Cocadas de Horno (Baked Coconut Macaroons)

History & Origin

Cocadas are one of the most popular and widespread sweets in Mexico, with variations in almost every state, particularly in the Pacific and Gulf coast regions where coconut palms are plentiful. Their origin traces back to the arrival of coconut on Mexico's shores, brought by the Manila galleons that crossed the Pacific during the Viceroyalty in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The earliest cocadas were made simply by cooking desiccated coconut in piloncillo dissolved in water, without an oven, in the style of convent sweets. The baked version emerged later, influenced by European pastry-making, which used the oven to achieve crispier textures and more uniform biscuits. Baked cocadas are distinguished from the traditional white cocadas by their texture similar to a French macaron: golden on the outside, chewy and moist within. At the fairs and markets of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz, cocadas are sold at regional sweet stalls alongside pepitorias, alegrías and palanquetas.