Champurradas, a Guatemalan "pan dulce" to eat with your hot chocolate or "champurrado"

Pan dulce, (translated literally "sweet bread,") is traditionally eaten with hot chocolate and is a dense, cake-like bread with a sweet topping. These are common throughout the year, and are served at breakfast and dinner with coffee. If you visit a Guatemalan throughout the day, chances are you’ll be served a plate with pan dulce on it. There are several types of pan dulce and one of these is the champurrada.

For more Guatemalan recipes and traditions, check out the ebook here.

While I haven't seen many of varieties of cookies in Guatemala, one that is present in almost every situation is the champurrada. These were at staff meetings at the school, classroom parties, parent conferences and just about any other occasion you could think of. They are traditionally a crunchier version of what I'd call a sugar cookie, sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds or made with corn flour.

You can make your own at home with the recipe below:


5 ounces of shortening
5 ounces of sugar
A handful of soft flour (not the normal gold medal kind)
Sesame seeds
Mix the first three ingredients, make a ball and flatten the ball to the size and thickness you want the champurrada to be. Sprinkle with sesame seed.
Bake for 25 minutes at 350F. This recipe courtesy of GuatemalanGenes.com

Another blogger: breadcrumbed.wordpress.com  has another recipe using the corn and healthier coconut oil option:

Yield: 3 dozen cookies
3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
¾ cup coconut oil, softened but not melted
1 cup unrefined cane sugar
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup brown sesame seeds