Hojarascas

4.99 from 69 votes

Hojarascas are yummy Mexican shortbread cookies covered in a sweet cinnamon and sugar coating. Make a few dozen because one batch is just never enough.

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: cookies

Calories: 107kcal

Author: Maggie Unzueta

Ingredients

For the Cinnamon Tea:

1 cup water
1 stick whole cinnamon

For the Dough:

8 oz shortening
¾ cup sugar
1 tspn salt
2 tablespoon vanilla
1 tspn ground cinnamon
3 cups flour

For the Sugar Coating:

1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

For the Cinnamon Tea:

In a small pot, add 1 cup water and the cinnamon stick.
Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and set aside.
Let this cool completely.

For the Dough:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, add the shortening and sugar.
Mix well.
Add salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and mix well.
Turn mixer off.
Add ½ of the flour. Mix only until combined.
Turn mixer off again.
Add the remaining ½ of the flour.
Mix only until combined.
Turn mixer off again.
Add half of the cooled cinnamon tea.
Turn mixer on low.
Add only the amount of tea necessary to bring the dough together. About ½ cup.
Turn mixer off and dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour.
Place cookie dough on the surface and roll it out evenly.
Cut out shapes using a cookies cutter.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes.

For the Sugar Coating:

Mix the sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl.
Place the hot cookies on a rack.
Carefully and gently add each warm cookie to the bowl and cover with the sugar coating.
Do not let the cookies cool. They must be warm to coat with the sugar mixture.
Repeat until all the cookies have been coated.
Makes about 45 cookies. Enjoy!

Notes

These Hojarascas recipe is completely vegan. However, traditionally it is made with lard. You can swap out the shortening for lard 1:1.

Please note: The tea needs to be completely cool before adding to the mixture.

When rolling out the cookies: Do not add too much flour. Only the amount necessary to roll out and cut out the cookies. Adding too much flour will result in tough hojarascas.

If the cookies have cooled down completely, the sugar-cinnamon mixture will not stick. If they are cool, brush butter on them and then coat them with the mixture.

Nutrition