They’re a crumbly Spanish shortbread most popularly known as Mexican wedding cookies or Russian tea cakes.
Welcome to the very sweet union of the macaroon and the candy bar.
These cookies go by the many endearing names for pigs in Spanish: cerdito, cochinito, marranito, or puerquito. This is the recipe that is the most requested on my blog by Mexicans living abroad.
You may think I have gone off the rails by adding curry powder to cookies, but along with the ground and candied ginger, the combo really wakes up a classic American cookie.
The cookies are chubby and chewy and just a little soft at the center -- altogether great.
If you're a fan of the salt and caramel combination but haven't tried it at home yet, this is a delicious way to experiment.
"There are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do." -Frida Kahlo
These are fail-proof oatmeal cookies, chewy and wholesome, with just enough spice and plenty of oatmeal. I like them with dried cranberries and walnuts, but you could add any dried fruit or nut. Try them with dried blueberries and pecans for a change, or currants and chopped almonds, or they're always good with the traditional addition of raisins. This is a terrific lunch box cookie, or great with tea in the afternoon.
My mom, Betty Keller, was a creature of habit. She worked very hard at her job managing restaurants while raising five boys and a daughter as a single mother. She loved to have cookies on hand at the end of the day, and she especially loved the Keebler pecan sandie. It was part of my childhood, and it's a flavor combination, vanilla and pecan, that I associate with her. It was an adult cookie to me. There was always a bag of them in the cupboard.
Sometimes there's nothing better than the simplest of flavors. We both love these cookies as they are or with a simple glaze, or we sprinkle demerara sugar on them for a bit of sparkle. If you add 1 tablespoon of cream of tartar to the dry ingredients and roll them in cinnamon sugar prior to baking, you will have classic snickerdoodles. With orange or lemon zest, they can easily be nudged in other directions. When we lived in New York, there was a little bakery, now gone, called Mary's Off Jane. She made the most incredible lime shortbread-ish cookies with a lime glaze that we devoured. These come close, but we have yet to re-create them to her standard.