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.
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 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 con Anis y Canela prepared with fresh ground Mexican cinnamon. 12/19/15
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.
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These cookies take me back to my childhood! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Love how simple the recipe is. Those truly are the best recipes,the ones that remind me of home.
Thank you so much for the recipe. These are truly the best there is.
Thank you for the feedback Igranados2015.
Is vanilla bean paste a must or is there a substitute?
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.
What is “canela?”
Cassie, canela is cinnamon. Sorry about that. I typically will add the word in English. Thanks for the heads up.
Injoyed your recipes thank you for sharing
Thank you Maria! I appreciate your kind words.
Can you freeze them?
I will be honest Bertha, the cookie is so delicate, I am not sure how it would hold up in the freezer.
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!!
Hi Sandra! That would have been a thrill for me to to steal them out of the coffee cans! What a great memory!
I made these today and they are the best homemade polvorones. They are very easy to make. Thank you for the recipe
Hi Malena! I am so happy you liked the recipe! Thank you!
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.
It should read vanilla extract, not vanilla bean paste.
Thank you, I did read in some of the comments that bean paste is also used for flavor.