Every Christmas I get bags of spiced or candied pecans from at least five friends. I freeze them and use them throughout the year: I toss them in salads and add a handful into any Amish Friendship Bread recipe I happen to be making.
Pecan sandies are a popular cookie, especially when dusted with confectioners’ sugar. They hold together well if you have to gift them to friends. The starter gives it a subtle tang, and the sugar-salt balance is perfect. If you like your cookies sweeter, increase sugar from ⅔ cup to 1 cup. This recipe calls for plain pecans, but I use the ones sitting in my freezer, which adds a little more personality to these cookies.
Even though it’s almost November, it’s still super warm in my kitchen. My butter went to room temperature really fast, and then some. I made the cookie dough but the butter was way too soft. You want the cookie dough to hold together nicely and not be stuck on the sides, so I popped the bowl into the fridge for half an hour. I’ve learned the hard way that too much butter or butter that’s too soft will yield a gummier cookie, so a quick solution is to let it cool down a bit before you get it on the sheet and into the oven.
I used a scoop and then flattened the tops of the cookies with a glass. Otherwise, roll 1½” balls and press them flat with the palm of your hand. Most pecan sandies are known for their perfect roundness, so you can reshape as necessary if you’re a perfectionist. The cookies won’t flatten much, so if you want a thinner cookie, flatten a little more (and keep an eye on the time in the oven to avoid burning).
Bake at 350° F (176° C) for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottoms (they won’t brown much on top). Remove and cool on a wire rack.
Then dust with confectioners’ sugar. Enjoy!
Amish Friendship Bread Pecan Sandies Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1½ cups pecans chopped
- confectioners' sugar for dusting
Instructions
- With an electric mixer, beat butter for one minute. Add sugar and beat for one more minute until light.
- Add starter and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.
- Add salt and flour until just incorporated and the cookie dough holds together (sift the salt into the flour, or be sure to sprinkle evenly). Fold in pecans.
- Refrigerate cookie dough for 15-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C).
- Using a cookie scoop or your hands, make 1" balls and place 2-3 inches apart on cookie sheet.
- Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass, reshaping if necessary.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Transfer to wire rack.
- Once cool, dust with confectioners' sugar.
- ENJOY!
Notes
>> Have you tried this? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
Love Pecan Sandies. Can you freeze the cookie dough to bake later?
Love Pecan Sandies. Can you freeze the cookie dough to bake later?
OK. Baked these this morning….not a fan. First of all they are cackey (packy)….and no I couldn’t have cooked them longer because they would have been burned on the bottom. Second, they are just too tangy tasting for me…nothing like a pecan sandy….not quite sweet enough. Think I’ll stick to the traditional Pecan Sandy cookie. I love all the bread and muffin recipes that I will try. I have some snickerdoodle cookies mixed up. Will post my thoughts on those a little later.
Great cookies! They’re not very sweet which lets the flavor of the pecans shine. Mine baked very quickly in 10-11 minutes. I’ll definitely make these again
Pecan Sandies are one of my husband’s favorites so I will definitely have to give this a try. I want to be able to use the extras of my starter instead of trying to find people who want them ( as we all know, this gets hard to do! 😉😅).
LOL, yes, it can become is to start overflowing with starter (especially if you have an extra active starter)!
These are quite good. I made 1″ balls, 15gms. of dough each and ended up with 60 beautiful cookies. My husband can’t keep his hand out of the cookie jar!
Love it, Karen! Glad you both enjoyed them! ❤️
I’m not a huge Sandie fan but in a quest to use my starter and clean out my freezer (I have several bags of frozen pecans) I made these cookies. They are amazing! If all pecan sandies tasted like these, I’d be a huge pecan sandie fan. This is an excellent recipe with a perfect texture, just a little crumbly yet soft. The added AFB gives the cookie that little tangy kick that really boosts the flavor of this cookie. This recipe stirs together quickly and is super simple to make. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
Yay, Jennifer! We’re so glad you loved this recipe, despite not being a huge pecan sandies fan. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never tried these but think it would be a fun cookie to try for the holidays!
These were one of my dad’s favorite cookies. I would have loved to have been able to bake him some while he was still living. I love them too. Can’t wait to make a batch.
My mom and sister love pecans, I’ve never had this particular cookie but I’ll probably try it with my son and ship the rest to my mom and sis for some holiday cheer.
The perfect cookie with a cup of tea. Thought maybe some dried cherries might be a tasty addition. Sometimes I add a few new things to several cookies to see which one we like the best. Thank you again!
Will make these next week!
Yum! I love Pecan Sandies! I might try adding Heath Bits in.
Everyone at my house loves pecan sandies! I have thought about adding some fig preserves to make a sandy thumbprint!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you think it would be good with Macadamia nuts for a special gift? Or maybe dried cranberries along with the nuts~ Ohhhh, I know what I’m making for the holidays! Thank you for the recipe!!!
I love pecan sandies. I would try these.
I make Sandies every Christmas!
I do like pecan sandies!! Would love to try this recipe.
Wow, I can see I’m going to be baking cookies this weekend!! We love pecan sandies! Day 10 of my starter is Friday!! Also making your oatmeal raisin with chocolate chips added!???
I made them long ago, guess I kind of forgot about them. I think I will add to my cookie baking list!
I’ve never tried Pecan sandies before, but this definitely looks like something I should try!
My parents are big fans of pecan sandies. I’d try them and add some chocolate chips. Thanks for the recipe idea!
I felt like licking the picture. Pecan Sandies are my all time favorite cookie. I just pulled a bag of starter out of freezer. Now I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow , thank you for making my day with this email.
I’m not a fan of Pecan Sandies, but I’d try them out for our cookie exchange and for people at work. They like a nice shortbread cookie to go with their coffee!
I love pecan sandies from the store, can’t wait to try these. I might add butterscotch chips. Thanks for the recipe, it sounds so good!
looks delicious, to bad I don’t like nuts in my cookies. maybe ill try it for my mom, she likes almonds.
I’m absolutely a fan of Pecan Sandies! Don’t like store-bought. Too greasy. Will definitely make these for coffee social where I live!!
One of my all time favorite cookies. My mom loved anything pecan. Some mini chocolate chips would be good in these.
I have never had a sandie cookie. What if you add chopped maraschino cherries?
yum!!