Name: Sand Tarts
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups (10 ounces/283 grams) all-purpose flour; 1 3/4 cups (12¼ ounces/347 grams) sugar; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened; 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk; 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 1/4 cup sliced almonds (see note)

Why This Recipe Works

Sand Tarts—once-popular cinnamon-sugar cookies—are now mostly forgotten, maybe because the dough is so hard to work with. We wanted to resurrect Sand Tarts by making an easy recipe for them. Cutting the butter into the sugar and flour—a technique known as reverse creaming—incorporated almost no air into the dough and produced flat, crisp Sand Tarts that looked like sand dollars. Switching from a stand mixer to a food processor to mix ingredients also helps minimize the amount of air incorporated into the dough. Pressing the individual balls of soft, butter-rich dough into thin cookies works much better using this technique than rolling and cutting out the dough. We rolled each 1 1/2-inch ball in cinnamon sugar before flattening them with the bottom of a measuring cup coated with cooking spray. We sprinkled each Sand Tart with more cinnamon sugar before decorating with sliced almonds and baking.

Before You Begin

Both sliced natural almonds and blanched slices work well here.

Instructions

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and salt in food processor until combined. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until just incorporated. Add egg and yolk and pulse until soft dough forms.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and flatten into 1-inch-thick disk. Transfer to freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar in small bowl. Break disk of chilled dough into 2 pieces and return 1 piece to freezer. Working with your floured hands, take 1 1/2 tablespoons chilled dough and roll into 1 1/2-inch ball, and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Place balls 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Press balls into 2 1/2-inch disks with greased measuring cup, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and garnish with almonds.

Bake cookies until edges are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cool 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely. Repeat rolling, shaping, and garnishing process with remaining dough and bake as directed. Serve. (Cookies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.)