Galletas Comitecas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide mixing bowl for rubbing fat into flour by hand
• •Wooden rolling pin
• •2 1/2-inch round cutter or straight-sided glass
• •Two sheet pans
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line two sheet pans with parchment or grease them lightly with manteca de cerdo. In Comitán, the old bakeries know their wood ovens by smell and by the color of flour tossed on the oven floor. At home, use a steady moderate oven. These cookies should bake pale blond, not dark brown.

2. 2

   Mix the dry base

   In a wide bowl, whisk the wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground canela. Break up any hard bits with your fingers. The canela should be quiet, not perfume-shop loud. This is an egg-yolk biscuit from the Chiapas highlands, not a cinnamon cookie pretending to be regional.

3. 3

   Rub in the lard

   Add the manteca de cerdo in small pieces. Rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed in your palm. This is where the tenderness is built. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable shortening gives you a flatter taste and a bakery shelf texture. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.

   The lard should be soft but still opaque. Melted lard coats the flour too heavily and makes the cookies greasy. Cold lard leaves hard bits. Pay attention with your hands.
4. 4

   Add yolks and milk

   Beat the 6 egg yolks with 1/4 cup whole milk until smooth. Pour this into the flour mixture and work it in with one hand, turning the bowl with the other. The dough should come together as a soft, slightly dry mass with small cracks at the edges. If loose flour remains at the bottom, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time. Do not drown it. The dough needs just enough moisture to roll.

5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Press the dough into a thick disk, wrap it, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This rest is not decoration. The flour hydrates, the lard firms slightly, and the dough stops fighting you. The señoras who perfected these did not rush the bowl to the table because a clock told them to. They waited until the dough behaved.

6. 6

   Roll and cut

   Dust the counter lightly with flour. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2 1/2-inch rounds or ovals with a cutter or the rim of a glass, pressing straight down without twisting. Gather scraps and reroll once. Too much rerolling makes tough galletas, and a tough galleta comiteca is a failure you can feel under your teeth.

   If the dough cracks deeply as you roll, pat in a teaspoon of milk with your fingers. If it smears on the counter, dust with flour and let it sit 10 minutes.
7. 7

   Brush and sugar

   Move the cut cookies to the prepared pans, leaving about 1 inch between them. Brush the tops lightly with the egg yolk and milk mixture. Make three shallow fork marks across each cookie or leave them plain, then sprinkle with the reserved sugar. The mark is not fancy. It tells the hand that made it.

8. 8

   Bake pale blond

   Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the pans once, until the tops are pale golden and the undersides are honey-colored. Do not wait for dark edges. Egg-yolk dough turns dry when overbaked. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. They should break softly, with a tender crumb and a clean taste of yolk, wheat, lard, and canela. Así se hace y punto.

9. 9

   Serve and keep

   Serve the galletas at room temperature in a basket lined with a clean servilleta, with coffee, atole, or a small cup of milk. They keep well because that is what a panadería biscuit is supposed to do. Store them in a tin for up to 5 days. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use clean, white manteca de cerdo from a butcher or a market vendor who sells it fresh. It should smell faintly sweet, not stale. If the lard smells strong before it goes into the dough, it will taste strong after baking.
• •Room-temperature yolks matter. Cold yolks make the lard seize and the dough turns patchy. Put the eggs on the counter 30 minutes before you start.
• •These are not polvorones and they are not American sugar cookies. They should be thick, pale, tender, and sturdy enough to carry home in a basket without turning to dust.
• •If you visit Comitán, taste the cookie before you argue with the recipe. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. The standard is the bakery tray, not a supermarket package.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped tightly, and refrigerated. Let it sit at room temperature until pliable before rolling, about 30 to 45 minutes.
• •Baked galletas keep for 5 days in a tin or covered basket. They are best after cooling completely, when the crumb settles and the canela softens.
• •For make-ahead bakery work, cut the cookies and refrigerate them on the sheet pan for up to 8 hours. Brush with yolk and sugar just before baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 41g)