Sand Tarts- International Cookie Exchange, ABC

"You pace the deck like a caged beast, for one who enjoys the hashish you should be more at peace"

Sinbad

I grew up in New Jersey ( I now live in Georgia)  where we had available the big three broadcasting stations, ABC, NBC, and CBS. ( when there was no such thing as cable)  I loved ABC and watched the 4:30 Movie everyday. It was an extra bonus, when it was a

SINBAD movie,

or GODZILLA WEEK!!

The Eyewitness News  (ABC)  was the ONLY news station I would watch.  What kid would like  watch the news? I love  Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons. They still broadcast.  Do these two never age? They look exactly like I remember  30  years ago! 

Sue Simmons cusses! 

 We in the Tri-state area all got a good chuckle over this :)

 A strange curiosity about meteorologists or more affectionately," weathermen". Storm Field and Sam Champion! YES, their real names. Storm's dad is also a meteorologist, so you all get the joke here. Both these gents were the meteorologists.... at.......GUESS Where?..... Eyewitness News

Sam Champion

Funny meteorologist names

 I had the pleasure of joining in on a international cookie exchange hosted by: Adrienne of Gastroanthropology (Cinnamon Mexican Wedding Cakes) and Lori of Fake Food Free  (Russian Tea Cakes).

 I share a recipe lisa is cooking,-- GREAT BLOG! and receive a recipe . The recipe I received to bake and blog is below: Gundrun of Kitchen Gadget Girl. has a WONDERFUL BLOG . Please visit her link :) I should have posted this days ago. However, the computer Demons decided to infect my computer. I had to restore the whole thing. The good news it is working like brand new.

One of my very favorite cookies from childhood was the Sand Tart, a cookie my Mom made only at Christmas (not sure why, nothing particularly holiday about it!), and each year I think about bringing it back for my cookie tray. For one reason or another, usually that there are so many other interesting cookie recipes to try, I rarely get around to it, but this year I would like to share the recipe with you and make a concerted effort to bring this cookie back onto my holiday cookie tray.

A very simple cut-out cookie, the Sand Tart has cinnamon ‘n sugar (my Mom always kept an old spice jar filled with her own mix) as well as a blanched almond on the top. We cut them into triangles, using angles and slides, but you could easily use your favorite cookie cutter.  

Gudrun of  kitchengadgetgirl

 Sand Tarts

Family favorite from the 1930′s, originally from Everyday American Cookbook

• 1 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cinnamon and sugar mixture
• Blanched almond halves

Sift flour and salt together.

Cream butter until light; add sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in 1 whole egg and one egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Gradually add in flour mixture and mix until well blended. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. Beat remaining egg white slightly.

Roll dough out to 1/8″ thick on lightly floured surface. Cut out with a cookie cutter (or use a pizza cutter to make diagonal lines) and place shapes on the prepared cookie sheets. Brush each cookie with egg white; sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and press 1/2 almond into the center of each.

Bake 8 minutes until delicately brown.

A few thoughts about this recipe....

1. I loved the hint of lemon in the back round with the cinnamon, a nice mix 

2. I am not sure why you decorate it with a blanched almond?. When there is no almond in the cookie? So I would change the vanilla extract to almond, if I was going to decorate it with them.

3. Added a silver dragee for a more holiday look. 

4. I rolled these in Demerara sugar. They made the outside more crunchy. Not sure if I found this pleasing. I think regular white sugar/cinnamon is better.

Sam Champion Sand Tarts ( now you get the connection of this post )

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks salted butter (3/4 cup), softened, plus additional for greasing

1 cup sugar, plus 2 tbsps.

1 whole large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Cooking Directions

Stir together butter and 1 cup sugar vigorously with a wooden spoon in a large bowl until combined well, then stir in whole egg and vanilla until smooth. Add flour and stir until just incorporated. Transfer dough to a 24-inch-long log (2 inches wide). Chill, wrapped in wax paper, until firm, at least four hours.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease two large baking sheets with additional butter. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl.

Cut chilled log crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick slices, arranging slices about one inch apart to fill both baking sheets. Chill remainder of log wrapped in wax paper. Lightly brush sliced cookies with some egg white, then sprinkle with some of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Cool on sheets three minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough, cooling and greasing baking sheets between batches.

Recipe makes four to six dozen cookies. Dough can be chilled up to five days, or frozen, wrapped in wax paper and foil, for one month. Transfer frozen dough to refrigerator to thaw slightly, at least two hours, before slicing. Cookies can be baked one week ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

An adaption I would try.....

Italian Sand Tarts  ( because I love lemon and hazelnut together)

• 1 1/4 cup unsalted  butter
• 2 cups white sugar ( or a mix of 1 1/2 white and 1/2 light brown?)
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups hazelnut flour 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pinch cinnamon 
• Blanched hazelnut  ( decoration)
• roll in white sugar

These last two recipes have not been tested. Hopefully one day I will get to them, or maybe someone could test them for me.

It was a lot of fun participating in a virtual cookie exchange. I found some great blogs and some recipes. The best part is walking down memory lane. Go ABC! Next time I will fill you in on the FIRST reality competition I  ever saw, Battle of The Network Stars!

In šhāʾ Allāh (إن شاء الله)