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You are here: Home / Topics / Recipes / Traditional Spanish Christmas Cookies – Polvorones

Recipes

Traditional Spanish Christmas Cookies – Polvorones

polvorones
Polvorones.  Beautiful, crumbly cookies that fall apart in your mouth.  These cookies are made with 5 simple ingredients, unbleached toasted flour, ground toasted almonds, pork lard, cinnamon, and powdered sugar.  Pork lard is an essential ingredient as it is what makes these cookies so crumbly.  Make sure to skip the lard that is sold at most grocery stores as it’s processed and hydrogenated.  Instead, ask your family farmer for rendered pork lard.

What makes these cookies so special is the memories it brings of my grandmother, Mama Sabe. Every Christmas my sisters and I would look forward for the box to arrive.  The box from Spain.  Mama Sabe and Papi Tian would send us this magical cardboard box filled with gifts and dolloped with love.  It contained homemade clothes that my Abuela would sew for us, pencil kits and thin rectangular packages of polvorones.

From the left: Abuela Rora, holding my youngest sister Lisa, Mama Sabe, me, my older sister Susie wearing handmade dresses. (My grandmother, Mama Isabel (right) passed of breast cancer when we were still young.  Although never to be replaced, my Abuela Rora has been there as a grandmother since)

Oh how we adored opening the packages of polvorones to find individually wrapped, almond crumb cookies.  We would squish them to keep them in one piece trying to avoid the inevitable crumbs lodged in the carpet.  Of course there were always fights as to who would get the last polvoron.  It usually went to my dad and our sights were then set on the new box that would arrive in the coming year. I can’t wait for that day in Heaven when I can sit with Mama Sabe once again.  Isn’t it funny how a simple cookie could mean so much.

Traditional Spanish Christmas Cookies – Polvorones
Makes about 14 cookies


This recipe is also a part of Oprah.com featured Holiday blogger recipes!  I have been invited to be a featured Holiday blogger over at Oprah.com. Stop on by and check out my profile 😉

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb of unbleached white flour
  • 4 oz pork lard, preferably from a family farmer
  • 3 oz organic powdered sugar
  • 2 oz ground toasted almonds
  • 1 tbls cinnamon
  • pinch of salt

Method:

  1. Heat oven to 300 F.  Put unbleached white flour in a bowl or pizza stone and toast in the oven for 15 minutes.  Do not let it brown.
  2. Toast the almonds in the oven for 15 minutes and grind to a powder in a food processor or blender.
  3. In a large bowl add the flour.  Make a hole and add the lard, powdered sugar, ground almonds, cinnamon and salt.
  4. Incorporate with your hands until it forms a smooth dough that can be rolled.  If the dough is too sticky, add some additional flour.
  5. Turn the dough onto a floured surface.  Roll out to a 1″ thickness.
  6. You can either cut the dough into sliced squares or use a cookie cutter to cut out your cookies.
  7. Place onto a pizza stone or baking pan.
  8. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
  9. Once it’s done baking, let them cool completely before moving as they will crumble especially when hot.
  10. Finish by sprinkling powdered sugar on each cookie and wrapping individually in wax paper.

Feliz Navidad!


29 Comments

About Diana Bauman

Diana is a mother of three, proud wife, and humbled daughter of God. She finds the most joy meeting with Jesus in her organic gardens. She is completely blessed to be able to call herself a stay at home mom where she home educates her children, joyfully serves her husband, and cooks nourishing, real food, for her family. She loves connecting with people on facebook, google+, pinterest, and instagram.

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Comments

  1. jose manuel says

    December 9, 2009 at 2:10 am

    Si quieres alguna receta de mantecados, cuando quieras. Excelentes polovorones.

    Reply
  2. Miriam says

    December 9, 2009 at 3:27 am

    Beautiful post!

    Reply
  3. Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction says

    December 9, 2009 at 9:32 am

    Beautiful cookies! Great post for the 12 Days of Sharing!

    Reply
  4. Fuji Mama says

    December 9, 2009 at 9:54 am

    These look/sound delicious!! What a fun picture of you with your sisters and your abuelas!

    Reply
  5. jose manuel says

    December 9, 2009 at 10:39 am

    Hola, en mi blog http://www.asopaipas.blogspot.com tienes hasta 4 recetas de mantecados que he puesto este año. Buscalas en Etiquetas en la sección Estepa, encontrarás, Mantecados de Gilena, Mantecados de Limón, Mantecados de Coco y Mantecados de Almendra. Ya iré poniendo más. Gracias. Un saludo

    Reply
  6. jose manuel says

    December 9, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Otra cosa, por si tienes curiosidad. Se dice que en mi pueblo Estepa (Sevilla) inventaron los mantecados y polvorenos sobre 1839 una mujer llamada La Colchona. Existen unas 20 fábricas de mantecados en mi pueblo que producen miles de kilos ahora en esta temporada.

    Reply
  7. jose manuel says

    December 9, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Mantecado de Coco

    Ingredientes:
    350 gramos de Harina.
    175 gramos de manteca de cerdo
    250 gramos de azúcar glass
    125 gramos de coco rallado y después triturado hasta conseguir una pasta.

    Instrucciones:

    1º Tostamos la harina a 150 grados durante media hora.
    2º Dejamos enfriar la harina.
    3º Trituramos el coco rallado hasta conseguir una pasta cremosa.
    4º Mezclamos todos los ingredientes.
    5º Vamos formando los mantecados.
    6º Horno 180 grados durante unos 20 minutos.

