In this month’s kids in the kitchen feature, we are teaching you how to make some traditional hispanic dishes using tasty ingredients in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Here are a few of our favorites!
Polvorones (Mexican sugar cookies)
Ingredients
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup butter or margarine
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar and cinnamon.
3. Cream butter with a beater.
4. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time to the butter while still beating until it is all mixed.
5. Use a teaspoon to spoon out small pieces of dough and shape into a cookie.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 25 minutes.
7. Optional: sprinkle warm cookies with sugar and cinnamon
Makes 24 cookies
Chocolate Caliente Mexicano (Mexican hot chocolate)
Ingredients
• 2 bars of Mexican drinking chocolate (You can find Mexican chocolate at most supermarkets. The two easiest to find brands are”Abuelita” by Nestlé and Ibarra.)
• 4 1/4 cups of milk or water
• 4 cinnamon sticks for garnish
Instructions
1. Pour your milk of water into a tall narrow pot over very low heat.
2. Add 2 bars of chocolate (approximately 6 ounces).
3. When the chocolate starts to dissolve gently move it with the molinillo or a wire whisk until it fully dissolves, about 20 minutes.
4. Once all of the chocolate has fully dissolved, vigorously froth the drink with the molinillo for 10 minutes to develop a frothy creamy texture.
Enjoy!
Serve with the cookies you made and garnish each cup with a cinnamon stick and top with marshmallows if you like. Yum!!
About Mexican chocolate
Mexican chocolate is sold in bars called tablillas (tablets). It is sweetened with sugar and spiced with cinnamon. Mexican chocolate has a slightly grainy texture.
How to Use a Molinillo
Molinillos (mo-lee-nee-yos)are the traditional way to make your hot chocolate foamy. A molinillo is like a wooden whisk. If you don’t have one, you can use a regular wire whisk.
To use, place the handle of the molinillo between your palms and roll it back-and-forth quickly. This action puts air into the the milk which makes it frothy. Getting it just right takes some time and effort, but it’s worth it!
After working the molinillo, the chocolate starts to get the creamy frothy texture. The more you spin the molinillo the lighter and frothier your hot chocolate gets. It’s all up to you.
Easy Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small tomato
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
(or juice of 1 fresh lime)
• Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Peel avocados and remove the pit
2. Peel and mince the onion and the garlic
3. Chop the tomato
4. Mash the avocado in a bowl (fun!)
5. And then stir in the remaining ingredients.
Serve cold with tortillas or tortilla chips.
Easy Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 green onions
• 1 to 3 jalapeno peppers (remove the seeds if you don’t want it too hot)
• 28 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained (reserve 1 Tbsp of the juice)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice (or squeeze 1/2 a fresh lemon)
• Optional: fresh cilantro leaves
• Salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Chop onions, garlic and jalapeños. NOTE: BE CAREFUL when handling the jalapenos. Ask your adult to do this part for you.
2. Chop and add tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of the tomato juice, lemon juice, cilantro leaves and salt and pepper to taste
3. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Put a little sprig of cilantro on top to decorate.
Serve cold with tortillas or tortilla chips.