One holiday tradition for many families revolves around the kitchen. Here at La Santa, it’s no different! Authentic Mexican food in Massachusetts fills our environment with mouth-watering aromas. However, there’s always one thing that gets us more than any other, the cookies. It’s just not the holidays without splurging on homemade cookies. In this article, we’ll share with you one of our favorite authentic Mexican cookies, polvorones.

A cookie with many names

Loosely translated, polvorones means “crumbly,” which is a pretty good description of this cookie. With the elimination of egg from the ingredients, these cookies crumble in your mouth. However, no one truly knows where the many names of this cookie comes from. For instance, while some refer to the cookie as polvorones, others prefer to call them Spanish shortbread or snowball cookies.

Then there’s the colorful story of the Mexican Wedding Cookie. Although the cookie dates back to the 16^th century when they were first created in Estepa, Spain, some believe the origins lie with Russia. Some say that due to tense relations with Russia, the Russian Tea Cake because the Mexican Wedding Cookie. If you compare the two cookies, they’re identical.

Simple yet satisfying

As one of the easiest cookies to put together, there’s really no reason why every holiday gathering doesn’t have these little bites of heaven! The best part is that they’re highly customizable. Roll these cookies into balls or flatten them into shapes, the choice is yours. Nut allergy? Remove the pecan and replace it with orange rind!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of softened butter
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ¾ cup of powdered sugar
• 1 cup of finely chopped roasted pecans (or orange rind). Walnuts and almonds also work well this these cookies.
• Additional sugar to roll your dough in once they’re out of the oven.

Directions:

Cream together your powdered sugar and butter until you get a fluffy consistency. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, gradually adding to the butter mixture. Stir in the nuts or orange rind. If your dough is sticky, or too soft to work with, place it in the refrigerator for an hour.

Once workable, form the dough into balls and place them on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 10 – 12 minutes or until the cookies are a very light, golden-brown. While the cookies are warm, roll them through powdered sugar and cool completely on a wire rack.

One caution we’d like to make before sharing authentic Mexican food Massachusetts, like the Mexican Wedding Cookie, be sure to leave a few a home. These nutty, buttery treats will be gone in the blink of an eye! From our family at La Santa Tacos & Tequila, we wish you all a very happy holiday season!