Authentic Mexican Cookie Food

MEXICAN CINNAMON COOKIES

Steps:

• Place egg white in a small bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes., Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat lard until creamy. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually beat into lard., Beat egg white on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently whisk in sugar and egg yolk. Gradually beat into lard mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8-10 times., Divide dough into 6 portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 24-in.-long rope; cut diagonally into 1-in. pieces. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes., In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Roll warm cookies in cinnamon sugar mixture or confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla.
• Whisk together flour and salt; add gradually to butter mixture; stir in chopped nuts.
• Chill dough if it seems too soft.
• Form dough into 1 1/4" balls and place onto parchment-lined or ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or just until the cookies start to turn light golden-brown; remove from oven and allow to cool slightly; while cookies are still warm (but NOT hot) remove them from baking sheets and roll, a few at a time, in powdered sugar until evenly coated; cool cookies completely on wire racks.
• Cookies may (optionally) be rolled in powdered sugar a second time once cooled to room temperature.
• NOTE: Forming dough into 1" balls will increase yield to 48 cookies.

MEXICAN SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat shortening until light and fluffy. Add one cup sugar, and anise seed. Mix until creamy. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour, baking power, cream of tartar, salt and orange juice. Mix well.
• Knead dough until smooth. On lightly floured surface, roll to 1/2 inch thick. Cut using cookie cutter into different shapes. Bake until light brown, 5 - 8 minutes. Roll cookies in mixture of 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons of cinnamon while still warm.

POLVORONES (MEXICAN PINK SUGAR COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together the shortening, white granulated sugar, and vanilla extract for 2 full minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then turn the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, until it's all fully combined.
• At this point divide the dough into as many colors as you want, then add food coloring and mix with your hands or the stand mixer. Once the dough is dyed, wrap it in plastic and set it in the fridge to rest for an hour.
• While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
• When the dough has rested scoop out 1/4 cup size balls of dough (I just use a standard ice cream scoop) and roll them into a smooth ball before rolling in the cane sugar. Place 5 balls of dough on a baking sheet and flatten slightly with the back of a measuring cup, sprinkle a bit more sugar on each cookie then bake for 12-14 minutes one sheet at a time until the cookies have spread out and cracked but haven't browned at all.
• Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough until all the cookies are baked.

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN ANISE COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream 1 cup sugar, butter and shortening in a large bowl til light and fluffy.
• Beat in egg, sherry vanilla and anise til well combined.
• In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into butter-egg mixture til well mixed.
• Divide dough in half.
• Wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or til dough is firm, but is still quite workable.
• Preheat oven to 350' degrees F.
• Combine cinnamon with remaining sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half of dough 1/8 inch thick.
• Cut into desired shapes, re-rolling scraps just once.
• Place on ungreased cookie sheets and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or til golden.
• Remove to wire racks to cool.