    Este lo puedes encontrar en mi blog. Ya no soy más pesado. Un saludo

    Reply
  8. Daydreamer Desserts says

    December 9, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Una de mis galletas favoritas, Bien hecho!

    Reply
  9. Cajun Chef Ryan says

    December 9, 2009 at 12:46 pm

    Great cookie and wonderful cause!

    Reply
  10. Maria says

    December 9, 2009 at 3:28 pm

    Love the cookies. Such a great cause too!

    Reply
  11. Tasty Eats At Home says

    December 9, 2009 at 3:36 pm

    Yum! These remind me of Mexican Wedding Cookies – are they similar? Lard gets a bad rap, but it's wonderful in baked goods such as this. And it's not bad for you, in moderation!

    Reply
  12. Amber @ Native Food and Wine says

    December 9, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Diana,
    These sound great. A friend's grandmother who was English always made shortbread with beef tallow for the holidays and I remember fondly the smell of her baking them in the kitchen.

    I put up the Share Our Strength badge on my site a while ago too. It's such a great program. It is shocking to know how much hunger there is in the US. I think about all the food so many of us throw away.

    Reply
  13. Brie: Le Grand Fromage says

    December 9, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    congrats on being a featured holiday blogger! that's awesome! this is a fabulous recipe you're sharing, too. i can never get enough of these types of cookies 🙂

    Reply
  14. Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite says

    December 9, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Boo to the Spam commenter….

    I love this post – such a lovely story and a wonderful cause!

    Reply
  15. Velva says

    December 9, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    This was a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing this with your readers.

    Happy holidays to you and your family.

    Reply
  16. Crail Cakes says

    December 9, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    You nailed it girl! They were awsome:)

    Reply
  17. Divina Pe says

    December 10, 2009 at 9:19 am

    Hi Diana, this looks awesome. We also have a similar recipe and we also call it Polvoron. Slight difference with the spelling. But it's made with powdered milk, sugar and butter with added flavors such as cashew nuts. And congrats for your featured recipe on the Oprah site. 😀

    Reply
  18. Ella says

    December 10, 2009 at 11:05 am

    i have a whole jar full of bacon fat in my fridge and i just found out i'm NOT allergic to almonds- talk about the perfect christmas cookie for me to try!

    Reply
  19. Arabic Bites says

    December 10, 2009 at 11:31 am

    Oprah …. that's amazing diana … I am so happy for you 😀
    I love this post … & these cookies sound so yummy with sugar coating 🙂
    Happy holidays 🙂

    Reply
  20. 5 Star Foodie says

    December 10, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    Beautiful special cookies and a wonderful cause! Happy upcoming holidays!

    Reply
  21. Memória says

    December 10, 2009 at 10:57 pm

    Yo probé mi primer polvorÓn la semana pasada y me gustó. Desafortunadamente, los polvorones que trajo mi supervisora vinieron del supermercado. Voy a usar esta receta para preparar unos polvorones hechos en casa. Gracias. Me gusta la foto con tu familia. 🙂

    Reply
  22. Kelly the Kitchen Kop says

    December 10, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Your cookies look crazy delicious! Thanks for joining in on Real Food Wednesday, Diana!
    Kelly

    Reply
  23. My Little Space says

    December 12, 2009 at 1:52 am

    Oh, what an interesting spanish recipe! Must try it out later! Btw, can you mail me your home add? At [email protected]
    Thanks.

    Reply
  24. heidi leon says

    December 12, 2009 at 2:41 am

    cuantos recuerdos estoy teniendo gracias a tus polvorones; unas de las galletas favoritas de mi Mama!

    gracias

    Reply
  25. Merche says

    December 16, 2009 at 4:01 am

    Gorgeous polvorones, can't imagine american people's faces when they first try them. Yo los hice hace un par de años en casa y tuvieron un éxito bárbaro, mis fans los reclaman estas navidades jejeje. Buenas fiestas!

    Reply
  26. alisia says

    December 30, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    I just turned 64 & remember my mother making polvorones on Christmas. My 9 yr. granddaughter says these are the best cookies I make. My receipe is 4C. flour, 3C. crisco, warm water to keep it from sticking. Bake at 350-soon as they come out, imerge them in cinnamon/sugar.

    Reply
  27. Denise @ Creative Kitchen says

    February 10, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Diana…these look delicous!! I would love to make them. Can I just use the fat from bacon once it solidifies or is pork lard quite different from that.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. A Recipe with Video: Buñuelos de Viento - A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa says:
    December 9, 2011 at 10:29 am

    […] Christmas time and in my family we like to celebrate with special Spanish treats.  Polvorones, mantecados, turron, rosquillas, and buñuelos de […]

    Reply
  2. Polvorones de Aciete - Spanish Christmas Almond Cookies says:
    December 22, 2011 at 8:33 am

    […] I’ve shared over the past couple of years, polvorones and mantecados are one of the most popular Christmas cookies in Spain.  I can’t imagine a […]

    Reply

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I’m Diana – mother of five, proud wife, and daughter to an amazing God. Here you’ll find an encouraging community seeking to nourish our families both physically and spiritually. You’ll find us in our kitchens, gardens, and homeschool rooms pursuing a simple life in food, faith, and family.

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