Polvorones Tricolor

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two heavy baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Mixing bowl and wooden spoon or stand mixer
• •Sharp knife for slicing the chilled dough
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the tray

   Line two baking sheets with parchment. Heat the oven to 325F. Polvorones bake low because you want them set and crumbly, not browned like galletas de mantequilla. If the bottoms go dark, the flavor turns harsh.

2. 2

   Cream the fats

   Beat the manteca de cerdo, butter, and sifted powdered sugar until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes by mixer or 4 minutes by hand with a wooden spoon. Do not whip it like frosting. This cookie needs tenderness, not air. Add the egg yolk and Mexican vanilla and mix until just combined.

3. 3

   Mix the dry base

   Whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add the dry mixture to the fat mixture in two additions, mixing only until the dough comes together in soft clumps. It should feel sandy but hold when pressed in your palm. That texture is correct. No me vengas con atajos.

4. 4

   Color the dough

   Divide the dough into three equal portions. Leave one plain. Knead a small amount of red gel coloring into one portion and green gel coloring into another. Use your fingertips and stop as soon as the color is even. Overworking the dough wakes up the gluten, and then the cookie loses the delicate crumble that makes it a polvoron.

5. 5

   Shape the tricolor log

   Roll each color into a rope about 12 inches long. Lay the green, plain, and red ropes side by side, pressing gently so they touch without smearing. Roll the joined dough once or twice to make a single thick log with three visible stripes. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes, until firm enough to slice cleanly.

   If the kitchen is warm, chill the colored ropes for 10 minutes before joining them. Manteca softens quickly, and soft dough smears instead of holding clean stripes.
6. 6

   Slice and sugar

   Cut the chilled log into 1/2-inch rounds with a sharp knife. Put the granulated sugar in a shallow plate and press each cookie lightly into the sugar on both sides. Set them 1 inch apart on the prepared trays. They spread only a little, if you respected the dough.

7. 7

   Bake until set

   Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. The tops should look dry and set, with the white stripe still pale. The bottoms may be barely golden. Do not wait for color on top. By then you have overbaked them. Asi se hace y punto.

8. 8

   Cool and dust

   Let the polvorones cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving them. Hot polvorones break if you stare at them too hard. Once firm, transfer to a rack and dust lightly with powdered sugar if you want the panaderia finish. Serve with cafe de olla, atole de vainilla, or hot chocolate.

Chef Tips

• •Buy manteca de cerdo from a butcher or a Mexican market if you can. The white supermarket blocks often taste flat. Good manteca smells clean and faintly sweet, never rancid.
• •Use gel coloring, not watery liquid coloring. Liquid coloring forces you to add more flour, and then the cookie turns hard. A few drops of gel are enough.
• •The white stripe is not supposed to brown. These cookies are done when they look set and dry. Color on top means you waited too long.
• •If you want the older panaderia flavor, add 1/4 teaspoon ground canela to the dry ingredients. Not every bakery does it, but many capitalino bakers like that quiet warmth with coffee.

Advance Preparation

• •The tricolor dough log can be wrapped tightly and refrigerated for up to 3 days before slicing and baking.
• •Baked polvorones keep for 5 days in a tightly closed tin at room temperature. They are better on the second day, when the vanilla and manteca settle into the flour.
• •Freeze the unbaked sliced cookies on a tray, then store in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 27g)