Mexican Christmas Traditions

Chamoy peach rings

124 · Jan 24, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Spicy peach rings soaked in chamoy and sprinkled with Tajín are an easy sweet and sour candy treat you can make at home.

Chamoy peach rings are just one of many variations of this popular Mexican candy. In Mexico, you can easily find them sold in street vendor stalls, grocery stores, and even high-end candy shops. It’s spicy, sweet, sour and tangy all at once—and completely addictive!

peach gummy rings soaked in chamoy and covered in tajín in a plastic container

If you love Mexican gummies with chamoy, you’ll definitely want to try my recipe for spicy mango gummies, too.

While there are plenty of mass-produced Mexican candies that fall into this same category, such as osos enchilados (chili and chamoy gummy bears) and pica fresas (a strawberry gummy with a chamoy candy coating), I prefer the homemade, small batch method so you can control exactly how sweet, sour or spicy you want your gummies to be.

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How to Make Pan de Anis

6 · Jan 12, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Pan de anis is a type of Mexican pan dulce that comes in various shapes, but always has anise seed to give it its flavor.

My favorite version of these sweet, pillowy anise rolls known as pan de anis are a staple at the famous El Cardenal restaurant in Mexico City, which has been serving traditional Mexican dishes in the capital since 1969 and has an extraordinary bread and pastry service. If you’ve ever eaten breakfast at El Cardenal, then it’s possible you’ve passed over this pan dulce for a concha or other sweet bread you recognize. And while their conchas are amazing, you’ve been missing out if you’ve never ordered these anise rolls!

Mexican anise rolls in a square baking pan, topped with sugar

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Sugar Crunch Rosca de Reyes

4 · Jan 4, 2021 · Leave a Comment

This modern version of Rosca de Reyes has only one topping: everyone’s favorite crunchy sugar crust!

If your family is anything like mine, certain family members clamor for the piece of rosca with the sugar crunch topping every Día de Reyes. There’s never enough pieces for all the people who want that addictive crunch, and somebody is inevitably disappointed they had to eat a piece without it.

Mexican rosca de reyes with sugar crust on a baking disc over parchment paper and a piece cut and served on a blue and white Mexican talavera pottery dish. There is a knife to the left of the cake.

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Polvorones

6 · Jan 3, 2021 · Leave a Comment

These crumbly, buttery shortbread cookies known as polvorones or Mexican wedding cookies melt in your mouth. This particular recipe was passed down from my grandmother and one that my family enjoys every year between Christmas and Día de los Reyes Magos. I especially love to eat them alongside a mug of ponche navideño, champurrado, or spicy Mexican hot chocolate. These are also delicious to eat with rompope, the Mexican version of eggnog!

The origin and many names of Mexican wedding cookies

These cookies, in general, are often referred to as having European origins, and many versions exist.

The Moors brought a type of these cookies to Spain when they occupied the country from the 700s through the 1400s. When Spaniards settled in Mexico, nuns who traveled to the new world brought their knowledge of these cookies as well, and that’s how polvorones became known in Mexico as beloved convent sweets.

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Atole de nuez

18 · Oct 25, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Atole de nuez is a traditional milk and masa-based beverage flavored with toasted pecans and piloncillo.

Served hot, this creamy beverage is the perfect way to warm up on cold fall or winter mornings. Atole is often served for breakfast, but can also be served throughout the day or after dinner, too. My father-in-law always had a mug of atole with his coyotas, a Sonoran pastry, after dinner at a restaurant he loved in Coyoacan.

a mug of atole de nuez served on mexican talavera pottery with pan dulce

Atoles come in many flavors; most are thickened with corn masa. When it comes to the main liquid, most are made with water, milk, or a combination of the two. Champurrado and vanilla atole are the most typical flavors, but others, such as pumpkin atole, strawberry atole, as well as grain (such as amaranth), fruit and nut flavors, also exist. There are even some types of atole that are savory rather than sweet.

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