I grew up calling these cookies Pecan Sandies, but they go by other names too, the Mexican Wedding Cookie or Russian Tea Cake. Given the variety of names for this cookie, it’s no surprise that this delightful treat has been made for centuries and all over the world too. And, for good reason. The Pecan Sandie is absolutely delicious, tender, nutty, and delicately sweet. They are one of my all-time favorite cookies, perfect for celebrating the holidays or really any time of year.
To make, preheat an oven to 350 deg F. Using a food processor, chop 1¼ cups of pecans until fine. Set aside. In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat one cup of room temperature butter with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and ¼ teaspoon of almond extract to the butter mixture. Mix to incorporate. Next add 2 cups of flour and ½ teaspoon of salt to the batter and mix until combined. Last, stir in the reserved chopped pecans.
Roll 1 tablespoon portions of dough into balls with your hands and place on baking sheets that have been lined in parchment paper. Repeat until all of the cookies have been shaped. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until just starting to take on color. Remove the cookies from the heat and let them cool for 5 minutes. While the cookies cool, pour 1¼ cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Roll the still warm cookies into the powdered sugar until completely coated. Let the cookies cool completely, then roll them into the powdered sugar once more. This recipe makes approximately 36 cookies.
Pecan Sandies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup pecan halves
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar, plus 1¼ cups (divided)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F.
- In a food processor, chop the pecan halves until fine. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat the butter and ½ cup of powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
- Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and mix.
- Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix until combined.
- Last, stir in the chopped pecans until well incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Using your hands, roll tablespoon-sized amounts of cookie dough into balls. Place the unbaked dough balls onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper, leaving about an inch of space between each cookie. Repeat until all the dough balls have been shaped.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they are just starting to turn golden brown.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes. While the cookies cool, pour the remaining 1¼ cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Roll the warm cookies into the powdered sugar. Let the cookies cool completely, then roll them into the powdered sugar again.
- This recipe makes 36 cookies.
