Coyotas have been described as “super-sized sugar cookies” from Sonora, Mexico. They are large, flat, round, and filled with brown sugar, although a “coyotas de manzana” recipe (below) resembles apple turnovers. Many coyotes are filled with dates.
“Coyotas” have been cited in English since 1862, although they are still infrequently served in the United States.
Wikipedia: Coyotas
Coyotas are a typical dessert from northwest Mexico, originally from the town of Villa de Seris in the southern part of the city of Hermosillo, state of Sonora. It is a large, flat, round, crisp, pastry; traditionally filled with brown sugar, although in recent years other fillings are also being used, such as jamoncillo. At roughly 15 cm in diameter, can be considered as a super-sized cookie.
Sonora Turismo
Coyotas
Ingredients:
1 kg flour
½ kg vegetable fat
¼ lt water
6 brown sugar candy pieces
2 tablespoons bread yeast
5 tablespoons flour (for brown sugar candies)
Instructions:
Add vegetable fat to flour. Dissolve 2 brown sugar candy pieces in 1/4 lt of water.
Crack up the rest of the brown sugar candy pieces and mix with flour. Grease molds. Mix flour and vegetable fat. Add yeast and 1/4 lt of water with brown sugar candy pieces. Knead dough and make balls of 10 gr. Make round tortillas and add some brown sugar candy. Cover them with other tortillas and join them. Make small holes in top side. Put them in trays and bake at 350C until brown.
15 November 1862, Daily Evening Bulletin (San Francisco, CA), pg. 1:
Leaving his little troop of asses to graze in the valley, he entered the town early in the morning, fasting, disposed of his load at good prices, and, overjoyed at his lack, laid out a few pence in cakes, cheese, coyotas and the like digestible commodities for a grand banquet on his return.
Your Mexican Kitchen:
A Compilation of Mexican Recipes Practicable in the United States
by Natalie V. Scott
New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
1935
Pg. 226:
COYOTAS
2 1/5 lbs. of flour
1 tsp. of baking-powder
1 lb. of sugar
4 eggs
1 lb. of brown sugar
1 lb. of lard
anise seeds
milk
The lard is put into a large bowl and beaten up well. Ass the eggs, and beat again—but thoroughly.
Then the sugar goes in, and lastly the well sifted flour.
Meanwhile, the anise seeds have been boiled to make a strong “tea.” This is used to moisten the flour mixture to the consistency of a very thin dough. Roll this out and cut it (or take small walnut-sized pieces, and pat them) into tart shape. For a filling, use the brown sugar, moistening it (if it is, as is preferable, the brown sugar that comes in chunks) with milk, and sprinkling a little white sugar on top. Fold like tarts, moisten the top with a tiny bit of milk, and sprinkle a very little white sugar over each tart.
Google Books
California Rancho Cooking: Mexican and Californian Recipes
by Jacqueline Higuera McMahan
Lake Hughes, CA: Olive Press
1983
Pg. 197:
coyotas de manzana
Coyotas, or flat empanadas or turnovers, were considered more of a traveling food or picnic food than a dessert. They were also filled with pieces of Cajeta de Membrillo (page 218) but we liked apple filling better.
Empanada Dough
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour cream, thinned with 2 tablespoons milk
Apple Filling
3 apples, such as Granny Smith or Pippin, peeled, cored, and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons flour
Topping
2 tablespoons milk, for brushing pastry
2 tablespoons sugar, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (...)
22 January 1996, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Just Desserts: Baker in Mexican border state known for flaky pastries”:
HERMOSILLO, Mexico - Two mouth-watering flavors sum up the best of what’s cooked and eaten in this Mexican border state: the homegrown beef and the flaky pastries called coyotas.
The rest of Mexico may have its pan dulce, flan or bunuelos, but Hermosillo has coyotas, thanks to Dona Maria Ochoa de Moreno, the 77-year-old matriarch who gave rise to a culinary tradition in her family kitchen. At Christmastime, coyotas are an essential part of holiday meals and parties - so much so ...
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: “C.L. Gifford”
Date: 1999/03/14
Subject: Carne Asada (longish)
Sorry, no desert ... not flan, not anything sweet. But you can be as creative as you want to be. In the restaurants they serve coyotas or corvatas with the carne asada.
Google Books
Beloved Land;
An Oral History of Mexican Americans in Southern Arizona
by Patricia Preciado Martin
Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press
2004
Pg. 116:
She made coyotas [a Mexican sweet bread] out of pumpkin, piloncillo [hard brown sugar], and raisins.
Google Books
Baja & Los Cabos
by Danny Palmerlee
Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet
2005
Pg. 44:
Dessert brings sweet pastries called coyotas. These thin, round pastries sandwiching sweet fillings are originally from the Mexican state of Sonora, and are often made with local dates.
Google Groups: alt.food.mexican-cooking
Newsgroups: alt.food.mexican-cooking
From: “Wayne Lundberg”
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:35:37 GMT
Local: Thurs, Mar 1 2007 11:35 am
Subject: Re: Piloncillo or brown sugar in coyotas?
> A google search of this group shows a Spanish language recipe for
> coyotas, which are a sort of 2-layer Mexican cookie made with flour,
> baking powder, a lot of butter and crushed piloncillo is mixed with
> the flour and more of the crushed piloncillo is between the two
> layers, which are then pinched together in a greased mold and baked in
> the oven.
> Is there really a big difference between molded piloncillo and brown
> sugar?
> It just seems like brown sugar would be easier to use.
Piloncillo has a slightly bitter background taste, not really apparent, but missing in regular packaged brown sugar. For sure the brown sugar is easier to use.