Mexican Tricolor Shortbread Cookies Food

HOJARASCAS

Steps:

• In a small pot, add 1 cup water and the cinnamon stick.
• Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and set aside.
• Let this cool completely.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, add the shortening and sugar.
• Mix well.
• Add salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and mix well.
• Turn mixer off.
• Add 1/2 of the flour. Mix only until combined.
• Turn mixer off again.
• Add the remaining 1/2 of the flour.
• Mix only until combined.
• Turn mixer off again.
• Add half of the cooled cinnamon tea.
• Turn mixer on low.
• Add only the amount of tea necessary to bring the dough together. About 1/2 cup.
• Turn mixer off and dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour.
• Place cookie dough on the surface and roll it out evenly.
• Cut out shapes using a cookies cutter.
• Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Mix the sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
• Cool the cookies completely on a rack.
• Carefully and gently add each cookie to the bowl and cover with the sugar coating.
• Repeat until all the cookies have been coated.
• Makes about 45 cookies. Enjoy!

MEXICAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES (OJARASCAS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Measure ¼ cup of water in a measuring glass. Add anise extract. Stir to combine and set aside.
• Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening, sugar, and cinnamon together on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
• Turn your mixer to low speed, then starting and ending with the flour, alternately add 1 cup of flour, half of the anise water, 1 cup of flour, and the remaining anise water. The dough will begin to pull away from the sides, but if the dough is still sticky, add more flour ½ cup at a time. Do not overmix or add too much flour or your dough will be tough and crumbly.
• Using your hands, shape 1 inch balls of dough and transfer to a baking sheet. Using the bottom of a cup or another flat surface, gently press on top of each ball to slightly flatten.
• Bake for 12 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies turn slightly brown on the edges.
• In a small bowl, add 3 teaspoons of cinnamon to 1 cup of sugar and stir to combine. Once you remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool slightly so you can pick them up (you want them to be warm though) and toss in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Transfer to parchment paper to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

MEXICAN TRICOLOR SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream the shortening using a stand mixer with a cake paddle.
• Add the confectioner's sugar one spoon at a time until all the sugar dissolves and the shortening becomes a lighter color.
• Incorporate the salt and keep mixing. Then add the vanilla extract until it gets integrated.
• Change the cake paddle and replace it with a hook. And add the sifted flour in stages. Mix for 1-2 minutes at medium speed.
• The texture of the dough must be soft but malleable enough o to a ball and should not stick to the fingers.
• Dust the working table with flour and remove the cookie dough from the mixer. Roll it and form a log.
• Divide the log into three equal portions. One is for the white color, another for the cocoa brown color, and the third is for the pink color.
• Cut the white dough portion into two equal parts and form two thin logs. Wrap them in parchment paper and refrigerate them.
• Mix the pink edible gel color with one of the dough portions to create the pink color. You can integrate with your hands or use the mixer for an even color.
• Take the last portion of dough and mix with the cocoa powder plus 1 teaspoon of shortening. Use your hands or the mixer. Adding that extra portion of fat helps to hydrate the dough and evenly mix with the cocoa powder.
• Repeat the same process with the cocoa dough by dividing and creating two more logs.
• Use egg whites as the glue that will form the tricolor log. Brush some egg white on one side of the pink log and press the pink and cocoa logs together.
• Brush more egg white on top of the cocoa and pink logs and place the white vanilla log on top.
• Wrap the tricolor log in parchment paper, roll it and place it on a baking sheet. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours before baking.
• Preheat the oven to 350F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove the wrapping and cut thin slices. Place the cookie slices in the baking sheet giving proper spacing between each cookiee.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Remove one cookie from the tray, and if the bottom is light brown, the cookies are ready.
• If the edges of the cookie become dark brown, the cookies are overdone.
• Allow the cookies to cool for 30-60 minutes. Dust them with confectioner's sugar and store them in cookie tins in an airtight container with a lid.
• These Mexican shortbread cookies will stay fresh for about a week when properly stored.

MEXICAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds and the flour on separate baking sheets. Place both in the oven and bake until the almonds are toasted and the flour is a deep creamy color, about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring the flour and the almonds once. Set aside to cool completely.
• Place the almonds and the sugar in a food processor and process until the nuts are ground. Sift the flour with the salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the almond mixture. Add the butter and shortening, working it in with your fingers until you have a crumbly dough.
• Press the dough together, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Butter a cookie sheet well. Unwrap the dough and place it on top of the plastic wrap; cover it with another sheet of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out between the sheets of plastic with quick, short movements until it is about 1/4 inch thick; it will be crumbly around the edges.
• Using a cookie cutter 2 inches in diameter, cut out as many cookies as you can. Transfer them to the cookie sheet with a spatula, being very careful or they will break apart. Gather up the remaining dough and roll out and cut out more cookies. Repeat until all of the dough has been used.
• Bake the cookies on the top rack of the oven until they are pale golden in color, about 10 to 15 minutes. Sift the confectioners' sugar over them and set them aside to cool before removing them from the cookie sheet. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

MEXICAN SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Cream margarine and sugar together in bowl. Stir in flour, cornmeal, cinnamon and salt. Pat dough into 8-inch pie pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt chocolates with milk in double boiler. Stir until smooth.
• When shortbread is done, immediately score into 8 sections with knife while shortbread is still hot.
• Drizzle melted chocolate on top, allow to cool before cutting into wedges.