Mexican Wedding Cookies (Polvorones)

2 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter or lard, cubed
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix flour, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Add butter or lard and blend thoroughly with your fingers. Add eggs and knead the cookie dough by hand until all the ingredients are blended and the dough is smooth. Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll them into balls the diameter of a quarter. Place dough balls about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake them in a preheated 350 degrees F oven until golden brown on the bottom, about 15 minutes.

Mix the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Remove 2 or 3 cookies at a time with a spatula from the baking sheets to the bowl of Cinnamon Sugar. Coat the cookies generously with the mixture, and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Serve the polvorones, or store them, once they are completely cooled, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

A variation is to add 1 cup finely chopped pecans along with the flour, sugar and salt, then proceed with the recipe. The cookies may also be coated with confectioners' sugar after baking.