Recipes

Desserts: Cakes and Cookies

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Mexican Wedding Cookies

Pastelitos de boda (wedding cookies) are a traditional dessert at Mexican weddings. They have nuts in them and they are sweet with powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnut, pecan, or almond pieces, toasted in a nonstick frying pan until fragrant
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/8 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup less-fat margarine (with 8 grams of fat per tablespoon)
• 1/4 cup light cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In food processor bowl, add the nuts, flours, salt, and cinnamon; process until the mixture is nicely blended and the nuts are finely chopped (about 30 seconds). Set aside.
2. In mixer bowl (use the paddle beater on the standing mixer) cream the margarine, light cream cheese, and 1 cup of powdered sugar by beating on medium speed until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until dough comes together.
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on two nonstick baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned around the edges (about 18 to 20 minutes). Transfer cookies to a wire rack until cookies are cool enough to hold in your hand.
4. Place 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar in medium bowl and roll the warm cookies in the sugar and return to baking sheets. Let cool 15 minutes and roll in the sugar again.

Yield:
Makes 38 cookies

Nutritional Information:
Per serving (1 cookie = 1 serving): 78 calories, 2 g protein, 9.5 g carbohydrate, 3.8 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0.5 mg cholesterol, 0.6 g fiber, 38 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 43 percent.

© 2008 Elaine Magee