Easy Mexican Wedding Cookies

These simple pecan shortbreads couldn't be any easier: Just toast the pecans and powdered sugar together, cool, and blitz with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. The dough is only lightly sweetened, which helps the cookies retain their round, snowball-like shape, but a dusting of powdered sugar brings them back into balance. I like these best with a mug of hot cocoa, but they're great with milk or tea as well.

Polvorones (Spanish Lard Cookies)

These lard cookies were significantly different from the biscochitos I grew up with: instead of flour, the cookie dough uses a mixture of ground almonds and flour that are toasted in the oven briefly before being added to the dough. Grated orange peel gives the cookies the zest needed to cut the richness of the lard.

Soft and Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies with that signature soft, chewy texture, plus crunch from whole roasted nuts.

Buñuelos de Rodilla (Mexican Christmas Fritters)

While buñuelos de rodilla can be found year-round in some areas of México, they are often served as a Christmas treat, either acaramelizados (crisp) or garritos (soaked in a simple syrup) during supper on nochebuena (Christmas Eve).

Peanut Butter Coconut Cookies

These mildly sweet peanut butter cookies are rolled in coconut flakes and topped with a button of dark chocolate.

Alfajores Con Cajeta (Vanilla Shortbread With Goat's-Milk Toffee)

Flecked with vanilla seeds throughout the dough, alfajores are the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of vanilla bean cajeta—a goat's-milk variation on dulce de leche. The combination of sticky toffee sauce and buttery shortbread can't be beat, but it can be improved upon. My recipe replaces traditional cornstarch with tapioca starch, keeping the alfajores tender and light.

Mexican-Spiced Chocolate Pecans

These chocolaty nuts are flavored with warm spiced like cinnamon and nutmeg, then get a kick from some cayenne pepper.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Swapped by Lee Zalben at the Serious Eats Cookie Swap.

Pecan Sandies

These butter cookies are full of chopped pecans and just a hint of bourbon.

Homemade 'Nutter Butters'

Using rice flour makes the Nutter Butters incredibly crisp and light and I actually prefer it to all purpose flour in these cookies. Of course, you needn't make a special trip to the store, all purpose flour works well too; the cookies will have just a slightly heavier texture.