Pan De Polvo Mexican Cookies Recipe 39

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Make some tea out of the cinnamon sticks, anise, and water in a pan and boil. Boil till there is only about 1 cup left. Strain the spices out, so it is a clear liquid. You will only use 1/2 a cup, put that a side. Make the dough, cream the shortening and lard till it is light and creamy looking. Then add the tea and sugar and cream again. Start adding the flour a little at a time. Start with 2 cups. then add the powder cinnamon till the dough has a medium brown color. Now finish adding the rest of the flour. This is a sticky dough, so keep adding flour just until it is not sticky anymore and is workable. Flour the surface, your hands and the rolling pin. and then pull out a workable amount of dough. Roll the dough out till it is a little less the 1/4-inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Bake for 15 minutes. Pull out of the oven to cool on the cooling racks. As soon as touchable, coat them in the sugar/cinnamon bath. The cookies must be warm, so the sugar will melt on them. Put them back on the cooling racks to finish cooling down. Repeat till all dough used and baked.

Steps:

• First make tea. Use 1 cup of water and 1 tbsp of Anise seed. Let it cool and set aside.
• Second get 1 tbsp of Anise seeds and crush in a mortar, set aside.
• Third make cinnamon sugar mix to dip hot cookies in, set aside.
• You are going to need 2 large bowls.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.
• In another large bowl, mix sugar, lard, crushed Anise seeds, and Anise tea until smooth. (may not need all of the tea, just eyeball it).
• Add flour mix, one cup at a time. Dough should be soft.
• SUGGESTION: Let dough rest for couple of hours or overnight. The Anise seeds will create a wonderful flavor!
• Lightly flour rolling surface. Roll out dough about 1/4 inch thickness. Use a heart shape cookie cutter or any small cookie cutter you like.
• Preheat oven to 400. Bake in an ungreased cookie sheet or stone for about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.
• Remove from cookie sheet, let cookies cool about 2 minutes then roll warm cookie in cinnamon-sugar mix. (careful not to break cookie).
• *lard is recommended but you can use Mrs. Tucker's shortening, it works just as well. DO NOT USE OIL.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, ½ cup of the confectioner's sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl and mix for 3 minutes.
• Gradually add the flour and salt. Use the mixer for the first cup of flour and then work in the remaining flour and finely chopped pecans by hand with a wooden spoon. Dough will be stiff.
• Form dough into balls (l level tablespoon each) and flatten to a coin shape. Place on ungreased baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake at 325° F on middle oven rack until light golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
• Let cookies stand for about 1 minute. Place the remaining sugar in a shallow dish. Roll the cookies in the sugar to coat completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Steps:

• Boil a 1/4 cup of water with several cinnamon sticks, to make a cinnamon tea. Once cooled, strain out, the tea will be used to form dough
• Combine lard and flour, I use pastry cutter, add cinnamon tea, one tbsp at a time to form dough, (dough should be clay-dough like). I separate the dough in half form ball wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• In food processor I grind 8-10 cinnamon sticks with sugar, until sugar is fine, but not powder, there will be chucks of cinnamon. Set a side in a large shallow container
• I roll out the dough between parchment paper. Use a round cookie cutter (about the size of half dollar) and cut out the cookies. Place them on cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
• After removing from oven, right away I gently use a thin spatula to start place a few cookies at a time into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Gently and lightly coat the cookies, remove to a plate, continue until all cookies are lightly coated with the sugar/cinnamon

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, place the flour and cinnamon. Whisk together until thoroughly blended. Set aside.
• In the work bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the shortening and sugar on medium-high speed until well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water and beat until thoroughly combined.
• Add the flour mixture and blend on medium-low just until completely blended. Press the dough into 2 equal disks. Place each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out each disk to 1/8 inch thick, lifting and smoothing the top sheet of wax paper if necessary. Slide the two sheets of rolled dough onto a baking sheet. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 10 minutes in the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Place one rolled dough on the work surface. Lift off and replace the top sheet of wax paper. Flip the dough over and lift off and set aside the sheet of wax paper. Use a 1 1/2-inch or smaller cookie cutter to cut into desired shapes. Transfer the cookies to an ungreased baking sheet, placing about 1 inch apart. Gather the scraps, reroll them between the sheets of wax paper, and refrigerate until firm. Repeat with the other sheet of dough.
• Bake until firm when gently touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. Use a thin spatula to transfer them to cooling racks to cool completely.
• To prepare the sugar coating, place the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Stir with a fork until completely combined. Roll the cooled cookies in the sugar and serve.
• Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.