Baking Essentials Mexican Wedding Cookies Food

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix just until combined. Stir in the nuts.
• Scoop into 1-inch balls and round them smooth between your hands. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set but not browned.
• Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the tray for a minute or two and then roll each warm cookie in powdered sugar and set them a cooling rack.
• Once the cookies have fully cooled, roll them once or twice more in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

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.

SPICY MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the butter and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the walnuts in the carafe of a food processor. Pulse until almost finely ground, checking after every 5 seconds, about 30 seconds total.
• Whisk together the ground walnuts, flour, cornstarch, cayenne and salt in a large bowl. Pour half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients until a thick dough comes together.
• Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoons and roll into a smooth ball in between your palms. Place onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of space between each cookie.
• Bake until golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Place the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Working in batches, add the cooled cookies to the sugar and toss until evenly coated in sugar. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies lightly with paprika if desired before serving.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Beat the butter and granulated and confectioners' sugars in a standing mixer until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, almond extract and orange zest and beat to combine. Whisk together the all-purpose and almond flours, the baking powder and salt in a separate bowl; add to the butter mixture and stir to thoroughly combine. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Scoop and shape the dough into teaspoon-sized balls and transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheets, leaving room in between. Bake, rotating halfway through, for 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, then toss with confectioners' sugar to coat. Store at room temperature in a covered container.

BAKING ESSENTIALS: MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• Place a rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 300f (150c).
• Add the softened butter and confectioner's sugar to a bowl, then whisk until smooth and creamy. Then, whisk in 1 tablespoon of the water, plus the vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
• Add the flour in thirds until incorporated, then fold in the pecans.
• This is a dry, almost crumbly batter, so only add the second tablespoon of water if needed. In addition, you cannot use a whisk for this step. She started out with a wooden spoon and did the final mixing using her hands.
• Roll into small tubes, or round balls, she got about 24, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the bottoms begin to turn a golden brown, 20 - 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before dusting with the confectioner's sugar.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• I like serving these in the afternoon with a contrasting beverage, like espresso, coffee, or tea. Enjoy.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.