Many, many years ago, an adorable young friend who is not Mexican and not married gave me the perfect and simple recipe for Mexican wedding cookies. I am married and half Spanish (descended from the Holguin’s in Fuente Ovejuna, Spain), but had no clue how to make these sweet treats, although they are very similar to New Mexican biscochitos, which I can make.
Originally known as Mexican Wedding Cakes and Sugar Cookies, these little confectioneries are closely related to Russian Tea Cakes, but have a sophisticated and ancient global history. Historians trace the cookies back to Medieval Arab cuisine because of that sugar and almond rich culture. The Moors introduced the cookies to Spain and Spain to the rest of Europe, each country altering the recipe as it traveled. During the 1500s, the cookie made it’s way to American soil along with the explorers who were seeking a new world.
Ingredients
2 sticks of soft salted butter
5 tbsp. sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups of finely crushed nuts (almonds or roasted pecans)
Dash of salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with sugar and vanilla. Slowly incorporate the flour, salt, and finely crushed nuts. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Roll dough in hands to form balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
After cookies cool, roll in powdered sugar and gobble up.
by Jane Hruska
