Polvorones are one of the most popular Spanish Christmas cookies! Their crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth texture is sure to be a hit with your family and friends. This 5-ingredient Spanish almond cookie recipe is perfect to try this Christmas season.
If you're looking for other Spanish Christmas recipes, be sure to try my recipes for mantecados and the popular Epiphany bread, roscón de reyes.
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Introduction
Here in Spain, we love sugar--especially in our coffee! Not surprisingly, there's an abundance of delightful Christmas treats in Spain, and a favorite is polvorones.
These crumbly, shortbread-like almond cookies are made with almonds and lard (manteca). They're part of the mantecado family of lard-based cookies. Eating these cookies and other pork products was historically associated with demonstrating one's Catholic faith.
Nowadays, the lard is often swapped with butter, making polvorones suitable for vegetarians.
Ingredients
Curious about what ingredients you need to make your first batch of Spanish polvorones? Like most Spanish recipes, it only takes a handful of simple, yet flavorful ingredients. Let's talk about what you'll need!
- Flour: All-purpose flour is all you need here. Be sure to measure it accurately (preferably with a kitchen scale) to prevent the dough from being too dry.
- Almonds: Start with blanched almonds. You'll toast them briefly in the oven, then grind them into almond flour. If you're in a hurry, you can start with 83g of ready-made, blanched almond flour.
- Lard: This is the traditional fat in polvorones, but you can easily substitute it with unsalted butter or vegetable shortening.
- Sugar: You'll need granulated or caster sugar to make the dough, and some powdered sugar for decorating the cookies before serving.
- Cinnamon: This adds a delightful flavor and aroma to the cookies. Choose a good quality cinnamon, such as Saigon, for the best flavor.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Vegan: Use vegetable shortening in place of the lard.
- Vegetarian: Use unsalted butter instead of the lard.
How to Make
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Toast the almonds at 350°F (180°C) until they're lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. (image 1)
- Grind the almonds with a food processor until they have a flour-like consistency. (image 2)
- Beat the lard, sugar, and cinnamon until smooth and creamy. (image 3)
- Add the flour and ground almonds and mix until a crumbly dough forms. (image 4)
- Work the dough into a ball and place it on a sheet of wax paper or parchment. (image 5)
- Roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's ½ inch (12 mm) thick. Cut into cookies with a cutter. (image 6)
- Bake at 250°F (120°C) until lightly browned around the edges, about 25-30 minutes. (image 7)
- Let the cookies cool on the tray, as they are fragile and might crumble if you move them while they're hot. Enjoy at room temperature! (image 8)
Recipe FAQs
Polvorones originated in Spain, and were brought to Mexico and the Philippines by the Spaniards. They're now popular in all of these countries!
Mantecados are a type of Spanish cookie made with lard (manteca), and they have a deliciously crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Polvorones are a type of mantecados typically served at Christmas in Spain.
Polvorones are named after polvo, the Spanish word for "powder." These cookies will crumble to dust in your mouth when you eat them! More strictly speaking, they're named after the generous dusting of powdered sugar on top.
Leftover polvorones will keep at room temperature for 3-5 days. You can freeze the cookies before or after baking for up to 3 months.
Serve
Polvorones are usually enjoyed on their own, or perhaps with a cup of coffee (like this Spanish café con leche) or eggnog. Although it's not a traditional combination, the delicate texture of the polvorones would contrast nicely with the richness of Spanish hot chocolate.
If you'd like to serve polvorones along with other Spanish desserts, you'd enjoy trying tarta de Santiago (Spanish almond cake), gateau Basque, buñuelos, or ensaimadas.
Expert Tips
- Toasting the almonds before grinding them into flour will add a lot of flavor to the cookies.
- If you're in a hurry, replace the toasted, blanched almonds with ¾ cup (83g) of blanched almond flour. You can also toast the flour briefly in a skillet or in the oven before using.
- Make sure the lard or butter is at room temperature before using.
- Let the polvorones cool completely on the tray before moving them, or they may break.
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Polvorones: Spanish Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup raw blanched almonds
- ½ cup lard or ⅔ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven until they are lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F (120°C).
- Take the almonds out of the oven and grind into a flour-like texture in a food processor.
- Beat the lard, sugar, and cinnamon with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Add the flour and ground almonds to the lard mixture and incorporate into a crumbly dough. Work the dough into the shape of a ball.
- Place a sheet of waxed paper or parchment onto a clean countertop or cutting board, then place the ball of dough on top. Carefully flatten it with a floured rolling pin to a rectangle that's about ½ inch (12mm) thick.
- Cut the dough into round cookies with a cutter, then gently move the cookies to a greased baking tray with a spatula.
- 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, as moving them while they're hot will likely cause them to crumble.
- Once the cookies have cooled completely, dust them with powdered sugar and serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
- Toasting the almonds before grinding them into flour will add a lot of flavor to the cookies.
- If you're in a hurry, replace the toasted, blanched almonds with ¾ cup (83g) of blanched almond flour. You can also toast the flour briefly in a skillet or in the oven before using.
- Make sure the lard or butter is at room temperature before using.
- Let the polvorones cool completely on the tray before moving them, or they may break.
AB
My mother and grandmother would always make these Christmas cookies when I was growing up. Great memories, I haven't made them myself, used to buy from La Tienda. But now living on the west coast in California. I buy from La Española Meats, INC, great company in California.
Chuck
Hi Lauren,
Regarding all the sugar they use, I studied in Madrid back in 68 and remember they had sugar shakers full of sugar which they liberally doused on everything. I guess they needed all the energy from it to avoid the firehoses full of paint that were used on demonstrators back then. Those were the days!!!