With the holiday season officially upon us, I have moved into heavy baking mode. This time of year, I especially love to bake cookies and other treats for giving to family and friends. I have stacks of recipes, old and new, to try out. I would love to share these recipes with you and hopefully give you some ideas for your own home-baked gifts. So, I am giving you my own little holiday baking guide, beginning with these cookies that remind me of my mother.
As a child, especially around the holidays, I frequently asked my mother to make one of my favorite cookies. She called them Sand Tarts. I loved helping her make them, especially shaping them and rolling them in confectioners’ sugar. After I began my own baking adventures, I came to realize that these cookies have many different names. Most frequently, I have seen them referred to as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Italian Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes. I’m not sure why those are all given a nationality in their names, but I suppose it just proves their worldwide appeal.
I don’t know what happened to my mother’s recipe for those cookies. I have looked through many of her collected recipes but I haven’t found it yet. I’ve been putting off making similar recipes because I really wanted to make the one I remember. Finally, I decided not to wait any longer and turned to a comparable recipe I found in Cook’s Illustrated’s Holiday Baking issue.
This recipe suggests trying different nuts, like almonds, pecans, hazelnuts. As most good Southern women would, my mother made hers with pecans. In my mind, they wouldn’t taste quite like hers anyway, so that’s why I went with hazelnuts. Well, that, and the fact that I’ve come to love hazelnuts this year.
As for the final result, they’re not exactly like Mama used to make, but they are very good. Flavor-wise, these are such simple cookies. To me, there’s just something about the simple combination of butter, flour, and nuts that is so appealing. The only downside is that with such subtle flavors, it’s far too easy to eat far too many.
Last year’s holiday baking extravaganza:
11 responses so far ↓
1 EAB // Dec 2, 2007 at 4:45 am
What a coincidence that I stumbled upon this. I’ve been living abroad for the past few months and have been feeling nostalgic for holiday baking (and, more specifically, for cookies like these). My mom and I usually make these every year using her old family recipe. We call them “sand tarts” as well and always make them with pecans. With a splash of extra vanilla thrown in, they are the best!
2 jennifer // Dec 2, 2007 at 12:03 pm
EAB, what a wonderful coincidence! I don’t know if it’s just the cookie or the memories, but these are definitely the best.
3 Gigi // Dec 2, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Just lovely! I know these as mexican wedding cookies. It doesn’t matter what there name is; as long as they taste great and bring back all of our wonderful Christmas memories.
4 JEP // Dec 2, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I’m going to make those cinnamon roll cookies—thanks for listing the recipe!
5 Ivonne // Dec 2, 2007 at 7:43 pm
These are one of my absolute Christmas favourites! Beautiful!
6 jennifer // Dec 2, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Thanks, Gigi and Ivonne!
JEP, you’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them.
7 Julie O'Hara // Dec 3, 2007 at 9:42 am
I love these too, and I’m trying to decide which recipe to go with. Are yours crisp or soft inside? I really like the soft, nearly underbaked variety.
Thanks,
Julie
8 jennifer // Dec 3, 2007 at 10:35 am
Julie, these cookies are wonderfully soft inside. I like all cookies a bit underbaked anyway. I’m not a big fan of crispy cookies. If you make them, let me know what you think!
9 Julie O'Hara // Dec 4, 2007 at 9:23 am
Thanks so much, Jennifer. The first thing I want to know about a new cookie recipe is, are they soft or crispy!
Julie
10 Chocolate-Macadamia Nut Clusters // Dec 4, 2007 at 5:00 pm
[...] not often that I bake with coconut. Quinn is vehemently opposed to it. However, with all the holiday baking I’ve been doing, it’s much easier to justify baking with it. There are [...]
11 Nan // Dec 4, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Oh, I loved these!! I hope you saved some for me! This was a specialty in our childhood, huh?
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