I live in Southern California where there is no shortage of amazing Mexican restaurants, and I love me some agua fresca, but horchata is my absolute favorite. There really is nothing better than street tacos and horchata!
Horchata is a popular Mexican plant-based beverage. It is made by soaking rice and cinnamon overnight, sometimes also almonds or coconut, and running that thru a blender with sugar and vanilla.
I incorporated rice flour, cinnamon, and horchata extract, and these taste like a horchata, rice pudding, snickerdoodle.
If your local grocery store doesn’t carry rice flour, you can find it at Mexican or Asian markets, or online. I used white rice flour, but you can also use brown rice flour, which has a nuttier taste.
Are these technically shortbread or sugar cookies?
They’re kind of both. It’s fine to call these either “decorated sugar cookies” or “decorated shortbread cookies.” But I’m going to refer to any of my cookie recipes that can used as a base for cookie decorating as “shortbread sugar cookies.”
Shortbread Cookies
- 2 parts flour to 1 part fat
- No eggs
- No leavening agent
- Dense and crispy
Sugar Cookies
- 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat
- Contains eggs
- Contains a leavening agent
- Light and Chewy
All of my shortbread sugar cookie recipes don’t rise or spread, can be used for cookie decorating, have egg, but no leavening agent, and have a 2 ¼ parts flour to 1 part fat. Which makes them fall somewhere between a shortbread and a sugar cookie. They’re both shortbread and sugar cookies, and neither shortbread or sugar cookies, at the same time. They’re Shrodinger’s cookies!
All of my shortbread sugar cookie recipes can be used for slice-and-bake cookies as well!
If you would like more info on my preferred ingredient brands, tips and tricks, FAQs, and a little cookie science, I cover all of that in my No-Spread Lemon Shortbread Sugar Cookie Recipe.
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Horchata Shortbread Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- measuring spoons and cups
- mixing bowls
- whisk
- spatula
- cling wrap
- cookie cutters
- large knife
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons horchata extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Whisk dry ingredients (flours, cornstarch and cinnamon) together and set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars with paddle attachment, on medium-low speed, until fluffy and pale in color (about 5 minutes).
- Add egg and extracts and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the paddle with a spatula, and then continue to mix on low speed for another 30 seconds to ensure everything is fully incorporated.
- Add dry ingredients, all at once, and mix on low speed just until dough starts to come together and no dry bits remain. Do not overmix.
- Turn dough out onto cling wrap, tightly wrap, and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
- Knead, roll, cut out cookies, and return to fridge or freezer until firm. Leave a couple inches between cookies.
- Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, rotate pan, and bake for another 1-5 minutes until edges are starting to turn golden brown.
Notes
- The reason for adding 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch to your dough is to prevent your cookies from shrinking or spreading during baking.
- If making slice-and-bake cookies, split dough in half, roll into logs, wrap tightly in cling wrap or parchment paper, and refrigerate before slicing and baking.
Do you use vanilla extract in this recipe or just the horchata extract? I just got the horchata extract and am excited to try this recipe. Sounds so good. Thank you!
I just used the horchata extract for this recipe, but vanilla extract would be a good addition. Extra points for using a Mexican vanilla extract.
Hey there! I have a question: the Horchata “Extract” is a super strength (SS) flavor which means it is four times stronger than a regular extract. For your recipe, did you mean it needs the equivalent of 1.5 tsp worth of Horchata extract or did you mean an actual 1.5 tsp of the super strength which would equal 6 tsp worth of Horchata flavor?…
Excellent question. For this recipe, I did use 1.5 teaspoons of the super strength extract. When I was testing this recipe, I used the conversion for the extract at first (I think I started out with 1/2 teaspoon), and it was not enough flavor, so I did end up increasing the amount to the full 1.5 teaspoons.
I think that because horchata is a subtle flavor, and since the cookies are baked and heat can affect the potency of extracts, I was able to use more of the super strength extract without it being overwhelming. I would, however, suggest following the conversion recommendations for the majority of super strength extracts, especially stronger flavors, or in recipes that aren’t cooked (like candies, drinks, or ice cream).
Hi!
This recipe is really yummy, thank you for sharing it!
I have a question, where can I buy the cookie cutter pictured? The agua fresca container? Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear my recipe worked out for you. Those cookies are really yummy.
I actually hand cut that cookie, because I couldn’t find the perfect cutter. If you can’t find something similar, you can actually have a custom cookie cutter 3D printed. If you go to https://shops.cookiecad.com/ you can upload any design you want, and they will print a custom cutter for you.
Thank you for answering my question! You would be surprised how many people do not answer! Anyway, thanks for the tip, I didn’t know that. You did a great job hand cutting that one!
I could tell from the smell of the dough that these were going to taste incredible. The consistency of the baked cookie is really interesting because it is shortbread-like, but not as sweet, which I love!