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Embracing my Mexican heritage and sharing all the wonderful flavors, colors and foods I grew up with. Join me on this journey as I also learn new foods and cooking techniques. Dedicated to my parents Ramiro and Blanca.

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Home » Cookies » Polvorones con Anis y Canela~Mexican Wedding Cookies

Polvorones con Anis y Canela~Mexican Wedding Cookies

December 21, 201520 Comments

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Polvorones, also known as the Mexican Wedding Cookies when rolled round and dredged in powdered sugar. My Mom would prepare an almost identical version of this cookie, but we grew up knowing them as hojarascas. The flavors and textures are all the same. The original recipe is prepared with pork manteca (lard), but when the lard ran out, my Mom would use vegetable shortening. For this recipe I used butter and saved my manteca for my carnitas and tamales instead, lol! They can be prepared with or without nuts. Adding the canela and anise gives them a more traditional flavor of Polvorones.

https://animoto.com/play/qzQqFShEdakMRAgDB2HjoA
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Polvorones-Wedding Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cookies

~ For Mexican Wedding cookies, do not add the cinnamon, anise or pecans. Roll prepared dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake as directed. Roll in powdered sugar once cooled. If you decide to use the shortening, the dough will be extra soft. Mix in a little more extra flour, so the dough is not too sticky. If it’s dry and crumbly, it needs more fat.

Polvorones-Wedding Cookies
For colored polvorones, color dough with your favorite colors. The traditional colors are pink, yellow and chocolate color. For the chocolate, use coco powder.
Polvorones-Mexican Wedding Cookies
This batch has crushed pecans in them.

Polvorones sin Nuez-Below are the Polvorones prepared without the pecans. My sister in law Janet prepared this batch using my recipe, pork lard included. 12/19/15

Polvorones-Mexican Cookies

Polvorones con Anis y Canela prepared with fresh ground Mexican cinnamon. 12/19/15

Polvorones-Mexican Cookies
plate full of cookies in three different styles
Mexican cookies on large plate

Polvorones de Nuez( Mexican Pecan Cookies)

4 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes minutes
Total Time: 34 minutes minutes
Servings: 30 small cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening or 2 stick unsalted butter
  • 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 1/3 teaspoon anise seeds crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon if you want a stronger anise and cinnamon flavor, add twice as much
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup finely crushed pecans optional
  • 3/4 cup fine sugar mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Mexican cinnamon colored sprinkles or powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees Cream the butter, add powdered sugar, anise, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth and creamy. Gradually mix in the flour until dough forms.  If adding pecans, add them in now and fold them in as best you can.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll 30 small or 15 medium dough balls and divide between the two baking sheets. If dough is too sticky to roll, mix in a little more flour, 2 tablespoons at a time. You could leave the polvorones round, or you could flatten them slightly.
  • Bake in preheated oven, one sheet at a time, for 13 to 14 minutes, turning pan halfway through the baking time. This will help them bake more evenly.
  • If using sprinkles, they must go onto the cookies before baking. For cinnamon and sugar, gently dredge them in a mix of cinnamon/sugar while they are still slightly warm out of the oven. They will be very delicate. For powdered sugar, sift over cookies, or roll them in the powdered sugar once cooled. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

~ For Mexican Wedding cookies, do not add the cinnamon, anise or pecans. Roll prepared dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake as directed. Roll in powdered sugar once cooled. If you decide to use the shortening, the dough will be extra soft. Mix in a little more extra flour, so the dough is not too sticky. 
 
For pink cookies I used food coloring gel after the dough was mixed thoroughly. 
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!
This version of Polvorones has no pecans. I did add anise, cinnamon, orange zest and Mexican vanilla. Oh! And some pink food coloring gel after the dough was all mixed together.
There is just something about those pink cookies that remind me so much of my childhood and trips to La Panaderia.

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Filed Under: Cookies, Mexican Cookies Tagged With: Baking, Cookies, Mexican Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Polvorones, Traditional Mexican Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet Lynn

    December 21, 2015 at 9:46 pm

    These cookies take me back to my childhood! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 21, 2015 at 10:17 pm

      Love how simple the recipe is. Those truly are the best recipes,the ones that remind me of home.

      Reply
  2. lgranados2015

    December 21, 2015 at 10:58 pm

    Thank you so much for the recipe. These are truly the best there is.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 22, 2015 at 7:48 am

      Thank you for the feedback Igranados2015.

      Reply
  3. Monica

    November 5, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    Is vanilla bean paste a must or is there a substitute?

    Reply
    • Sonia

      November 5, 2016 at 8:16 pm

      Monica, I use that because it seems more concentrated and I like that it has the little specs of vanilla through out. You could just use vanilla extract instead, no problem.

      Reply
  4. Cassie Sue

    January 21, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    What is “canela?”

    Reply
    • Sonia

      January 21, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      Cassie, canela is cinnamon. Sorry about that. I typically will add the word in English. Thanks for the heads up.

      Reply
  5. Maria

    July 10, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    Injoyed your recipes thank you for sharing

    Reply
    • Sonia

      July 10, 2018 at 8:25 pm

      Thank you Maria! I appreciate your kind words.

      Reply
  6. Bertha Gomez

    November 29, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Can you freeze them?

    Reply
    • Sonia

      November 30, 2018 at 12:30 am

      I will be honest Bertha, the cookie is so delicate, I am not sure how it would hold up in the freezer.

      Reply
  7. Sandra

    June 20, 2019 at 2:07 am

    About freezing them, my Mother would save her metal coffee cans, and line them in wax paper, and make batches of cookies, including the Mexican Wedding ones for Christmas….then load up the coffee cans and put in the freezer. It dries them out for one thing…but to a kid stealing them out of the freezer before Christmas, it didn’t matter, lol.
    Thank you for posting…brought back memories!!

    Reply
    • Sonia

      June 20, 2019 at 8:16 am

      Hi Sandra! That would have been a thrill for me to to steal them out of the coffee cans! What a great memory!

      Reply
  8. Malena

    January 10, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    I made these today and they are the best homemade polvorones. They are very easy to make. Thank you for the recipe

    Reply
    • Sonia

      January 10, 2020 at 8:45 pm

      Hi Malena! I am so happy you liked the recipe! Thank you!

      Reply
  9. Veronica Caudill

    December 15, 2023 at 11:43 am

    This is 2023 December and I would like to know in the ingredients where and how much Vanilla Bean Paste to use? all I see is Vanilla Extract.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 17, 2023 at 3:27 pm

      It should read vanilla extract, not vanilla bean paste.

      Reply
      • Veronica Caudill

        December 19, 2023 at 10:36 am

        Thank you, I did read in some of the comments that bean paste is also used for flavor.

        Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, my name is Sonia Mendez Garcia. My parents Ramiro and Blanca Mendez moved to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico in 1963. I am first generation Mexican American born in Los Angeles, California. Cooking has always been one of my passions in life. This is my journey and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Read More…

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