Southwest Style Pinon Cookies Recipes

CHOCOLATE PINON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• With an electric mixer, in a medium size bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla, grated chocolate, and pine nuts. Mix in the flour and salt. Chill the dough.
• When ready to bake, roll out the dough, on a floured surface, to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out the cookies with a 2inch round cookie cutter. Gather the scraps together and reroll the dough to cut out more cookies. Place slightly apart on a nonstick baking sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are dry and firm. When cool, dust the cookies with the powdered sugar.

PIñON NUT TORTE

Steps:

• Crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and grated orange peel. Turning the food processor on and off, cut in the vegetable shortening until coarsely blended. Add enough ice water to form moist clumps. Mold the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Bring the dough to room temperature and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a size that will cover the torte pan (about 12 inches). Press the dough into the pan with your fingers and trim the edges. Place the Crust in the freezer for 15 minutes. Pour in the Filling and bake. *A frozen pie crust works well if you need to save time. Filling: Preheat the oven to 350°. Combine the corn syrup, eggs, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla in a medium-size bowl. Whisk until the mixture is well blended, then fold in the piñon nuts. Pour the Filling into the torte shell and bake for about one hour. Let it cool completely. Cut into wedges. Serve with vanilla ice cream with candied orange strips (available at most candy stores) and Spanish Coffee. **To roast Piñon nuts, preheat the oven to 400°. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 7-12 minutes, or until they are a rich golden brown. The nuts burn easily, so keep an eye on them and shake the pan occasionally to avoid scorching.

PASTELITOS -- LITTLE FRUIT PIES (SOUTHWEST)

Steps:

• FOR THE FILLING: In a saucepan, put apricots in cold water & simmer gently until fruit is soft, about 30 minutes, then drain.
• In a food processor or blender, puree the apricots, then return the puree to the saucepan, add the brown sugar & cook until puree is very thick, about 8-10 minutes.
• Remove puree from heat, then add raisins & nuts, & set aside to cool.
• FOR THE DOUGH: While the puree is cooling, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder & salt, then cut in the butter & shortening until pea-size pieces form.
• Add just enough ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to make the flour stick together, then shape into a flattened ball, wrap in plastic & refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, then cut the flattened ball in half & roll one of the halves out on a GREASED baking sheet.
• Spread the fruit mixture on top, ALMOST to the edge.
• Roll out the second half of the dough large enough to cover the fruit mixture, then place it on top, before pressing the edges together all around to seal.
• In a small container, whisk together the 1/3 cup of sugar & 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, then sprinkle that on top of the prepared pastry. Finally, with the blunt edge of a table knife, mark the pastry into small squares & prick each square with a fork ~ There should be about 30 small squares marked off.
• Bake about 20 minutes, or until pastry is lightly browned, then cool & cut into the marked squares.