiday season, too! 🙂 ~Valentina