On Day 5 of this Advent, I mentioned that while the children of some countries in Central and South America receive gifts during the holiday season, they do not get those prizes from Santa. Our featured country of Mexico is one of those lands. Instead of St. Nick, they get their prizes from The Wise Men!
Known as Los Reyes, the Wise Men or Magi give the children of Mexico presents on January 6th, Epiphany (AKA Dia de Los Reyes). Epiphany represents the day the wise men found baby Jesus and gifted him with gold, frankincense and myrrh. See on December 25th, the people of Mexico celebrate Christmas, with a trip to church and a big fiesta. But the gift exchange doesn’t happen until that last day of the holidays! January 6th!
The event ends almost a month long celebration of the birth of Christ. Small gifts of fruit and trinkets are given to all children who participate. A lucky kiddo finds a gift of money hidden from sight. Other fun and games result in the winning of prizes. But the one prize every child wants to find is the baby figure placed inside the oval shaped Rosca de Reyes (King’s Cake). The winner of that present gets to be the host and guest of honor of another big party held later in February.
Since the Wise Men gave Jesus the first ever Christmas gifts, it makes sense that they are the main gift givers for the holiday season. As areas of Northern Mexico become integrated with those American states that border the Rio Grande, some Mexican children do get gifts from Santa on December 25th. But that tradition is so new, that most boys and girls from that country have never even heard of St. Nicolas.
When you think of the cookies of Mexico, there’s really only 1 choice- the Mexican Wedding Cookie! Though many food historians think that the cookie actually originated in the Middle East. Since we’ve already had a very similar cookie in this Advent with the Russian Tea Cake, I am sharing with you a totally new different cookie recipe.
I present to you- Hojarascas. These light flaky cookies represent the leaves of autumn, of which they are named after. They pack a cinnamon punch, which I greatly enjoy in Mexican desserts.
Enjoy!
Hojarascas
Ingredients
(Makes 3 dozen 3 inch perfectly crumbly and delicately addicting cookies)
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar (plus 1 cup of sugar for coating)
3 teaspoons of cinnamon (plus 3 teaspoons for coating)
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons Crisco All Vegetable Shortening
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar (plus 1 cup of sugar for coating)
3 teaspoons of cinnamon (plus 3 teaspoons for coating)
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons Crisco All Vegetable Shortening
3 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon in the blender or food processor.
Pour into a bowl and add egg, baking powder and shortening. Combine well.
Pour the flour in gradually, mixing it only 1/2 cup at a time. Towards the last 1/2 cup, the mixture will become difficult to stir. At this point, use your hands to knead the dough until smooth. If you find that the dough is breaking too much, add drops of water to help it stick together and continue to knead.
Roll it out to 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick and use whatever cookie cutters you have! (We only had the cap to the baking powder can, so we used that lol.)
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake them for 10-15min.
For the coating, combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Once the cookies are done and while they are still warm, gently toss them in the cinnamon sugar combination until fully coated.
Let cookies cool (or don’t) and dig in!
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