Chocolate Pecan Sandies

My family and I love pecan sandies cookies. The kids pretty much like any cookie, and I like that they’re not too sweet and sugary, but still pretty tasty.

Once in a while I like to add a little more sweetness, though, and this recipe works really well with some added mini chocolate chips, or a drizzle of melted chocolate on top after they’re done baking. This also works well with chopped almonds instead of the pecans, and taste even better when the vanilla extract is replaced with almond extract.

Chocolate Pecan Sandies
adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup white sugar for decoration

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, 1 cup white sugar and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the pecans. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball in remaining white sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

[image: flickr]