Name: Polvorones - Mexican Wedding Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 225 grams / 7.9 ounces butter, softened; 50 grams / 1/2 cup confectioner’s/icing sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 267 grams / 1 2/3 cups plain flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 50 grams / 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped; 170 grams / 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s/icing sugar

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Polvorones or Mexican Wedding cookies are one of those food's that know no boundaries or country borders, making this just one of those many dishes where the border between borders, cultures or languages is blurred when it comes to food.

For example, New Zealand and Australia have had an ongoing argument for decades over who first invented the pavlova. Or the pastry more commonly and widely known as French palmiers is called schweine ohren in Germany - I grew up thinking they were German.

With the world becoming multicultural, where dishes originate and how they become loved in other lands gives them new life and often create a comfort for people in the places these dishes find themselves, like these buttery polvorones.

I'd never heard of Mexican wedding cookies, though they aren't found as far south as New Zealand and then I did a little research. That name in fact stems from America and you can buy them readily at the supermarket. However, Mexican's don't eat these cookies at weddings, no, in fact they aren't even considered a specialty and more of an everyday baked good.

To Mexican's these cookies are named Polvorones instead of the American named Mexican Wedding Cookies and in their homeland they come in a variety of flavors and are eaten on a daily basis. These are extremely addictive and my father who visited while these were on the bench managed to eat six in quick succession while I consumed three before making myself walk away. Good luck trying to only eat one of these, you'll find yourself returning to them.

These have their origins in Spain and can also be found in the Philippines with 'polvo' portion of polvorones meaning powder or dust and are a type of shortbread, though are very different from the Scottish type of traditional shortbread you will likely have tried before with finely chopped nuts necessary to make these traditional, with walnuts or almonds being found in these.

Why you'll love these

Quick prep

You can have a batch of these done and served in an hour flat!

Melt-in-your-mouth

You read that right, these cookies with that powdered sugar exterior melt-in-your-mouth for an incredible flavor.

Light nutty flavor

Some people opt to put almonds into their polvorones whereas these ones have finely chopped walnuts throughout for a light nutty flavor.

Ingredients and substitutions for Polvorones - Mexican Wedding Cookies

Butter: Unsalted butter was used here to better control the salt in the cookies, though if you only have salted on hand that works too, though might want to add less salt to the dough.
Sugar: Confectioner's or icing sugar is used here for it's fine texture that helps give our cookies their melt-in-your-mouth texture and cannot be substituted for the same results with any other sugar, particularly when coating with sugar. If you do not have enough confectioner's or icing sugar on hand you could substitute with superfine or caster sugar in the cookie dough.
Flour: Plain or all purpose flour works best here for a nice light crumb.
Walnuts: A nice light nuttiness comes from walnuts, though you could substitute with almonds which is a common ingredient in Polvorones. Another substitute in equal measure that would add a deeper flavor is pecans, though far less traditional.
Salt & vanilla extract: The flavor powerhouses that give depth to our cookies.

Equipment needed to make this

Mixing bowl: A medium mixing bowl is needed to create your cookie dough.

Greaseproof paper: To line your baking tray, greaseproof paper will make moving your baked cookies to a cooling tray a breeze.

Scoop: The size of the scoop used here is 4cm or 1.57 inches to create the perfect small scoop. If you don't have one this size a great substitute would be a tablespoon which would create a similar sized cookie.

Shallow bowl: To evenly coat your cookies with the confectioner's or icing sugar or a plate with an edge would also work well here.

FAQs for the best Polvorones - Mexican Wedding Cookies

How big should my Polvorones be?

These are very buttery and melt in your mouth and are best if they are no larger than 2 inches in size to make them easier to coat but also to consume.

When are the Mexican wedding cookies best to coat?

The sugar will stick to the cookies and get coated better if you toss them whilst still warm, the cooler they get the more the sugar will fall away.

Why are they called polvorones?

The Spanish word ‘Polvo’ means ‘powder’ or ‘dust’ describes the texture of these melt-in-your-mouth shortbread that are eggless, buttery and include finely chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts.

More cookies you'll enjoy

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Afghan Biscuits

Pistachio Shortbread with Black Tahini Filling

How to make:

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 200°C/400F.

Place the softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat on medium until light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute with a hand beater.

Sift in the flour, add the salt and walnuts to the mixture.

Mix until combined, no dry portions remain in the bowl and the dough is smooth.

Place in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to lightly chill.

Remove and take a tablespoon amount, placing into your hand and rolling into a smooth ball, approximately 1 ½ inches in size. If the mixture sticks, return to the refrigerator for a further 5 minutes.

Place the rolled cookie onto the prepared baking tray and place onto your baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Place in the oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes or slightly brown on the edges.

Remove and allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to the cooling tray.

For the sugar coating, sift the confectioner’s sugar into a shallow dish and roll each cookie in the confectioner’s sugar carefully while still warm (the buttery sugar will stick to your fingers so it's easiest to place the cookie on the flat side down and rolling the top last, carefully picking up from the base).

Return the cookie to the cooling rack and repeat the confectioner’s sugar process twice more while allowing each to cool to room temperature.

Serve and enjoy.