Polverones
Yesterday being Cinquo de Mayo, we decide to have a Mexican theme to our Sunday Social. new_man and I wanted to bring something muy autentico, and it was a little challenging to find something appropriate. A lot of snacks want to be served hot and that's not an option. And the food shouldn't be too messy. It's too bad I don't own a single Mexican cookbook or I could have checked another one off the list.
He made zanahoria escabeshe (I think I've got the Spanish right) -- a quick pickle of carrots and jalapenos.
I briefly considered sikil p'ak, a pumpkin seed salsa from the Yucatan, but figured there would be a plethora of chips and dips (and I was right). I decided on polvarones aka Mexican wedding cookies.
I sort of cobbled together a couple of recipes and the result was very successful, so here it is:
3/4 cup pecans*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 tsp. cinnamon**
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.***
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
powdered sugar****
Thrown the pecans and 1/4 cup sugar into the food processor and pulverize. Add the rest of the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Toss in the butter and vanilla. The dough should just sort of stick together.
Dump it out on some plastic wrap and press into a disk. Wrap it all up and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350. Pull off tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake 14 minutes, switching the position of the sheets half way through.
Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to rack.
When cool, roll in powdered sugar. Then roll again. The should be completely coated.
Makes about 40.
* Other good nuts are almonds or peanuts.
** I used freshly grated Ceylon cinnamon, because I had it and why the heck not.
*** Room temperature is easier, but I screwed up my measurements and only took out half the butter to soften. The other half ended up coming straight out of the freezer. I cut it into little chunks and there didn't seem to be any problem. One source said you can use cold butter and you won't have to chill the dough, but you need to avoid overhandling it.
**** I don't like powdered sugar and normally skip it, but it's an iconic part of this recipe.
He made zanahoria escabeshe (I think I've got the Spanish right) -- a quick pickle of carrots and jalapenos.
I briefly considered sikil p'ak, a pumpkin seed salsa from the Yucatan, but figured there would be a plethora of chips and dips (and I was right). I decided on polvarones aka Mexican wedding cookies.
I sort of cobbled together a couple of recipes and the result was very successful, so here it is:
3/4 cup pecans*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 tsp. cinnamon**
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.***
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
powdered sugar****
Thrown the pecans and 1/4 cup sugar into the food processor and pulverize. Add the rest of the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Toss in the butter and vanilla. The dough should just sort of stick together.
Dump it out on some plastic wrap and press into a disk. Wrap it all up and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350. Pull off tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake 14 minutes, switching the position of the sheets half way through.
Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to rack.
When cool, roll in powdered sugar. Then roll again. The should be completely coated.
Makes about 40.
* Other good nuts are almonds or peanuts.
** I used freshly grated Ceylon cinnamon, because I had it and why the heck not.
*** Room temperature is easier, but I screwed up my measurements and only took out half the butter to soften. The other half ended up coming straight out of the freezer. I cut it into little chunks and there didn't seem to be any problem. One source said you can use cold butter and you won't have to chill the dough, but you need to avoid overhandling it.
**** I don't like powdered sugar and normally skip it, but it's an iconic part of this recipe.