Polvorones de Canele
(Mexican Cinnamon Cookies)

There’s cinnamon and then there’s cinnamon. The stuff most of us reach for in the supermarket is Cassia bark, a spice made from the bark of the Cinnamomum aromaticum tree. Cassia has a bite and can pack a powerful punch in baked goods: think apple pie and cinnamon rolls.

There’s another cinnamon Cinnamomum verum, and it’s the secret of these cookies. The flavor is softer, rounder, and maybe even a little floral. It doesn’t take a trip to a specialty store to find. HEB sells it in cellophane sacks; just look for the Fiesta brand. The bags are filled with shaggy looking “cigars” of soft brown rolled bark. Press it with your fingernails and it crumbles easily. Break a stick into a clean coffee grinder. Press the “go” button. In a matter of seconds you’ll have a small pile of intensely fragrant powdered cinnamon.

Use freshly ground cinnamon; like all spices, cinnamon rapidly loses flavor once it is ground. (Add a pinch with your ground coffee beans to your coffee filter basket when you make your morning coffee. Very nice, indeed!)

In Mexico, Polvorones de Canele appear at weddings and other special occasions. We served them at the Quinceañera dinner-dance for Veronica Robles’ daughter. Veronica has helped us with First Friday lunches since the very beginning, and preparing the food for her daughter’s coming-of-age party remains one of our happiest memories.