I’m excited to let you know I’m sharing our post for Food Holidays: June 22, 2021. Its National Pecan Sandy Day. One of my favorite cookies. I usually purchase Keebler Sandies Pecan Cookies at Walmart. Do you like Pecan Sandy’s and do you purchase the cookies or make them for yourselves.
June 23 is National Pecan Sandy Day these cookies are as old as the History of baking itself, and Pecan Sandy is relatively a new invention.
Sandy Cookies, or Sablé cookies, originated in France. There a Shortbread-like Butter Cookie with texture and color resembling sand. French “sablé” means sand in English, which is why the translated name is often used to describe the dough.
Sandy Cookies were very popular in France as Tea cookies and today they can be found worldwide. Lemon and Chocolate variations of traditional Sablé Cookies are the most popular.
But the Americans invented their own variety of Sandy Cookies. American Dough is a bit lighter than the original French Shortbread, and chopped Pecan Nuts are added to cookies.
One more variety – a half of Pecan Nut embellishment is on the top of each Cookie. No matter what kind of Pecan Sandy Cookies you will choose, their texture will melt in your mouth. This makes Sandy cookies a perfect companion to a cup of Tea or Coffee.
Happy National Pecan Sandy Day!
5 Fact about Pecans:
- If the body doesn’t get enough Zinc, it may have difficulty producing Testosterone – a key hormone in initiating Sexual desire in both men and women. Pecans provide nearly 10 percent of the recommended Daily Value for zinc.
- It would take 11,624 Pecans, stacked end to end, to reach the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.
- Texas adopted the Pecan tree as its State Tree in 1919. In fact, Texas Governor James Hogg liked Pecan trees so much that he asked if a Pecan Tree could be planted at his gravesite when he died.
- Albany, Georgia, which boasts more than 600,000 Pecan Trees, is the Pecan capital of the U.S. Albany hosts the annual National Pecan Festival, which includes a race, parade, Pecan-cooking contest, the crowning of the National Pecan Queen and many other activities.
- Pecan Trees usually range in height from 70 to 100 feet, but some trees grow as tall as 150 feet or higher. Native Pecan Trees – those over 150 years old – have trunks more than three feet in diameter.
Recipe for Pecan Sandy Cookies
- 1 cup margarine, softened
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- ½ cup white sugar for decoration
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, vegetable oil, 1 cup white sugar and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the pecans. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball in remaining white sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Step 3: Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates