Easy polvorones recipe

It’s Christmas in Spain too you know, so of course you want a nice and easy polvorones recipe. This one couldn’t be simpler. There’s still time… so get those sleeves rolled up.

These sweet treats are a must-have for any self-respecting home in Spain at Christmas. They are very much like shortbread, crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth goodness.

Ingredients (makes about 50 small biscuits)

• 500 grams plain flour
• 250 grams of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 150 grams of icing sugar (not always easy to get in Spain… but you can whizz granulated sugar in your processor for a few seconds to make it fine enough). In the US, this is confectioners’ sugar. In Spanish, it is azúcar en polvo
• 125 grams ground almonds
• pinch salt
• teaspoon cinnamon (optional but very Christmassy)
• Baking parchment

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
• Sprinkle the flour and ground almonds on a clean and dry baking sheet and toast it in the oven for about four or five minutes
• Remove from the oven and chuck it into a large mixing bowl
• Turn the oven temperature up to about 220 degrees Celsius
• Add all the other ingredients into the bowl
• Mix and then knead until you have a smooth dough
• Roll out to about 30 millimetres thick and use your favourite cookie cutters to cut out shapes. If you don’t have cookie cutters, a thin-rimmed glass will do
• Lay them on the baking parchment on a baking sheet
•  Bake for about 5 minutes before placing them on a rack to cool
• You may need to bake them in batches, but at only five minutes’ cooking time, that won’t matter.
• Once cool, transfer the biccies to a plate, sprinkle with a little more icing sugar and you’re set to go

Spain Buddy tips

• Apparently the original recipe calls for lard. We just prefer the buttery taste. Feel free to swap
• Try mixing in some chopped nuts for extra texture
• Instead of sprinkling with icing sugar afterwards, why not try dunking them into melted chocolate?
• They would probably last a few days in a tightly sealed container… but not in our house, and I doubt in yours either
• These make a really lovely gift. Wrap them into little greaseproof paper parcels with a bit of ribbon. Cheap and easy Crimbo gift

Elle Draper

Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.