These wonderful and delicious sugar cookies make the perfect holiday treat to enjoy at home or with company! Sandbakkel cookies originate from the Scandinavian countries, and are very flavorful! They make a wonderful accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa.
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My husband loves the Christmas season, and one of those reasons is the many cookies I make (and he eats) over the month of December and into January. Sandbakkel cookies are by far his favorite! I always have to make a double batch at one time because he loves them that much. Even then they doesn’t last long around our house.
Where do Sandbakkels come from?
The Sandbakkel cookie, or Sandbakkelse, as it’s called originally has it’s origins in Norway. Although, my husband’s family, or any proud Swedish family for that matter, will say it originated in Sweden. I didn’t know what Sandbakkels were until I started dating my husband, and quickly became familiar with this delicious buttery cookie that he loved to eat!
Sandbakkels, meaning sand pastry because of it’s crumbly dough, are a butter cookie with added ground almonds and almond extract to give it flavor, and pressed into a Sandbakkel tin before being baked. You can substitute the almonds for another kind of nut, I like to use pecans, and add spices like a traditional cardamom spice if you would like.
What is a Sanbakkel Tin?
A Sandbakkel tin is a small patterned tin, similar to a small tart tin. Sandbakkel tins, however, are much smaller than your average tart tin and just made to form the Sandbakkel cookie dough into, in order to bake them. They can come in various shapes, and after the cookie is baked, you remove them from the tin. Although you can find a couple of different Sandbakkel tins online, I’ve found these Sandbakkel tins to be my favorite.
Sanbakkel tins used to be handed down in the families and used by the next generation. My husband’s great, great Grandma who came from Sweden at one time cooked for the Norwegian king. During the Christmas season, she baked Sandbakkels for him in her Sandbakkel tins. When she immigrated to America, she brought her Sandbakkel tins with her.
She passed them on to her daughter, and then her daughter passed them to her daughter (Glen’s grandma), and now my mother-in-law still has them to this day. She still uses them on occasion when she makes a large batches of Sandbakkel dough during Christmas time.
How do you remove Sanbakkels from their tins?
Similar to the way you would remove a small tart, simply flip them upside down and tap them onto a plate or hard surface. Unlike small tarts, however, make sure to remove them while the Sandbakkel tins are still warm.
Have you ever tried to take cookies off a cookie sheet when they are fully cool?
Yes, that’s happened to me a time or two, and I’ve found them to be a little harder to get off. Not easier.
It’s the same principal with Sandbakkel cookies. They remove best when the Sandbakkel tins are still slightly warm.
Please be careful when handling the Sandbakkel tins, and if hesitant to handle them while warm or doing Sandbakkels with small children, you can let them cool down.
Can you freeze Sandbakkels?
Yes, you can freeze them like you would most other kinds of cookies. Place them in freezer safe bag or container, and seal it with the cookies inside before placing them in the freezer. Pull out and dethaw before you eat them.
While I have put some in cookie tins and set them out on our attached porch to keep them cold, I have never made enough to freeze them. They usually don’t last long enough to freeze in my house!
Ingredients
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Almonds (or another kind of nut; we like Pecans the best)
- Almond Extract (or Vanilla extract works too)
- Salt
- Flour
- Cardamom, optional (if you are not a fan of the almond extract flavor, adding cardamom helps make it not as strong in this recipe)
Supplies
- A large mixing bowl
- Mixing spoon
- Dry Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Sandbakkel Tins (these are my favorite!)
- Baking Sheet (to put all the Sandbakkel tins on)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and the sugar together.
Add the egg, almond extract and chopped almonds (or pecans). Mix well to combine.
Add the salt, flour and optional cardamom (if using), and mix in to the egg and almond mixture.
Scoop the Sandbakkel dough out by the tablespoon full and roll into small balls (about 1 inch balls).
Place each Sandbakkel dough ball into a Sandbakkel tin, and press evenly throughout the tin. Be sure to avoid getting the dough going over the Sandbakkel tin edge, as it will be hard to get out.
Please note: Depending on the size of your Sandbakkel tins, you may need a little less or a little more Sandbakkel dough. Adjust it to how full your tins look or feel as you press the Sandbakkel dough evenly into them.
Place all the Sanbakkel tins with the dough inside on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is a golden color around the edge of the tins.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and let the cookies cool in their tins for 1 – 2 minutes.
To remove the Sandbakkel cookies from their tins: While the tins are still warm (be careful!), flip them upside down and tap them (a little forcibly) one by one onto a plate.
The Sandbakkel should separate from its tin.
Continue until all the Sandbakkels are out of their tins.
Serve and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa!
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you!
Sandbakkel Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 c. butter
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. almonds chopped fine (we use pecans instead)
- 1 tsp. almond extract or 2 tsp. vanilla if you are out
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 1/2 c. flour
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream the butter and sugar together.
- Add the egg, almond extract and chopped almonds (or pecans). Mix well to combine.
- Add the salt, flour and optional cardamom (if using), and mix in to the egg and almond mixture.
- Scoop the Sandbakkel dough out by the tablespoon full and roll into small balls (about 1 inch balls).
- Place each Sandbakkel dough ball into a Sandbakkel tin, and press evenly throughout the tin. Note: Be sure to avoid getting the dough going over the Sandbakkel tin edge, as it will be hard to get out.
- Place all the Sanbakkel tins with the dough inside on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is a golden color around the edge of the tins.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and let the cookies cool in their tins for 1 – 2 minutes.
- To remove the Sandbakkel cookies from their tins: While the tins are still warm (be careful!), flip them upside down and tap them (a little forcibly) one by one onto a plate. The Sandbakkel should separate from its tin. Continue until all the Sandbakkels are out of their tins. Note: Removing the Sandbakkels from their tins like this can be done when the Sandbakkels are fully cool, but it is much harder and requires a little more force to get them out).
- Serve and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa!
These look so good! I’m definitely going to try these!
I really like this recipe. First, butter cookies are my favorite. Second, I’ve never heard for these exotic cookies and they are very intriguing to me. I like that they are from a far away land. I will be making these for the holidays! Thanks.