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Mantecados recipe: traditional Spanish cookies
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5 from 10 votes

Mantecados Recipe: Traditional Spanish Shortbread Cookies

This easy and delicious mantecados recipe will have you enjoying Spain's favorite cookies in no time!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time33 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Spanish
Servings: 20 cookies
Calories: 216.71kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of soft butter or vegetable shortening you can also use traditional pork lard if you want
  • ½ cup of light olive oil
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 1 lemon peel grated
  • 2 teaspoons of lemon juice tip: use the same lemon that you zest
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 2 cups of flour tip: for a gluten-free option, try almond flour
  • ½ teaspoon of baking soda
  • ½ cup of almond halves optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F

For the Dough

  • Wash the lemon, and zest it. Once you have collected all zest from the lemon, set it aside. Then, cut the lemon into two halves. Set the halves aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whip the vegetable shortening or butter by hand or with a hand mixer. Once whipped, add in the olive oil.
  • Next, add in the sugar to the vegetable shortening and olive oil mix. Continue mixing these three ingredients together until the texture is smooth.
  • Add into the mixture the egg and lemon zest. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemon halves into the mixture.
  • Continue mixing all ingredients together. Once the mixture is again smooth in texture, add in the dry ingredients including the flour and baking soda. Mix all ingredients together.
  • Lastly, fold in a ½ cup of almond halves if desired.

For the Cookies

  • Using a teaspoon or your hands, make small balls with the dough. Place the small dough balls onto a greased cookie sheet.
  • Press down on each small dough ball to help flatten it before baking.
  • Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes until they turn light brown in color. Allow the cookies to cool before serving, and serve delicately so that they do not crumble!

Tip

  • If the dough mixture is too dry, try adding some milk to thicken it. If the dough mixture is too runny, try adding some additional flour.

Nutrition

Calories: 216.71kcal | Carbohydrates: 19.64g | Protein: 1.67g | Fat: 14.94g | Saturated Fat: 6.66g | Cholesterol: 32.59mg | Sodium: 32.21mg | Potassium: 19.13mg | Fiber: 0.37g | Sugar: 10.05g | Vitamin A: 295.52IU | Vitamin C: 0.58mg | Calcium: 5.83mg | Iron: 0.65mg