One of my kids favorite treats from the local Mexican bakery {la panaderia} are these sugar cookies that have 3 bright colors. They are soft and yet kinda crumbly. At our local bakery, they make them all sorts of bright colors, usually in the shape of a triangle, like the size of my hand! The cookies are not too sweet, and have a hint of a cinnamon taste – something my in-laws prefer. They have a hard time finding treats that they like because here in the US we make things way too rich compared to what you would find in Ecuador. With Easter right around the corner I thought it would be fun to make my own version of some bright happiness. After several tries, I think I got it right. They were sampled by my in-laws and I got a two thumbs up!
These cookies do take a little more time than your regular cookie recipe because you have to scoop out three different colors, but in the end its worth having something so bright and happy. Grab your kids, and get these cookies started. You are sure to make a fun memory while making these!
Start off by mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. I have yet to own a mixer in my married life, and I have tried to win one from The Pioneer Woman more times than I can count, so you go ahead and use your mixer while I exercise my muscles and do it the old fashioned way ;). You will then combine them and mix until you have a nice firm dough.
Separate the dough into 3 even balls. I used the food coloring for frosting cakes by Wilton. You can just take a toothpick and get a bit out of the jar and place it on the dough. I then mixed the dough by hand while wearing some gloves. It worked out nicely.
Once you have the desired color of dough, you will make small 1/2 inch balls. I used the larger end of a melon scoop to scoop a bunch of balls in each color.
Grab one ball of each color and combine them into one and start rolling. Once you have a nice ball, go ahead and roll them into some sugar and place them on the cookie sheet with the seam of all 3 colors facing the top. You can then use the flat surface of a cup or a bowl and smash the cookies down. Put them in the oven. Once they have baked the 9-11 minutes depending on your oven, (you want them to be golden on the bottom), you can then remove them from oven and allow them to sit on the pan for another 5 minutes before removing to a cookie rack to cool.
There you have it! Some lightly sweetened cookies that are sure to bring some smiles. Hope you enjoy!
See the Happy,
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup butter room temp
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 400*. Cream the sugar, egg, butter, vanilla, and milk. Set aside.
- Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well until a nice, firm dough is formed.
- Separate the dough into 3 even balls. Add the color of food coloring you would like and mix by hand wearing gloves so your hands don't get stained.
- Using the large end of a melon scoop, scoop out balls of each individual color. Take one ball of each color and roll it in your hands until one nice ball is formed. Roll it in the sugar and place it on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam 2 inches apart.
- Flatten down each cookie with the bottom of a cup or bowl. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and allow to bake for 9-11 minutes depending on your oven. Remove from heat and allow to remain on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before you put it on the cooling rack. Enjoy!
Can u use shortening instead of butter ??
You can substitute shortening for the butter, just use equal parts shorting for the butter called for. I have never done this with this recipe, but I know that shortening will give the cookies a bit of a different texture. I would love to hear how they turn out. Thanks for stopping by Monica!
I just made these cookies and something went wrong.
I followed the directions as listed but the cookies came out dry and hard. Please tell me what they should be like.
I apologize for the delay Rita! Im sad to hear the cookies were dry and hard. I have never had them turn out dry before, they are quite soft! There are a number of things that could affect the softness – overworking the dough, over cooking them (not all ovens cook the same), or I have had other cookies be quite hard when my baking powder or baking soda was too old. I wish I knew what it was so I could help you. They should be super soft!
My cookies somehow turned into biscuits.
Is there any way to substitute the milk for something else?
Is there anything I could use for a substitute of milk?
I made this recioe sorry to say but. This is the worst recioe ever. A waste of ingredients. I am a baker and i would definetely advise you to remove this recipe and save others from wasting ingredients. Cookies look pretty but taste horrible.
I hope to try this recipe today. Whenever I purchase Mexican sugar cookies at a Mexican bakery they are not soft. I like them not so soft so I hope mine are a little crunch. Not too crunchy just bit. Wish me luck.
These cookies are pretty soft, a bit crumbly, not too much crunch though. I hope you enjoy them either way, and I would love to hear what you think, Thanks for stopping by Del!
I tried this recipe for Christmas and I thought they turned out delicious. Mine were soft and very tasty. My family loved them too (: This was my first time making homemade cookies from scratch and I think they turned out very good.
Happy Holidays!
-Alexa
Alexa your taking time to write this comment means the world. I am so glad you and your family loved them! We all love them at our house, and my kids have lots of fun coloring and rolling the dough into balls. I hope that you have had a fantastic holiday season and wish you the best for 2019! Thanks again!
I made these last night. The colors were indeed happy and fun and gave me a bounce in my step as I took them out of the oven. They came out perfectly, light and soft and sweet but not overly so. One note is that I had an extra large egg so ended up adding a little flour to make the dough the right consistency. What a fun project on a cold wintery evening!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share how it all went for your Virginia! We love these cookies, and its so fun to change up the colors! You sound like you know your way around the kitchen to add flour to your dough. Depending on where you live, if there is more humidity than what we have in Utah you may need to add a bit of flour as well to your extra large egg. I hope that you have a beautiful day!