Light, crumbly, delicately sweet and nutty….everything Keebler’s Pecan Sandies want to be, but never quite are.  Author Dorie Greenspan hits this one out of the park on p. 127 of “Baking From My Home to Yours.” 

Beat together two sticks of softened, unsalted butter and 3/4 cup of brown sugar, stir in 1/4 cup cornstarch sifted with 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, a pinch of cloves, and then stir in 1/2 cup of ground pecans.

Here’s where Greenspan shows her cleverness:  place the dough into a gallon ziploc bag, pressing out the air.  Then roll the dough into a uniform thickness, filiing the entire bag with an even layer of dough.  Chill for at least 2 hours.  To finish the cookies, remove the bag from the fridge, slitting it open.  With a long, thin slicing knife, cut the dough into uniform checkerboard squares.  Place the cookies an inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes at 350.

I can’t wait to try this out with ground almonds and a bit of flaked chocolate.