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Toasty and nutty with a lovely sourdough tang, these pecan sandies are a delicious take on my sourdough discard shortbread cookies. They’re just as easy, but with chopped pecans, brown sugar, and vanilla for a crumbly, buttery treat that’s not too sweet. Decorated with a pecan on top, these simple slice-and-bake cookies make a great family treat as well as a wonderful gift!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
So Easy – This cookie recipe uses the food processor all the way, avoiding any chopping of nuts or hand-mixing. You’ll blitz the pecans to a rough crumb before adding the rest of the ingredients and then it’s just a matter of letting the dough rest.
No Rolling or Cookie Cutters – As much fun as it is to break out the cookie cutters every so often, I love a slice-and-bake cookie! I like to dress them up by pressing a whole pecan into the center, but you could also dust them with powdered sugar or a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce.
Great Flavor – The combination of pecans, brown sugar and vanilla creates a warm, buttery flavor that pairs perfectly with the subtle tang of sourdough discard. They have that classic sandy shortbread texture, but with a little extra depth.
Ingredients
- Pecans – You’ll blitz most of these into a fine crumb for the classic sandy texture. If you’d like to decorate the cookies with pecan halves, pick out the nicest looking ones before processing the rest. Finely ground pecans give the best texture, but be careful not to over-process into pecan butter.
- All Purpose Flour
- Butter – I’ve use salted butter straight from the fridge. Unsalted butter, or homemade butter works great too. Add a small pinch of extra salt if you’re butter is unsalted.
- Powdered Sugar – This keeps the cookies delicate and tender instead of crispy.
- Sourdough Starter – You can use active starter or sourdough discard here. But you want it to be cold, which helps prevent the dough from becoming too soft or sticky.
- Brown sugar – Adds a layer of caramelly flavor that tastes fantastic with the pecans.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
How to Make Sourdough Discard Pecan Sandies
These pecan sandies are a delicious twist on my sourdough discard shortbread cookies, with added brown sugar and chopped pecans for extra warmth and texture. The process is just as simple, and they come together in a few easy steps.
You’re going to start by blitzing the pecans into crumbs in the food processor or Thermomix. You want to blitz the pecans to a pretty fine crumb. Pecan sandies are actually named for their ‘sandy’ texture and color, so you don’t want big chunks of pecans (unless you want them that way). Don’t put the food processor on and walk away though, or you’ll end up with pecan butter!
Add all the remaining ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in and it forms a rough dough.
Tip the dough onto a clean surface and use your hands to form a log. Depending on how large you want your cookies, you may want to roll into 2 logs (I did 1.5, as you can see in the photo).
This dough is a tiny bit stickier than my regular shortbread, so I try to get it into the fridge quickly. Roll the log(s) up in a piece of parchment paper and place in the fridge. The shortbread dough can ferment in the fridge for up to 2 days with no problems. You can also put it in the freezer at this point.
Once the shortbread log has been in the fridge for 2 hours, preheat your oven to 320°F/160°C and take the log out. Slice the shortbread dough into slices around 1cm thick (around ½ inch).
Gently press a pecan half into the center of each cookie and place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven at 320°F/160°C for around 25 minutes or until the shortbread is starting to turn golden around the edges (I like a little more color on these than my classic shortbread, which I prefer quite pale.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray before transferring to a cookie tin or glass jar to store.
Kate’s RECIPE TipS
Don’t over mix the dough or the shortbread can end up chewy instead of crumbly. You want the dough to just come together in the food processor. It will come together even more as you shape it on the counter.
Cold butter and cold sourdough discard are easiest to work with, so pop your discard in the fridge for a little while if you can. I love that I don’t need to wait for the butter to soften!
How To Store + Freeze
Store at Room Temperature
These sourdough pecan sandies are best stored in a cookie tin or glass jar to keep their buttery texture. Because they’re similar to shortbread, they can soften if stored in plastic containers. Keep them in a tin or jar on the counter for up to 5 days.
Make Ahead
The dough for pecan sandies is perfect for shaping into logs and chilling ahead of time. Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days before slicing and baking.
Freeze the Dough Log
You can freeze the dough in log form for easy slice and bake cookies. Wrap the log tightly in plastic wrap, then place it inside a freezer safe bag. It will keep well for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, let the log sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes until just soft enough to slice, then bake as normal.
Freeze Baked Cookies
These cookies also freeze nicely once baked and completely cooled. Place them on a tray to snap freeze, then transfer to a freezer safe bag. They will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and enjoy. They retain their buttery, crumbly texture really well.
Frequently Asked Questions
The name ‘sandy’ for a cookie originally came from the French word ‘sablé’. Sablé means ‘sandy’ and refers to the sandy, crumbly texture of the cookie. The name also works because of the sandy color of the cookie. I like to think it also works for this recipe because you want to blitz your pecans down to rough sand rather than being too chunky.
No, these pecan sandies really need the butter to make the shortbread so luxurious and give it a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
The most common mistake when making shortbread-style cookies is over-mixing or over-working the dough, resulting in a chewy texture instead of a crumbly, sandy texture. Using cold ingredients will also make the dough easier to work with and give you a short, crumbly texture when baked.
Sourdough Discard Pecan Sandies
Equipment
- Food Processor or Thermomix
Ingredients
- 100 g Pecans, (plus more for decorating if desired (about 100g more for 40 pecan halves)
- 250 g All Purpose Flour
- 185 g Butter, (cold and cut into cubes)
- 100 g Powdered Sugar
- 100 g Sourdough Starter, (or sourdough discard (cold)
- 80 g Brown Sugar
- 5 g Vanilla Extract
- 5 g Salt
Instructions
- Blitz the pecans into a fine crumb in the food processor or Thermomix. Add all the remaining ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in and it forms a rough dough.
- Tip the dough onto a clean surface and use your hands to form a log. Depending on how large you want your cookies, you may want to roll into 2 logs (I did 1.5, as you can see in the photo). Roll the log(s) up in a piece of parchment paper and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.The shortbread dough can ferment in the fridge for up to 2 days with no problems. You can also put it in the freezer at this point (thaw slightly before slicing and baking).
- Once the shortbread log has been in the fridge for 2 hours, preheat your oven to 320℉/160℃ and take the log out.
- Slice the shortbread dough into slices around 1cm thick (around ½ inch). Gently press a pecan half into the center of each cookie and place onto 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in the oven at 320℉/160℃ for around 25 minutes or until the shortbread is starting to turn golden around the edges (I like a little more color on these than my classic shortbread, which I prefer quite pale).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray before transferring to a cookie tin or glass jar to store.
Notes
- You want to blitz the pecans to a pretty fine crumb. Pecan sandies are actually named for their ‘sandy’ texture and color, so you don’t want big chunks of pecans (unless you want them that way). Don’t put the food processor on and walk away though, or you’ll end up with pecan butter!
- Don’t overmix the dough or the shortbread can end up chewy instead of crumbly. You want the dough to just come together in the food processor. It will come together even more as you shape it on the counter.
- Cold butter and cold sourdough discard are easiest to work with, so pop your discard in the fridge for a little while if you can. I love that I don’t need to wait for the butter to soften!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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can you use almonds instead – we don’t have pecans here
I haven’t tried making them with almonds but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, as long as you use the same weight 🙂
Recipe Ingredients don’t list how much brown sugar. I want to make for a party. Hope you see this soon!
Sorry Rosemary, all fixed now 🙂 I hope you enjoy them! xo