At this time of the year, the smell of cookies fills the air throughout Mexico and preparations for this most special of all Christian holidays are well underway. Mexican bakeries, known as Panaderias, bake cookies from recipes that are as old as Mexican history. Some can be traced back to the ancient Aztecs, whilst others are distinctly Spanish – even the French have influenced the cookies of Mexico!  The originally Spanish cochinito is named after and cut into the shape of little pigs and are made from flour, brown sugar and ginger.  The oreja is a sweet cake (a pan dulce) that’s popular at breakfast and was

inherited from the French who called it a papillon because of it’s shape.  Coricos, from the state of Sonora, are shaped into rings that are made from sesame flavoured flour. The elotes are shaped like ears of corn and consist of a cinnamon cake centre with a sugar crust. Shell shaped conchitas are deeply scored, puffed cookies and consist of chocolate or vanilla sponge. Rosca de Reyes , kings cake, has a hole in the centre and is a sweet fruit cake that contains a tiny doll, signifying the infant Jesus, Who was worshipped by the three kings. These simple, buttery, nutty cinnamon sugar dusted cookies are typical at this time of the year, so have fun and enjoy.

Ingredients

• 225 g unsalted butter, softened
• 250 g plus 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 250 g flour
• 125 g ground almonds (you can also use walnuts or pecans)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp freshly ground cinnamon plus extra for the sugar mix
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and the caster sugar until smooth and then beat in the vanilla extract.
• Gradually incorporate the flour, the spices and the salt and then add the ground nuts, stirring until well mixed.
• Shape the dough into a log, about 4 cm in diameter and refrigerate for about an hour.
• Now combine the 2 tbsp of caster sugar and a ¼ tsp of cinnamon and set aside.
• Remove the dough from refrigerator and slice into twelve equal sized disks – smooth the edges so that you have smooth circles before you put it on the parchment – about 4 cm apart.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until just beginning to become golden, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack until they are cool enough to handle, but still warm.
• Using a small sieve, dust the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture.