Polvorones

One of the things I love about this time of year, is I get to do a lot of baking.  Granted, nothing is really stopping me the rest of the year, except my fear of ballooning out to Paul Prudhomme size.  During the holidays, there are tons of opportunities for unloading baked goods in cookie exchanges, as impromptu gifts, at potlucks etc.  This year, I decided to reacquaint myself with the tasty but simple polvorones, or what are more commonly known as, Mexican Wedding Cookies.  I am not sure why they are called that.  I've been to plenty of Mexican weddings in my lifetime, and can't think of a single occasion where these were served.  Growing up, I remember eating, and baking them, mostly during the holidays.

If you have never had them, polvorones are sort of like a nutty shortbread cookie.  They are always made with ground nuts, usually pecans, but sometimes walnuts or almonds.  They are either round or crescent shaped, and they are usually rolled in powdered sugar.  When done right, they are melt in your mouth tender, not too sweet, and very nutty. 

I've made these many many times in the past, but it has been at least 10 years since the last time I made them.  I needed to dig up a recipe.  I found a promising one on Saveur magazine's website.  I liked it, because it had less sugar than many of the other recipes I was seeing, and I know that magazine strives for authenticity.

I baked up a batch and had forgotten how ridiculously easy these things are to make.  Dangerously easy.  It was literally 15 minutes from digging the mixing bowl out to putting them in the oven.  

Here's my version of their recipe.  The only modification I made was to add salt, which I was really surprised to not see in their ingredients list.  I tried doubling and then quadrupling this recipe and had no problems, which makes it great for holiday baking.  

Mexican Wedding Cookies (Polvorones)

1⁄4 lb. butter
2 tbsp. confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

1⁄2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup finely ground walnuts or pecans

Additional confectioner's sugar for coating the cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Cream butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat for 1–2 minutes. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in nuts.

2. Shape dough into 1" balls, using about 1 tbsp. of dough for each. Place 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes, turning sheet so that cookies bake lightly and evenly. Transfer to a rack, allow to cool, and roll in confectioners' sugar.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

A few illustrated notes on the process.

You may be able to find ground nuts in the bulk section of your meglomart, but I prefer to grind my own in a food processor.  I like the texture to be a little less uniform than the stuff you find commercially.

You need to be gentle when rolling these cookies in the powdered sugar, as they can be quite delicate.  

I made a second batch of these, and did some experimenting.  I added about 1/4 tsp. of ground cinnamon to the dough, and also tried three different coatings:  

• A mixture of half powdered sugar, half cocoa powder
• a basic cinnamon sugar
• 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tsp. garham masala

We tasted these variations, and the cinnamon sugar was a definite winner, with the garham masala a close second.  The cocoa powder combo was good, but the chocolate sort of covered up the subtle nutty taste of the cookies too much.