Holidays in Tucson: Wipe powdered sugar from your lips

While visions of sugar cookies dance in many heads, we think polvorones — Mexican wedding cookies — are an exceptional Christmas cookie. They are similar to what some people call “snowballs” or “mice,” but these are a traditional Southwest treat that will have you wiping powdered sugar from your lips.

Baking polvorones (repeat after us: pole-vo-RO-nace) is “such a quick way of loving,” Carlotta Flores, the chef and co-owner of El Charro restaurant, told the Star in 2002.

“It says, ‘It’s special when I’m with you, that we’re going to talk and have a good time’ ... it’s a time of coming together,” she said.

We asked Flores to revisit the recipe for the deceptively simple cookie that has been published in her cookbooks and is very close to the one her grandmother used, though her grandmother’s cookies were called “almond cookies.”

“During the holidays, a bit of indulgence makes the holidays special, as I always think of my dear Nani (grandmother) every time I make this recipe,” Flores said after reviewing the recipe earlier this week.

The cookies are often used as token gifts at weddings.

Though earlier recipes call for a flat cookie, Flores speculated that the round shape was created to make them easy to wrap in festive paper and hand out as guests left.

But, she adds, the cookies are not just for weddings.

They are holiday cookies. Party cookies. Cookies to eat with coffee in the morning.

And another thing: They are easy for children to make.

“It’s OK if they aren’t perfectly round,” she said.

As easy as they are to make, Flores still had a couple of tips:

Let the dough sit. “I like to make the dough the day before,” she said. “For me, it works a little better.”

Give yourself time. “When you make things in a hurry, it tastes it.”

Don’t handle the dough too much. “The cookies can get over mushed-up.”

Eat them the day you make them. “These don’t hold up well in the refrigerator,” Flores said. “The powdered sugar gets wet, and the nuts get soggy. I think eating them the same day is kind of important.”

Feed them to the people you care about. “Everyone will feel a tinge of something that makes them know how much you love them and want to include them in your circle.”