It’s Christmas time! Add more fun to the holiday by baking cookies for Christmas.
Here is the recipe for delicious Mexican Orange Sugar Cookies, a traditional Christmas cookie in Mexico. The recipe is so simple that it can made all year round. These cookies make great Christmas gifts for family, friends, co-workers and just everyone!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter or vegetable shortening
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon ground anise seeds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 oranges
- 1 cup vanilla bean infused granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Vanilla Bean Infused Sugar
Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
Scrape seeds of vanilla beans in a jar of granulated sugar. Slice vanilla bean lengthwise and place them in the jar of sugar. Cover and seal the jar with a plastic wrap. Don’t forget to shake the jar well. Let the sugar to infuse for two weeks.
Don’t throw away the used vanilla beans. Grind them and add them to the jar of infused sugar. This Vanilla Bean Infused Sugar can be used as and when needed. Apart from baked foods, this sugar can be used as regular sugar for tea and coffee.
Directions to make cookies:
Whisk all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt.
Whip cream cheese and butter separately, until fluffy. To this mixture, add granulated sugar, ground anise seeds and orange zest. Whip until creamy. Next, add eggs one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder mixture and orange juice to this.
Beat the flour mixture to form dough and knead on a lightly floured surface.
Roll out the dough into 2-inch-diameter logs. As this dough will be sticky, it is recommended to roll it in wax paper. Shape the logs and refrigerate dough overnight so that it can be baked the next day.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F, when the dough is ready to bake.
Remove dough logs from refrigerator and unwrap them. Cut into 1 inch thick slices. Cookie cutters of different shapes can be used to cut cookies. Kids love cookies, especially those in different shapes! Star shaped cookies will be great for Christmas.
Tops of these slices can be dipped in pearl sugar before baking. Since its Christmas time, red and green colored sugar sprinkles will add more color to the cookies.
Bake cookies on greased cookie sheets for around 8 minutes. Remove cookies from oven once they turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool down.
Pack these cookies in handmade paper bags, decorated glass or Mason jars with colorful ribbons on top. These cookies are sure to make thoughtful homemade gifts for friends and family.
Merry Christmas!
For more interesting Hispanic recipes keep track of our U.S. immigration blog.