Polvorones are a celebration cookie. You will find them at holidays, weddings, quinceañeras (the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday), and even funerals. Polvo in Spanish means powder. These cookies are dry and crumbly, with a coating of sugar on the outside.
Natalia Del Pino and her family are members of Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Natalia learned to bake Mexican sweet breads with her grandmother. Some of these family recipes are over 100 years old.
Polvorones
5 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups shortening, Crisco
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, add it to the soaking sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Beat one egg and add the sugar and vanilla. Add the shortening and mix until it all blends together. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Knead by hand until smooth. Cut the dough in half. Get 2 big pieces of wax paper or clear wrap so you can roll out the cookie cough into a half inch thick piece. It will be about 10x10 or 12x12. Form each cookie, using a cookie cutter of your choice. I usually just use a glass and make them into circles. A heart shape is the traditional shape.
Put each cookie on a greased cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. After the cookies are out, mix 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a plate. While the cookies are warm, dip the top side of each cookie in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Recipe make about 30 cookies.
For more favorite Methodist recipes, visit UMC.org/OurUMTable or our page on Pinterest.
This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN. Contact is Joe Iovino.
This video was first posted on November 24, 2020.
