Heidesand

Originating from Lower Saxony, this classic cookie got its name from its "sandy" texture and light colour.  One of my favourites but not my hubby's!  Easy to prepare but the dough needs to be refrigerated overnight.  Before baking, the dough is brushed with egg yolk and rolled in granulated sugar, then sliced into 0.5 cm slices.

Ingredients (yields 70 pieces):

100 g sugar powder or confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

200 g soft butter

50 g marzipan

zest from 1/2 lemon

250 g plain flour, to be sifted

1 egg yolk, to be slightly beaten

200 g granulated sugar, to be spread on a small tray

Method:

In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar powder, vanilla sugar, butter, marzipan and lemon zest together.  Add sifted flour and knead to a pliable dough.  Form dough into two logs of 3 cm or 3.5 cm in diameter. Wrap dough logs in cling wrap and store in the fridge overnight.

On the next day, take out a dough log (one log at a time) from the fridge.  Remove cling wrap and brush dough log with egg yolk.  Then, roll on granulated sugar until coated all over.  Slice into 0.5 cm slices and arrange them quite apart from each other.  Kindly note that the cookie tends to spread a bit during baking.

Bake in a preheated fan oven at a temperature of 170° C for about 15 minutes.  Once done, remove from oven and leave to cool down completely.  Store between pergament paper in an airtight tin.

Happy Baking!