Pecan Sand Tarts
- 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
- 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 375F.
- 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.
pecans, flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, sugar, dark brown sugar, vanilla, egg, chocolate, sugar
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pecan-sand-tarts-100842 (may not work)