Tintines Totonacos de Maiz y Piloncillo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy griddle
• •Small clay cazuela or saucepan for piloncillo syrup
• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Cotton servilleta
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Make piloncillo syrup

   Put the chopped piloncillo, water, and cinnamon stick in a small clay cazuela or saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves into a dark syrup. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, just until it lightly coats a spoon. Take it off the heat, remove the cinnamon, and stir in the scraped Papantla vanilla seeds and pod, or the vanilla extract. Let it cool until warm, not hot.

   Do not scorch the piloncillo. Burned sugar covers the vanilla and makes the cookie taste harsh. You want deep cane sweetness, not bitterness.
2. 2

   Mix dry ingredients

   In a wide bowl, whisk the masa harina, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder. Break up any lumps with your fingers. Masa harina drinks liquid slowly, so it needs even mixing before the syrup goes in.

3. 3

   Rub in lard

   Add the room-temperature manteca de cerdo to the dry ingredients. Rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed. This is the texture that gives tintines their tender center and crisp rim. No me vengas con atajos. Melted fat will make greasy cookies.

4. 4

   Form the dough

   Pour in the warm piloncillo syrup and the beaten egg. Mix with your hand until a soft dough forms. It should feel like fresh tortilla masa that has been sweetened and enriched: moist, pliable, and not sticky. If it cracks badly when pressed, add warm water one tablespoon at a time. If it smears on your palm, dust in a spoonful of masa harina.

5. 5

   Rest the masa

   Cover the bowl with a clean cotton servilleta and rest the dough for 20 minutes. The masa harina needs that time to hydrate. Skip the rest and the cookies crack like dry clay. The women who perfected this did not rush it, and neither should you.

6. 6

   Shape the tintines

   Pinch off walnut-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten between your palms into a disk about 2 inches wide and 1/3 inch thick. Press a few toasted sesame seeds into the top. The edges should be a little uneven. That is hand work, not a defect.

7. 7

   Cook on comal

   Heat a dry cast iron comal over medium-low heat. Lay the cookies on the comal with space between them. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, turning once, until the bottoms show toasted brown spots and the edges feel set. Lower the heat if the piloncillo darkens too fast. Corn needs time to cook through, and sugar burns before you can apologize to it.

8. 8

   Dry the edges

   Stand the cooked tintines on a wire rack and let them cool completely. They firm as they cool. The center should stay tender, the edge should bite cleanly, and the vanilla should come forward after the first chew. Serve with cafe lechero or black coffee. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy piloncillo that smells like cane and molasses, not dust. If the cone is pale and dry, it has been sitting too long. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •Papantla vanilla matters here because there are so few ingredients. If you use imitation vanilla, the cookie will tell on you. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Masa harina for tortillas works well in a modern kitchen. If you have access to fresh nixtamal masa, use 2 1/2 cups fresh masa and reduce the syrup slightly so the dough does not turn sticky.
• •These are not chile cookies, and they are not supposed to be hot. Not all Mexican food is chile and lime. Totonacapan gives you corn, cane, vanilla, and comal toast.

Advance Preparation

• •The piloncillo syrup can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before mixing so it blends into the dough.
• •The shaped uncooked tintines can rest covered at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking, or refrigerated for up to 12 hours. Let them come back to room temperature before they go on the comal.
• •Cooked tintines keep 5 days in a covered tin at room temperature. They are better the second day, when the piloncillo and corn settle into each other.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 31g)