Hazelnut Sandies ~ I love the toasted nutty flavor, the buttery shortbread texture, and the sandy finish of these easy slice and bake shortbread cookies.
These melt in your mouth hazelnut sandies are the perfect blend of innovation and tradition. A little swiche-er-oo in the nut department and you’ve got a whole different cookie, but in a comforting, familiar sort of way. I think you’re going to love them too.
recipe tips for hazelnut sandies ~
- Make sure you use fresh hazelnuts. If you’ve had them in the cupboard forever don’t use them, nuts have a short shelf life. I like to keep mine in a zip lock freezer bag in the freezer.
- I like to toast my nuts for a full 15 minutes before I grind them, the flavor payoff is huge.
- Your butter should be at room temperature.
- Make sure you mix the dough until it comes together without dry spots, and really take a minute when forming your log to make sure it is firmly packed. This will help it stay together later when you slice it.
- Use an oven thermometer to be sure of your temperature, many ovens are not accurate.
Slice and bake cookie dough is probably the easiest of all cookies. Once you’ve got your log all bundled up there’s nothing left to do but, well, slice and bake!
I roll the whole sliced cookie in granulated sugar, making sure to get it all coated. The name ‘sandies’ derives from the sweet sandy texture on the outside of these cookies, so don’t skimp.
Pour yourself a cold glass of milk, a hot cup of espresso, or a little shot of Frangelico, and enjoy!
Other nutty cookies and bars to try ~
-
Pecan Praline Cookies
-
Scandinavian Almond Bars
-
Maple Walnut Shortbread Cookies
-
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Hazelnut Sandies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup, or 226g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling later
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup finely ground toasted hazelnuts (If you grind your own measure AFTER grinding, see instructions for roasting below*)
Instructions
- *To roast hazelnuts, put them on a baking sheet and toast at 350F for 12-15 minutes, giving the pan a shake a couple of times during cooking. Let cool, then grind in a food processor.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined and fluffy. Beat in the extract.
- Whisk the flour and salt together and add, along with the hazelnuts. Mix until the dough comes together. If it seems very dry you can add a teaspoon of ice water.
- Turn the dough out onto parchment paper and bring together with your hands. Form the dough into a firm log, about 11" long. Chill the dough for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Slice the dough in 3/8 inch slices. If your slices are not perfectly round, you can nudge them into shape with your fingers. Roll each cookie in sugar to coat both sides and the edges. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. The cookies will still be pale.
- Cool on a rack.
Notes
Sandie cookies will forever remind me of my Dad Sue. They were his favorite. I used to make him pecan sandies quite often, but I’m so excited to give these hazelnut ones a go!
This is a wonderful recipe especially since we love hazelnuts. Thanks Sue!
I am drooling over here. You have no idea. Never had one of these before but I am envisioning some buttery, creamy goodnessss in my mouth! 🙂
Yes, definitely a classic one but also the best one ! Thank you !