These soft and slightly tangy Do Re Mi Cookies are wrapped in toasted pecans. They’re perfect with a cup of coffee or tea!
Do Re Mi Cookies have been part of my family’s Christmas cookie baking repertoire for years. But never once have I heard why they’re called Do Re Mi Cookies.
Despite their unknown origin, they’re one of my favorite cookies. The recipe was typed via typewriter on an index card by my grandma, who made them each Christmas. The dough is reminiscent of sugar cookie dough, but it’s slightly tangy (in a good way), thanks to the addition of cream of tartar. The dough is rolled in finely chopped pecans before baking, creating a beautiful cookie with toasted pecan edges.
Why use cream of tartar for baking?
Cream of tartar is a byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine. It’s acidic and lends a wonderful tang to cookies like snickerdoodles. It also creates a slightly chewy cookie, because it inhibits sugar from crystallizing into a crunchy cookie.
In addition, it can be used to help egg whites keep their shape for desserts such as meringue. And if you’re all out of baking powder, you can use it as a substitute by combining ½ teaspoon cream of tartar with ¼ teaspoon baking soda for every 1 teaspoon of baking powder in the recipe.
Ingredients
You’ll need the classic cookie ingredients for Do Re Mi Cookies: butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, flour, vanilla, salt, and baking powder.
Cream of tartar is the unique addition to this recipe. It lends a subtle tang to the cookie that contrasts so nicely with the sweetness of the sugar.
The cookie dough is rolled in chopped pecans. As the cookies bake, the pecans toast, and create a wonderful nutty layer around each cookie.
Baking tips
I used a food processor
to chop the pecans, then rolled the balls of dough in them. You could also use a knife and a cutting board. You want the pecans to be finely chopped so that they coat the cookie dough.
For baking cookies, I always use a silicone baking mat
.
I previously used parchment paper, but I’ve all but stopped. I now use a silicone baking mat for not only cookies, but for roasting vegetables, baking chicken drumsticks, and nearly everything else that I put into the oven. Nothing sticks to them! And mine is perfectly sized for my baking sheet. You can even get a combo set
now! They also can go straight into the dishwasher.
These cookies are perfect for giving a hostess gift, nestled in a Christmas tin. They also freeze wonderfully for cookie cravings after the holidays.
More cookie recipes
Do Re Mi Cookies are part of the six recipes I’m sharing from my grandmothers this year. Here are the other five:
Grandma’s Rum Balls
Grandma’s Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread
Grandma’s Cocoa Drops
Grandma’s Classic Ginger Cookies
Grandma’s Snowball Cookies
Do Re Mi Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ cups finely chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until fluffy, about 3–4 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and egg. Beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, salt, and baking powder in a medium sized bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, ½ cup at a time. Continue to add the flour until it’s all incorporated.
- Place the finely chopped pecans (I used my food processor to chop them) in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the pecans and place the balls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 8–9 minutes, or until the edges are light brown and the cookie no longer looks wet in the center.
- Let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet pan. Remove the cookies and place on a wire rack to cool completely.