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Sand Squares
1/2 cup shortening 1 cup powdered sugar 1 egg yolk 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 egg whites 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder chopped almonds Cream shortening, add powdered sugar and egg yolk and beat well. Work in flour, sifted with salt and cinnamon and roll thin. Beat egg white stiff with granulated sugar and baking powder, and spread over dough. Sprinkle with chopped almonds. Cut out and bake in moderate oven at 350 degrees F., until brown. Makes three dozen.
A shortbread-style pressed cookie under a thin meringue, baked in one sheet and cut into squares. The hinge is the thinness of the dough: rolled too thick, the base stays pale and soft under the meringue and never crisps.
- Roll thin, and roll it in the panThe recipe says only "roll thin"; pressing or rolling the dough straight onto a greased sheet pan rather than rolling and lifting it avoids tearing the high-fat dough. Three dozen from this quantity means fairly small squares.
- "Cut out" means score, not stamp"Cut out" -- The direction comes before baking. It can be read as stamping shapes, but scoring the squares through the meringue and cutting after baking is the easier route with a meringue-topped sheet.
- ShorteningHere this may mean vegetable shortening, lard or butter; a solid vegetable shortening gives a drier, sandier crumb. Butter works and tastes better, but softens the dough; chill it 20 minutes before rolling if you substitute.
- Powdered sugarConfectioners' sugar, which contains cornstarch. It is doing structural work here, not just sweetening, so do not swap in granulated in the base.
- Egg whitesTwo whites are listed and both should go into the meringue, beaten stiff with the granulated sugar. Spread it in a thin, even layer, no thicker than the dough itself.
- Baking powder in the meringueUnusual by modern practice, and presumably intended to puff the topping slightly. It can be left out for a crisper, more conventional meringue.
- Oven and time350F is correct as printed. "Until brown" runs about 20 to 25 minutes for a full sheet, judged by the meringue turning light gold and the base edges pulling from the pan.
- Cutting and storingRecut along the score lines while the sheet is still warm, then cool completely in the pan. Meringue-topped cookies go sticky in a sealed tin; store loosely covered, in a single layer.