PECAN SAND TARTS

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Pecan Sand Tarts image

Provided by Joyce White

Categories     Chocolate     Nut     Bake     Pecan     Winter

Yield Makes about 30 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 12

1 cup pecans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed and free of lumps
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup coarsely grated bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (about 2 ounces)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Steps:

  • Chop the pecans rather finely but don't pulverize into a powder. Set aside. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  • Combine the butter and both sugars in a large mixing bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer set at medium-high or creaming speed, beat until light and fluffy for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping the bowl once or twice with rubber spatula.
  • Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat 30 seconds longer.
  • Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the chopped pecans and mix well. Stir in the flour and mix only until blended.
  • Gather the dough into a ball in the center of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 1/2 hours.
  • When ready to bake, combine the grated chocolate and the granulated sugar and set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a baking sheet.
  • Dampen your fingertips with cold water. Using level tablespoons of batter for each cookie, shape the dough into bars about 3/4 to 1 inch wide and 2 1/2 inches long, patting into shape with your fingers.
  • Place the bars on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
  • Set the pan of cookies in the center of the preheated oven on the middle shelf and bake the cookies for 8 minutes.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the cookie tops with some of the chocolate-sugar mixture, using about 1 teaspoon per cookie. Return the cookies to the oven, reverse pan from front to back, and bake for 5 to 7 minutes longer, or until lightly browned and the topping is melted.
  • Remove the cookies from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 2 or 3 minutes, and then remove from the pan with a metal spatula and cool completely on the rack.
  • Bake the remaining cookies, one pan at a time, in the same way.

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