Pabassinas: Raisin Nut Cookies for Day of the Dead/ Dia de los Muertos

Pabassinas, iced raisin cookies with anise and citrus flavor, are a sweet part of many Dia de los Muertos celebrations.

Why you'll love this recipe

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), celebrated on November 2, honors the souls of the dead. The holiday began in Mexico, but has become popular in many parts of the world including the southwest United States.

On Dia de los Muertos, family and friends gather to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones and pray for their spiritual journey.  A variety of traditional foods are prepared.

Mexican Dia de los Muertos traditions are a combination of Aztec ritual and Catholic All Souls Day observance. Families create alters, ofrendas, honoring their deceased.

Ofrendas include food, candles, flowers, photos, and other tokens. The colors used are symbolic. Yellow, for example, signifies the force of the sun, life, and tragedy. White stands for purity and hope.

Though traditional in Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, Pabassinas are originally from areas of south Sardinia, Italy where the cookies are prepared year round.

The name of these biscuits comes from the Sardinian word for raisins, " uva passa ". In Italy, the cookies have a traditional rhomboidal shape and are made with small pieces of dried fruit, frutta secca.

One of the main differences between the Italian and the Mexican versions of these cookies, is the Italian use of "sapa", grape must, as a flavoring.

In Mexico, these chewy, raisin nut cookies are flavored with vanilla, orange, and anise. The dough is easily rolled out, then sliced into bars before baking.

The vanilla and orange icing coating the cookies, firms for stacking but remains soft to the bite. An added bonus is that the icing seals in moisture in the cookies keeping them fresh longer.

Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, and baking powder. Add butter and extracts and beat until a crumbly mixture forms.
2. Mix in 1 cup of lukewarm water to form dough ball. Stir in raisins and almonds.
3. Roll out one half of the dough to ¼” thickness.
4. Slice the dough into bars and place biscuits on a parchment lined baking tray 1” apart.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Increase the oven temperature to 400° and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
7. When the cookies are cool, dip the tops of the cookies into the icing, sprinkle with decorating sugar. Allow to set several hours or overnight.

Storage

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.

Baking tips

• Pabassinas usually contain a combination of almonds and walnuts. I can’t breathe in the same room as walnuts, so I left them out and increased the amount of almonds and raisins.
• For anyone looking for a completely nut-free version, I made several batches of Pabassinas with raisins only (so that I could taste test) and they were delicious!  The flavor combination of anise and orange is fabulous!
• If you aren’t an anise (licorice) fan, leave it out and the Pabassinas will be less traditional, but still addictive.
• An alternative to the colored sugar topping is to sprinkle the wet icing with toasted almonds.
• One teaspoon of anise seeds can be substituted for the anise extract.

Related recipes

For more Day of the Dead baking, don't miss Dia de los Muertos Sugar Cookies and Stamped Cookies using calavera skull cookie stamps!

Send this celebration in a Day of the Dead Theme Care Package! There are easy decorating instructions and baking recipes to include.

Mexican Pink Cookies (Polvorones Rosas) are crunchy pink sugar cookies sparkling with a sugar crystal coating.

Garibaldi Biscuits, also known as Golden Raisin Biscuits, are lightly sweet cookies with raisins pressed within two thin layers of dough.

These delicious Raisin Butter Cookies are made with convenient slice-and-bake dough.

These chewy Apple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are a very cozy cookie full of fruit and nutty oatmeal flavor.

Adding raisins to an easy quick bread is a great idea! You will love this Oatmeal Quick Bread for breakfast or dessert.

My experience with this recipe

Most of the ofrenda foods, like pan de muerto (a round sweet bread), or tamales, are not care package friendly. Luckily, Pabassinas cookies are!

I was able to include this taste of Dia de los Muertos in a military care package to Soldier L. this month. I may even have gone a bit overboard as I enthusiastically baked and acquired care package items, because I ended up filling two Day of the Dead Theme Care Packages!

Ready to bake? Join the free membership group to get new recipes and a newsletter delivered to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’d love to stay in touch!

Pabassinas Raisin Nut Cookies for Day of the Dead/ Dia de los Muertos

Pabassinas, iced raisin nut cookies with anise and citrus flavor, are traditional cookies for Dia de los Muertos celebrations. Originally from Italy, these typical Sardinian biscuits get their name from the Italian language.

5 from 1 vote

Print Rate

Course: Adapted from Saveur Magazine

Cuisine: Italian, Mexican

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 48

Calories: 116kcal

Author: Wendy Sondov

Ingredients

Cookies

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ oz. package dry active yeast
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup butter room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract or 1 tablespoon orange zest
• ½ teaspoon anise extract or ¼ teaspoon anise oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ cups golden raisins
• 1 cup blanched almonds finely chopped

Icing

• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 4-5 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• Decorating sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 475° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, yeast, and baking powder.
• Add butter and extracts and beat until mixture looks crumbly (about 1 minute).
• Mix in 1 cup of lukewarm water to form pliable dough ball. The dough should not have a sticky consistency.
• Stir raisins and almonds into dough.
• Divide the dough in half for easier handling.
• On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll out one half of the dough at a time, to ¼” thickness.
• Use a pizza cutter or knife to slice the dough into bars
• Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet 1” apart.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325° and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until pale golden.
• Increase the oven temperature to 400° and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool completely on wire racks covered with a dish towel.
• When the cookies are completely cooled, combine all of the icing ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix to combine.
• Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing, tap off excess, and place on a wire rack over wax paper. Sprinkle with decorating sugar. Allow to set and harden on the wire rack for several hours or overnight.
• Once the icing has dried, store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 10 days.

Notes

• Pabassinas usually contain a combination of almonds and walnuts. I can’t breathe in the same room as walnuts, so I left them out and increased the amount of almonds and raisins.
• For anyone looking for a completely nut-free version, I made several batches of Pabassinas with raisins only (so that I could taste test) and they were delicious!  The flavor combination of anise and orange is fabulous!
• If you aren’t an anise (licorice) fan, leave it out and the Pabassinas will be less traditional, but still addictive.
• An alternative to the colored sugar topping is to sprinkle the wet icing with toasted almonds.
• One teaspoon of anise seeds can be substituted for the anise extract.

Packing tips

Wrap pairs of cookies, bottoms together, in plastic wrap. Stack wrapped bundles in columns in a freezer weight ziplock bag.

Nutrition

Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 91IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

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First Published: October 23, 2016. Last Updated: October 20, 2022. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.

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