Sunday, August 26, 2012

Polvorones II


You may have read in one of my recent post about my quest to find the perfect Polvoron recipe. My friend Leslie from "La Cocina de Leslie" made these yummy looking Polvorones this week. They were so pretty they inspired me to get back in the kitchen and play with my recipe once again. I did intend to use Leslie's recipe but unfortunately I didn't have any butter.
I made only two changes to my recipe. I used granulated sugar instead of powdered, and I left the pink coloring out. These cookies came out delicious. Very light and crisp. This recipe definitely wins over my previous one.

Polvorones

1 c. shortening
1c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. corn starch
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
Sprinkles

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl mix flour, corn starch, and salt and set aside. Beat shortening and vanilla in stand mixer until creamy. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture and mix until dough forms. Using a tablespoon spoon out the dough and shape into balls. Place balls of dough on cookie sheet  leaving 3 inches in between each one and lightly  cover with plastic wrap, using the bottom of a glass press down on the cookie to shape.Remove plastic wrap and repeat with each ball. Sprinkle with sprinkles and press them down lightly. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies  from cookie sheet and place on cooling rack to cool completely.

Yields 2 dozen cookies

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Polvorones


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.