Sandtarts

Making sand tart cookies was a Christmas tradition in the home I grew up in.
My mother would roll the ivory dough as thinly as possible and would cut out the dough with cookie cutters. My favorite cutters were the reindeer and little hen and guess what? I have those old cutters and used them today. She would put the scrap pieces of dough on the cookie sheets as well and we would eat them guilt-free and with great creativity, because we could imagine the shapes to be anything our hearts desired. My grandmother would freeze some sand tarts in a decorative tin and in the middle of the summer, when we were all hot and sweaty, she'd take us into the back porch and open the freezer. Out would come the cold container and pop would go the lid. Out of the box would come a whiff of Christmas in the middle of summertime.

I am going to share our family recipe with you.

Sandtarts-
Beat 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar.
Add 3 eggs.
Add a pinch of salt and some vanilla or lemon extract.
Add 4-5 cups of flour.
Chill.

Roll out as thinly as possible and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.
Brush centers with milk or a beaten egg.
Sprinkle on chopped peanuts and cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 until slightly brown at edges.
Take to family gatherings to bring back good memories.
Freeze a Christmas tin full of cookies for next summer.
Enjoy!