Are you looking for a traditional Mexican dessert that is not only delicious but also holds a special significance in Mexican culture? Allow me to introduce you to Tortitas de Santa Clara, delicate velvety cookies with a crunchy pepita glaze.
These delicate cookies, originally created by nuns in the 16th century, are a symbol of love, tradition, and mouth-watering flavor.
Read on to learn more about these treats.
I have no idea why these are called tortitas (meaning pancakes) instead of galletas (meaning cookies). I do know the name comes from the Convento de Santa Clara in Puebla, Mexico where the cookies were originally baked.
Don't be intimidated by the long instructions. They aren't hard to make, I just thought more detail was better here and I think more white space makes it easier to read than a blob of text.
Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day
Mexican Independence Day is September 16. Cinco de Mayo is actually the celebration of Mexico's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It isn't as big of a deal in Mexico as we make it out to be in the United States (kind of like St. Patrick's Day in Ireland, but that's a rant for another day).
These cookies originated in Puebla, so I think they will be the perfect treat to top off your meal on May 5th or anytime you want a traditional Mexican cookie.
Ingredients for Tortitas de Santa Clara
Other than the raw pepitas, all of the ingredients are basic baking ingredients:
- all purpose flour
- powdered and granulated sugars
- baking powder and baking soda
- butter and milk
- egg yolks (save the whites for another recipe)
The egg yolks help create the velvet like texture of the cookie and the golden color. If you don't want to separate the eggs you can use two whole eggs instead.
Preparing the Pepitas for Tortitas de Santa Clara
The glaze on these cookies should be white. Getting every bit of green skin off of the pepitas (pumpkin seeds) is a bit tedious, to say the least.
You need to soak them overnight, and then slough off the skin until you are left with nothing but white seeds. Despite my best effort there was still a faint green hue to mine.
One recipe suggested swapping blanched almonds to achieve a light golden color. But, I'd rather have the pepita taste than another almond cookie.
More Cinco de Mayo Recipes from #OurFamilyTable
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo or any day with these delicioso recipes from some of my favorite bloggers.
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
- Black Bean & Corn Salsa from Art of Natural Living
- Blackstone Mexican Street Corn from Jen Around the World
- Mangonada Float from Pandemonium Noshery
- Pork Tacos with Jalapeno and Pineapple Slaw from Hezzi-D's Recipe Box
- Skillet Mexican Beef and Rice from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- Taco Casa Burrito Boats (Retro Copycat) from Palatable Pastime
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup salted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼-½ cup whole milk
Instructions
- The day before baking the cookies, Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Add the pepita seeds. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add baking soda and let sit overnight.
- Rub the pepita seeds between your hands to remove the green skins. Drain the water from the pan while keeping the seeds in the bottom of the pot. Add more water and rub them again. Drain completely and place on a clean towel to dry.
- In a mixing bowl beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar and the baking powder beat on low speed until incorporated scraping the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes.
- Add the flour 1 cup at a time beating on medium until incorporated. Add egg yolks one at a time beating after each until it is incorporated. Add ½ cup warm water and beat until dough is smooth and can be formed into a ball. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
- Place half the dough between two sheets of waxed paper or parchment paper and roll out until ¼ inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle cookie cutter (or a glass) cut out the cookies and transfer to the baking sheet, about ½ inch apart.
- Use a smaller circle cutter to make a slight indentation in the middle of each cookie. Press the tines of a from the inner circle out around each cookie.
- Bake the cookies at 375℉ until golden brown around the edges, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on the sheets on wire racks.
- While the cookies are baking puree the dried pepitas in a food processor until they become a soft, smooth paste, about 5 minutes.
- In a large saucepan combine granulated sugar mixed with ¼ cup water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is a light syrup, about 8 minutes. Stir in the pepita paste and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is thick and shiny.Remove from the heat and stir in ¼ cup milk to make the mixture a bit more liquid.
- Put a tablespoon of the pepita glaze in the center of one cookie. The glaze should spread to the inner circle and stop. If it doesn't spread on it's own add the remaining milk. Repeat with remaining cookies. Let stand until the tops of the filling are dry to the touch
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Until next time, happy eating!
~Audrey
Christie
I am so intrigued by that pepita glaze! It looks so yummy on top of those pretty cookies.