If you’ve been keeping up on my recipes this week, you know that I’ve been making use of the wonderful cheeses from Queso Del Valle. I thought a dessert would be a nice way to end the week. Lulu and I had lunch at the appropriately named “Lulu’s” Mexican restaurant last Sunday, and we both enjoyed a nice cup of horchata (cinnamon-flavored rice drink). I thought it would be fun to capture the rice and cinnamon flavors of the drink in an edible form.
I made cookies with queso fresco and incorporated sweetened condensed milk, horchata, almonds, rice flour and cinnamon. I didn’t stop there and topped the moist cookies with cinnamon and crema Mexicana sour cream icing.
These horchata cookies turned out great and I might whip another fusion dessert before the weekend is over. How do profiteroles filled with Mexican vanilla-flavored queso fresco and crema Mexicana sour cream sound? I think it would be even more luscious if the profiteroles are drizzled with dulce leche. Mmmm…
1. Info for Horchata Cookies with Queso Fresco
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 60 mins
- Servings: 20
- Calories: 389kcal
2. Ingredients for Horchata Cookies with Queso Fresco
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons long-grain white rice flour
- ⅓ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2½ tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond paste
- ¾ cup queso fresco, tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon horchata (or rice milk)
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon extract
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
- 1½ tablespoons crema Mexicana sour cream
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon, freshly grated
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds
3. Directions:
- For the horchata mix: In a bowl, combine the cinnamon extract, rice flour, horchata drink (or rice milk) and 1½ tablespoons condensed milk. Stir well and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a bowl, cream 2½ tablespoons butter and granulated sugar. Add the egg. Mix until smooth. Add all-purpose flour and salt. Mix well. Add the crumbled queso fresco, horchata mix and almond paste. Mix until a wet cookie dough is formed.
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or a sheet of parchment paper. Using a measuring tablespoon, form 20 balls of cookie dough and place onto the baking sheet. Make sure to space the cookies about 2 inches apart so that they don’t touch each other as they expand when they bake.
- Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes. Don’t over bake them; you want them to be moist. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Layer a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet (for easy clean-up of the cinnamon icing). Transfer the cookies onto the cooling rack.
- In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, light brown sugar, crema Mexicana sour cream and grated cinnamon. Mix well.
- Top each cookie with the cinnamon icing, sprinkle with chopped almonds and dust with a bit of cinnamon.
- Serve with piña colada or horchata drink.
- Bon appétit!
