The holidays aren’t the holidays without my mom’s famous Biscochos, also known as Polvorones or Mexican Wedding Cookies. She makes them every year and gives them as gifts to family and friends.
The cookies are fragile and melt in your mouth, and contain the exotic addition of anise with a hint of cinnamon. She has made these cookies for many memorable occasions. They are a Mexican tradition for weddings, quinceñeras, and the holidays. I remember she would roll out the dough and I’d watch her carefully cut the dough into diamond shapes using a paring knife. Today she uses a cookie press, which makes for a lighter cookie. Either way they are delicioso and just as beautiful to display, as they are scrumptious.
My mom adds white wine and the delicate texture of the cookies comes from lard, yes lard. I took my mom’s original recipe that she’s made for years and is also published in our Muy Bueno cookbook and changed it up a bit.
First of all, I replaced the lard with vegetable shortening.
Next, I added orange liqueur, orange juice, and orange zest in place of the white wine giving the cookies a citrus flavor. I also omitted the anise in this recipe.
I dusted some of the cookies with a cinnamon-sugar-orange zest mixture and some with confectioner’s sugar. Both options are delicious and festive.
I invited a group of friends for a cookie swap, and each person made enough of one kind of cookie to share. At the party, we sampled everyone’s sweet treats, sipped on spiked hot cocoa, and mingled.
After we sampled each cookie, we voted for our favorites and the winner was awarded a festive apron.
Before everyone left we packaged mason jars filled with cookies and decorated the jars with a festive tag and simple rustic twine.
These cookies are great for a cookie swap because one batch makes over 100 cookies.
To make the cookies, begin by combining flour with baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine vanilla, orange juice, orange liqueur, and orange zest and set aside.
I doubled this recipe, which fit perfectly in my KitchenAid® Stand Mixer and made over 200 cookies.
Lightly knead cookie dough together. Fill a cookie press with the dough, and turn out cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet.
The cookies are delicate and cooked very nicely on the KitchenAid® Professional-Grade Nonstick Cookie Sheet. No parchment paper, silicone baking sheet liner, or cooking spray was needed – the nonstick coating released the cookies easily and made for effortless cleaning.
Bake until the cookies are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.
After baking, place warm cookies in the cinnamon-sugar-orange zest mixture or sift confectioner’s sugar over cooled cookies.
Make these delicate Mexican wedding cookies for gift giving, and your friends and family will be very happy when they receive these homemade special treats for the holidays. All dressed up in pretty packaging, these cookies are certain to deliver joy not to mention the fact that they will be inhaled almost immediately.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Makes 230 cookies
INGREDIENTS
For cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (freshly ground if possible)
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup shortening
1 egg
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/8 cup orange liqueur
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
For cinnamon-sugar-orange zest coating
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
For confectioner’s sugar coating
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl combine flour with baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.
In a KitchenAid® Stand Mixer, cream the shortening until creamy. Add egg and sugar and cream until smooth.
In a small bowl combine vanilla, orange juice, orange liqueur, and orange zest and set aside.
Alternate dry ingredients and wet ingredients slowly to the mixture and mix until combined.
Lightly knead cookie dough together.
Fill a cookie press with the dough, and turn out cookies onto an ungreased KitchenAid® Professional-Grade Nonstick Cookie Sheet.
Bake until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool.
After baking, place warm cookies in the cinnamon-sugar-orange zest mixture or sift confectioner’s sugar over cooled cookies.
These cookies can be stored in freezer bags in the refrigerator or freezer.
*The Contributor of this post has been compensated by KitchenAid for this post, but this post represents the Contributor’s own opinion.*
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