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1
Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the pecans and 1 cup of the flour to a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times to grind the pecans into a coarse powder, the consistency of sand. Dump this mixture into a bowl and add the remaining cup of flour and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.
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2
Cream the butter and 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy - about 3-4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
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3
Add the flour and pecan mixture to the butter and sugar and beat on low just until all the ingredients are combined. If you're adding mini chocolate chips, stir them into the dough.
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4
Add the remaining cup of powdered sugar to a bowl. Form the dough into 1 to 2-inch balls, rolling each piece between your palms, then rolling the ball of dough in the powdered sugar to coat. Lay the balls of sugar-coated dough on the parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2-inches apart.
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5
For plain sand tarts and sand tarts with mini-chocolate chips, press a fork into the balls of dough, pressing down across the cookie in one direction, then again perpendicular to create a grid pattern.
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6
For cookies with a chocolate kiss, press a chocolate kiss into each ball of dough, pressing the dough down a bit to cradle the chocolate kiss.
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7
Bake cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a wire rack. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
