Polvorones Cookies Recipes

POLVORONES COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Roast flour: Heat a pan on medium heat. Add the flour and roast it lightly, stirring very often, until slightly colored. Stir well, and don't let it burn. Immediately transfer to a large plate and let cool.
• Dough: Mix the ground almonds, salt, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl. Add the roasted flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and lard. Mix well but don't overwork the dough.
• Form walnut-sized balls out of the dough and place them on the baking tray (already lined with parchment paper) or some large plates. Refrigerate for half an hour.
• Bake: In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper for about 12 minutes.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar and let cool.

POLVORONES: SPANISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
• Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven until they start to go a faint golden color (roughly 8-10 minutes). Reduce the oven temperature to 250F (120C).
• Take the almonds out of the oven and grind into a flour-like texture in a food processor.
• Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the lard/butter, sugar, and cinnamon with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Add the flour and ground almonds to the lard/butter mixture and incorporate into a dough. (The dough will be quite crumbly, but that's okay!).
• Place a sheet of waxed baking paper onto a clean countertop or cutting board. In the mixing bowl, work the dough into the shape of a ball, and then put it on top of the baking paper. Carefully flatten it with a floured rolling pin to a rectangle with about a 1/2-inch thickness.
• Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into circular cookies.
• Move the cookie dough to a greased baking tray/cookie sheet (you might want to use a spatula, as the crumbly dough might break apart in your hands).
• Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes, until you see the edges start to turn a golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray until you move them, as moving them hot will likely cause them to crumble to dust!
• Serve at room temperature, dusted with powdered sugar.

POLVORONES DE CANELE (CINNAMON COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a medium bowl, cream together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture to form a stiff dough. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Mix together 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; roll balls in cinnamon mixture.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven, or until nicely browned. Cool cookies on wire racks.

SPANISH POLVORONES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour flour onto a cookie sheet.
• Place the flour in the oven and toast it for about 8 minutes, occasionally stirring it so it toasts evenly. Alternatively, place flour in a non-reactive pan on the stove at medium heat and toast for 8 to 10 minutes while stirring. Remove from oven or pan and set aside.
• Place raw almonds on another cookie sheet. Toast the almonds until they change color just slightly, or about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove and place almonds into a food processor. Process almonds until they are finely ground into a flour-like texture.
• Reduce oven temperature to 250 F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla together with a hand or electric whisk.
• Add the flour and finely ground almonds to the butter mixture and incorporate all the ingredients well. The resulting dough will be very crumbly.
• Place a sheet of waxed paper on a cutting board or another flat work surface. Press the dough together to form a ball. Then press the dough onto the waxed paper.
• Carefully flatten it down with a floured rolling pin, into a 1/2-inch uniform thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
• Since the dough is dry and flakey, use a small spatula to carefully move the cookies to the cookie sheet.
• Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes until you see golden brown on the edges. Allow cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet. They are so delicate that moving them while still hot will break them apart.
• Once cooled, sift powdered sugar over the cookies and serve. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

POLVORONES: GROUND WALNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well blended. Beat in the flour, and then the ground and chopped walnuts. Divide the dough in half, forming each half into a ball. Wrap separately in plastic and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Working with half of the chilled dough at a time while keeping the rest in the fridge, roll the dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between your palms into balls. Arrange the balls on a large baking sheet, spacing them 1/2-inch apart.
• Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Toss the warm cookies in the powdered sugar. Transfer the sugar-coated cookies to a rack to cool completely. (The cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature). Sift additional powdered sugar over the cookies, if desired, before serving.

POLVORONES FROM PUERTO RICO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
• Combine shortening and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Add flour, 1 cup at a time, until completely mixed; the dough should be stiff and able to hold its shape when formed into a ball. If this consistency is not achieved, add a little more flour.
• Make 1-inch balls of dough and place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Use your finger to make small indentations in the middle of each cookie and fill it with a cube of guava paste.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes; do not overcook. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES (POLVORONES DE CANELA)

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture until incorporated. Shape dough into a square and wrap in plastic; refrigerate 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out cookies. (Scraps can be rerolled once.) Divide evenly between two parchment-lined baking sheets. Using a 3/4-inch round cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each cookie. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges begin to brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• In a small bowl, stir together remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Working with one cookie at a time, toss in cinnamon sugar until thoroughly coated. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

POLVORON WITH CASHEWS (FILIPINO SHORTBREAD)

Steps:

• If you want to make it with cashews: If you haven't done so already, crush the cashews. I like to crush it to the point where about half of it is almost powder and the rest is in small pieces. Over medium heat, melt a sliver of butter and toast the crushed cashews stirring occasionally until golden brown.
• Using a large skillet, toast the flour over medium to low heat. You want to make sure that you are stirring it continuously to avoid burning. Be patient! This can take up to 20-30 minutes. Just continue until the flour is tan/beige in color. Once toasted, remove from heat and allow it to cool completely.
• Sift cooled toasted flour with the pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl.
• In another large mixing bowl, sift together the powdered milk and the sugar.
• Add the flour mixture into the powdered milk/sugar mixture and stir well.
• Once combined, sift all the ingredients together back into the other large bowl (the one that previously held the flour).
• Pour in the melted butter into the mixture and stir well. The texture will be like lightly damp sand.
• If you have a molder, simply fill the mold with the mixture and press firmly with the back of a spoon. Release the shaped polvoron and set aside and repeat.
• If you don't have a molder (like me), use a mini cupcake pan:.
• Fill the mini cupcake pan with the mixture and press with the back of a spoon. If you want a completely flat surface on top, you can use the cap of a bottle. Once all cupcake holes are filled, place a tray (or a cutting board) big enough to cover the whole tray and carefully flip it over. The result will be perfectly shaped biscuits. If it doesn't come out, you can try using a meat pounder and lightly hit the tray when it's flipped over.
• Once you have molded all of the Polvorons, stack and store into an airtight container. Freeze for a couple of hours and remove.
• If you want to, wrap each Polvoron individually with the cellophane paper.

POLVORONES SEVILLANOS (MEXICAN COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
• Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Beat in eggs, vanilla paste, and coconut extract until combined.
• Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.
• Stir in the 1 cup coconut, candied pineapple, and the citrus peels.
• Divide dough into thirds and shape each portion of dough into a 12-inch-long roll.
• Wrap rolls in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill for 4 hours or until firm enough to slice.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut rolls into 1/2-inch-thick-slices.
• Place slices 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, bake in the preheated oven for 9 to 10 minutes or just until centers are set.
• Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.
• Drizzle tops of cookies with Lemon Glaze and sprinkle with additional toasted coconut.
• Let stand until glaze is set. Makes about 60 cookies.
• LEMON GLAZE:.
• In a medium bowl, stir together powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make an icing of drizzling consistency.
• STORAGE:.
• Layer cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.