Among our extensive Venezuelan gastronomy, sweets occupy a place of honor, each region is characterized by a sweet criollo or you have several, of course each sweet is spread throughout the country and even outside it, Venezuela is not only the country of beautiful landscapes and beautiful women, we Venezuelans are proud of our roots, our sweets have always accompanied us generation after generation.

In today's post I will talk about the Catalinas, these are sweet cookies of soft texture and very particular flavor, it is a Creole preparation with an exquisite smell and flavor, which is the result of the combination of flour, papelón, syrup and a touch of cinnamon, the most famous Catalinas are prepared in the states Zulia and Lara without embrago in the Andes are very good catalinas are achieved and are famous nationally, so they can be found in any Venezuelan city, the recipe is very simple, they are divine and accompanied with coffee, chocolate or milk are a perfect snack, I like to eat them with cheese, that salty sweet combination that we like so much to Venezuelans is truly a delight.

Source

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of water
• 1 Cup, Papelón, grated or ground
• 4 Cloves, 4 pints of guayabita pepper or 1/8 teaspoon ground
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 5 Tablespoons of butter with salt, softened
• ¼ Teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 cups of all-purpose wheat flour

Preparation:

Prepare a syrup with water, Papelon and whole spices, cook it over low heat, for a few minutes after diluted the foil, remove from heat, let stand and strain it, you will need ¾ cup of syrup approximately. In a container, beat the egg, add the butter and mix well place the baking soda and ground spices, add the molasses and beat everything very well to obtain a uniform mixture, sprinkle the flour little by little over the mixture, stirring and joining until get a soft dough On a floured surface and hands covered with flour, work a little and spread the dough, if necessary put a little more flour, to make it more manageable, taking into account that the dough should be very soft, Using a rolling pin, or pressing the dough with your hands, extend until you get a thickness of half a centimeter, then cut with large cookie cutters or are made in the form of arepas or circles (approximately 10 centimeters in diameter), and with the A knife or palette aid is placed on a previously greased and floured tray, or with non-stick paper, bake in preheated oven at 300 degrees F (150 C) for about 12 to 15 minutes, until its surface begins to become firm, and A toothpick inserted in the center of one of the catalysts comes out dry, they should not be left over in the oven because they dry and harden.