Elenitas Yucatecas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer with paddle attachment
• •Fine-mesh sifter for the flour and the powdered sugar
• •Two heavy aluminum sheet pans
• •Parchment paper
• •Microplane for the lime zest

Instructions

1. 1

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   Sift the flour and cornstarch together into a bowl. Add the salt and whisk to combine. The cornstarch is not a substitute for flour. It is what gives the elenita its powdery, sandy crumb that dissolves on the tongue. Skip it and you have made a different cookie.

   Sift twice if your kitchen is humid. The Yucatan is humid year-round, and the panaderas of Merida know to keep the flour aerated or the dough turns dense.
2. 2

   Cream the fats

   In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and lard together on medium speed for about three minutes, until pale and creamy. The lard is not negotiable. La manteca es el sabor. Butter alone gives you a French sable. Butter with a quarter cup of lard gives you an elenita, with the slight savoriness and the longer shelf life that defined this cookie when it traveled by horse cart from Merida to the henequen haciendas in the 1800s.

3. 3

   Add the sugar and aromatics

   Add the powdered sugar in two additions, beating on low until just incorporated between each. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, and add the egg yolks one at a time. Beat just until the yolks disappear into the cream. Add the vanilla, the orange flower water, and the lime zest. The orange flower water is the Yucateca signature, the Lebanese inheritance carried into Merida by the families who arrived in the late 19th century. Without it, the cookie is plain. With it, the cookie smells like a Merida bakery on Sunday morning.

4. 4

   Bring the dough together

   With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions. Stop the mixer the moment the flour disappears. Overworking this dough develops gluten and ruins the crumb. The dough should look shaggy and soft, not smooth. Turn it out onto a clean counter and press it together with your hands two or three times. That is all. No me vengas con atajos. Do not knead it.

5. 5

   Chill the dough

   Divide the dough in two, flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 90 minutes and up to two days. The chill is not optional. Warm dough spreads in the oven and the elenita is supposed to hold its round shape with a slight dome on top, not flatten into a wafer.

6. 6

   Shape the cookies

   Heat the oven to 325F. Line two heavy sheet pans with parchment. Working with one disk at a time and keeping the other refrigerated, scoop level tablespoons of dough and roll each one between your palms into a smooth ball. Place them on the sheet pans about an inch and a half apart. Do not flatten them. The dome is the shape of the elenita.

   If the dough cracks while you roll it, your hands are cold or the dough is too cold. Let it sit for five minutes on the counter and try again. The dough should yield to gentle pressure without breaking apart.
7. 7

   Bake until just set

   Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The cookies are ready when the bottoms are very pale gold and the tops are still nearly white. They should look underbaked. They are not. The elenita is meant to be tender and crumbly, never browned. A browned elenita is a ruined elenita. The cookies will continue to firm up as they cool.

8. 8

   Dust while warm, then again when cool

   Let the cookies rest on the sheet pan for five minutes. While they are still warm but cool enough to handle, sift powdered sugar generously over them. The warmth melts the first layer of sugar onto the surface, creating the bond. Once the cookies are completely cool, sift a second heavy layer of powdered sugar over them. Two coats is the Pan Elena Vales standard. Anything less and the elenita looks naked. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •The lard matters. Buy fresh rendered lard from a Mexican carniceria, not the hydrogenated shelf-stable brick from the supermarket baking aisle. The flavor and texture are completely different. If you can only find supermarket lard, use a tablespoon less and add a tablespoon more butter. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Orange flower water is sold in Middle Eastern grocery stores and in the Lebanese-owned shops in Merida. A tablespoon is the correct amount for this batch. More and the cookie tastes like perfume. Do not substitute orange extract. It is not the same flavor.
• •These cookies keep beautifully in an airtight tin for up to two weeks. The flavor actually improves after a day or two as the orange flower water and lime zest settle into the crumb. Pan Elena Vales sells them in paper-lined tins and that is how they should be stored at home.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to two days ahead and kept wrapped in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling so it does not crack.
• •The dough also freezes well for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before shaping.
• •Baked and dusted elenitas keep in an airtight tin for up to two weeks. Dust with a third layer of powdered sugar before serving if the first coats have absorbed into the cookie.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 22g)