Hazelnut polvorones

How to make hazelnut polvorones .

I love the Christmas traditions, the lights, the trees, the nativity scenes and especially the polvorones .

At Christmas, for dessert we take ” hazelnut polvorones “. Some of you will think, uf, polvorones, how difficult, I buy them done!   Of that nothing, the polvorón is not a difficult sweet to elaborate and the difference in flavor between the one we make at home, the one we buy in the supermarket, is abysmal.

The origin of the mantecado dates from the 16th century and is located in Andalusia, although its specific origin is not clear if it was in Estepa or Antequera . In those days, pigs grazed freely through vast fields full of oaks and, with so much pig, they found a surplus of lard, which gave rise to the primitive butter cakes .

It was the French, in the 18th century, who cut the holm oaks, to prevent the guerrillas from hiding there, so that our landscape, today, is made up of fields of cereals and olive trees.

You will see how easy the polvorones are prepared. Now we can find a lot of sweets that vary from the original recipe, from these hazelnuts , to the delicious chocolate polvorones , the classic almond polvorones , without oven or gluten-free . For every taste.

Take advantage of Christmas days to spend more time with the family and if you want, you can use this recipe to get together in the kitchen, even with the youngest at home.

Can you imagine kneading and dusting sugar, while you enjoy and chat in the best company?

Hazelnut polvorones dough

1. The first thing we are going to do is prepare the flour. We will put it on a baking sheet, we will spread it out well and we will keep it in the oven for 20 minutes at 150 ° C.
2. We will take it out of the oven every 10 minutes, we will remove a little and we will put it back in the oven, until the 20 minutes are complete.
3. When it is ready, we will let it cool and pass it through the strainer (sieve).
4. Mix the flour with the butter, kneading with your hands until a lump-free and compact dough is made.
5. Chop the hazelnuts and sift the icing sugar. Next, we will add these ingredients to the previous mixture.
6. We will continue kneading until we get a unified dough. Add a tablespoon of cinnamon dessert to the dough and knead.
7. We spread the resulting mass on transparent film, pressing with your hands so that it is as shown in the photo gallery.
8. We will put another layer of film on top of the dough.
9. With a rolling pin or a bottle, we will smooth the dough, leaving a thickness of 1 centimeter and a half, approximately.

Shape and bake of hazelnut polvorones

1. Now it’s time to shape. You can use a round cutter and then give it an oval shape with your fingers, but if you don’t have it, a glass is enough. I have also used a cut in the shape of a flower.
2. We put the polvorones in the oven dish and put them in the fridge for 30 minutes
3. Then we take it to the oven at 180 ° C, with heat up and down for about 15 minutes or until they are golden on top.
4. We will monitor the color of the polvorones, because we do not want them to burn us.
5. When they are ready, we take them out and sprinkle them with icing sugar. Let cool, perfect to do with the little ones at home.

I assure you that everyone will be surprised with the flavor. You can buy tissue paper and wrap them. Now you can show off professional pastry chefs!

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for hazelnut polvorones . Do not miss any detail so that it comes out perfect.

Tips and curiosities of these hazelnut polvorones

• You can tune this recipe for polvorones so that you get different batches, we can give it a crispier touch with some sesame or sesame seeds on top before putting them in the oven.
• If you like chocolate, add about 25 g. of cocoa powder in the flour and the rest of the recipe we follow the same process. And if you like them with an aromatic touch, we can add to the dough the zest of a lemon or a teaspoon of vanilla essence.
• So everyone is happy, each with their favorite flavor and the perfect hazelnut base, a touch of yummy.
• Polvorón is a specialty derived from mantecado. La Colchona , this is how Doña Filomena Micaela Ruíz was known, was the creator of this sweet. Basically, what he did was dry the butter, so that it would last longer in good condition.
• Before starting to cook, I dried the flour that I was going to use to prepare the polvorón. Thus, it managed to make the outer part of the candy a little harder and the inside to keep its tender texture.
• Her husband, a cosario by profession ( “the cosarios were in charge of leading people from one town to another” ), took the polvorones and sold them around the towns, earning some more income for the family.
• It is good that we know our traditions and that we tell them to our children; It is a good way to share a pleasant time with the kids.