I'm on a quest to find my favorite Polvoron cookie recipe like the ones found in your local Mexican bakery (pictured above). I have not found a soul willing to part with the recipe. I've searched the internet and YouTube and have had no luck. What is the secret to this cookie? I have found other Mexican sweet bread recipes including a "Concha" recipe that turned out awesome. Why aren't people willing to share the Polvoron recipe. I have found a few recipes on line that I have played with and haven't come up close to what I'm looking for. The cookie in the above picture has a slight chewy but yet very crisp texture to it, plus this gorgeous crackling through out the cookie, exactly what I'm looking for.
I decided to go ahead and play with recipe again after searching more recipes on the web last night and came up with this one (pictured below). They turned out very crisp, more than I wanted them to, and didn't have the slight chewy texture I was looking for. They did crack around the edges, but not through out the cookie. The flavor was good, but missing something. So far its the best batch I've made. I will continue to tweak the recipe until I get the result I'm looking for.
Polvorones
1 c. shortening
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. corn starch
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Pink food coloring
1/2 c. granulated sugar for dusting.
Cream the shortening, add the vanilla and couple of drops of food coloring, mix until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until soft dough is formed. Using a icecream scoop, scoop out dough and form into a ball. Place on cookie sheet lined with baking paper and flatten with plam of hand until flattened. This will create the cracks around the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove and cool 10 minutes, then dust them with granulated sugar.
6 comments:
As I think I wrote in my post, I can't use all shortening, I just can't but...the corn starch sounds very interesting. I think I have an idea! Great looking cookies!
My daughters (well, the whole family) love the Banderas cookies, which are the 3-colored triangles, with the pink, vanilla and chocolate, each at one of the triangle corners. Our local grocery store just started selling them after 5 years...they used to get them in boxes, frozen, shipped from Phoenix. The kids are ecstatic to have them back!
Try using lard instead of butter or shortening. I know someone who makes the most delicious mexican cookies and they use lard to get that soft-yet-crumbly texture that these kind of cookies have.
Thanks for persuing this Anabel I am looking forward to this recipe no one wants to share this recipe but in order for the tradition to pass on to our future generations we must share or it dies with those very people that don't share it !!!
It's all in the wheat flour you use. My mm always used mexican wheat flour. A great Polvoron will always have Real Mexican Bean Vanilla & fresh grated Nutmeg which in spanish It's called Nuez Moscada. Try it, you might like it. Good luck.!!
In cooking polvoron i'd rather use corn meal more delicious and chunky than using corn starch with coloring. My ingredients are so simple corn meal, nutter, powdered milk wash sugar to taste and adding flavouring like peanuts, cashew, rice crispy and mold into polvoron molder or i put it in a bottle
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