These Cuban shortbread cookies are called torticas de Morón in Spanish, named for the city of Morón in the center of the island. This is where the cookies were first made. These delightful shortbread cookies get their dark color from brown sugar. They also get quite the flavor boost from lime zest and lime juice.
All these flavors together in a rich, buttery base make for some truly spectacular cookies.
You’ll need to roll the soft dough into a log and then refrigerate it before slicing into rounds. The reason to do it this way is that the dough might not keep its shape in the oven if it doesn’t go in cold.
The high butter content ensures that these cookies will melt or spread pretty easily, but the brown sugar intensifies this effect.
Once these are cut lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. This will help you to remove them once they’re out of the oven.
Then brush a bit of milk on top and sprinkle with some white sugar. You could also use egg white if you prefer, but I find the milk creates a lighter and more uniform top to the cookies. When combined with the sugar it’s almost like you’re pre-glazing the cookies and so you don’t need to ice them afterwards.
Once these have baked allow them to cool in the pan for a bit before carefully moving them to a wire cooling rack. These cookies are very delicate before they’ve fully cooled.
Unlike Scottish shortbred which can be crispier, these are softer and more crumbly in texture which means they melt in your mouth in a most delightful way.
This recipe only makes about 12-14 cookies at a time so double up if you want to feed a lot of people. But, for smaller events and family night this recipe is great because we don’t have 45 cookies to get rid of!
For a new way to enjoy a classic these Cuban shortbread cookies are incredible. And, let’s face it- most of us would take any excuse at all to try some shortbread!
Cuban Shortbread Cookies
Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2-4 teaspoons milk, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar for sprinkling
Preparation
- Cream together butter, coconut oil, and brown sugar. Slowly add flour, baking soda, lime juice, and lime zest until incorporated into a sandy mixture. If dry add 1 teaspoon milk until dough just barely holds together. If mixture is already moist omit this step.
- Lay dough onto plastic wrap. Roll into a log 2” wide. Use plastic to wrap log tightly. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until very firm.
- When ready to bake preheat oven to 350˚F. Cut log with sharp knife into 12-16 equal slices. Lay out on a parchment-lined baking sheet at least 1” apart.
- Add 1 teaspoon milk to small bowl. Brush milk lightly over cookies. Sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Recipe adapted from Sassy Spoon.