How long does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) take to make?

It takes about 4 hours in total.

Which allergens does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) contain?

It contains cereals containing gluten and tree nuts. Always check the labels of the products you use.

How long does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) keep in the fridge?

Up to 4 days in the fridge, in a closed container. It can also be frozen.

Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread)

Name: Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread)
Cook time: 239 min
Total time: 239 min
Yield: 15
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 500 g Wheat flour; 125 g Almonds; 1 pinch Salt; 1 teaspoon Cinnamon; 250 g Icing Sugar; 250 g Lard

Polvorones

Medium

Contains allergens

Cereales con glutenFrutos de cáscara

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 4 hr
Servings: 15

Summary

A medium-difficulty recipe for 15 servings. It takes about 4 hours to make. It is dairy-free.

Crumbly shortbread made with toasted flour, lard, ground almonds and cinnamon, so tender it melts in the mouth. Each one is wrapped in tissue paper, and no Spanish Christmas sweet tray is complete without them.

Ingredients

15 servings

500 g Wheat flour
125 g Almonds (raw and blanched)
1 pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon (ground)
250 g Icing Sugar (200 g for the dough and the rest for dusting)
250 g Lard (at room temperature)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150 °C. Spread the flour thinly over a large tray and toast it, stirring with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes so the edges don't burn, until it is a pale ivory colour and smells of biscuits.
40 min
Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, stirring often, until golden right through. Let the flour and almonds cool completely; if the flour is still warm, it will melt the lard.
60 min
Grind the cold almonds in a food processor or chopper until they look like fine sand, stopping before they turn into a paste. Sift the flour into a large bowl and mix it with 200 g of the icing sugar, the ground almonds, the cinnamon and the salt.
10 min
Add the lard in pieces and work it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed in your fist. Don't overwork it: the dough should stay crumbly.
10 min
Put the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll it out 1.5 cm thick. Chill it in the fridge on a tray so it firms up and cuts more cleanly.
30 min
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (170 °C fan). Cut out the polvorones with a 5 cm round cutter and lift them with a spatula onto a tray lined with baking paper, spaced apart. Press the trimmings together, roll them out again and cut more.
15 min
Bake on the middle shelf until the tops crack slightly and the bases and edges just start to colour; the tops should stay pale.
14 min
Leave them to cool completely on the tray without touching them: they fall apart while warm. Dust with the rest of the icing sugar and wrap each one in tissue paper, twisting the ends.
60 min

Notes

Makes about 30 round polvorones, 5 cm across. They are Andalusia's Christmas sweet, above all from Estepa and Antequera, and from there they spread to tables all over Spain, where they are eaten from early December until Epiphany, after dinner on Christmas Eve and with coffee after Christmas lunch. What sets them apart from mantecados is the almond, which makes them even more crumbly. The one step you cannot skip is toasting the flour: it dries out, takes on a biscuity flavour and can no longer develop gluten, which is what gives that powdery texture. It should turn ivory, never dark brown, and be completely cold before you mix it, or it will melt the lard. Butter version: use the same weight of softened unsalted butter; they come out richer and a little less sandy, and are best chilled well before baking. Olive oil version: swap the lard for 180 ml of mild olive oil that you have kept in the freezer for an hour until it thickens, so the dough binds better. Fresh from the oven they break if you so much as look at them, so don't move them until they are cold. The custom is to squeeze them gently in your hand, still wrapped, before opening them so they don't fall apart. Plan for guests: you can toast the flour a week ahead and keep it in a jar; once baked and wrapped, they keep for a month in an airtight tin in a cool place, and can be frozen, wrapped, for up to three months.

More information

Guide indicatorsDifficulty, quality and data reliability

Guide indicators

Estimated difficulty48/100
Recipe completeness65/100
Nutrition reliability: Medium

Calculated automatically from the ingredients, steps, time and community feedback. They are not a guarantee.

StorageKeeps 4 days in the fridge

Cuisine: SpanishKeeps 4 days in the fridgeFreezer friendlyGood for batch cooking

Frequently asked questions

How long does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) take to make?: It takes about 4 hours in total.
Which allergens does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) contain?: It contains cereals containing gluten and tree nuts. Always check the labels of the products you use.
How long does Polvorones (Spanish Christmas shortbread) keep in the fridge?: Up to 4 days in the fridge, in a closed container. It can also be frozen.
Which diets is this recipe suitable for?: It is dairy-free.