Homemade almond polvorones. Christmas recipe

How to make homemade almond powder.

One of your favorite Christmas desserts (or snack) that I assure you will become one of your favorite recipes every year.

These are the classic polvorones that we all know but homemade, that things change a lot. Polvorones are one of the most famous Christmas sweets in Spain.

The town of Estepa , in Andalusia, is perhaps the most famous for its manufacture of mantecados and polvorones in Spain. Although there are other localities where they also prepare these little delicacies, which are equally valuable in quality and flavor, such as the Polvorones from Toledo or those from Tordesillas .

If you dare to prepare them you will notice that there is an abysmal difference with the industrial ones, when they are put into the mouth they melt, they are very light and the intense almond flavor is totally different, their texture is slightly crunchy on the outside and very soft in their inside.

A sweet so simple that even its ingredients are to walk around the house, not difficult to find: flour, almonds, sugar, butter and a little cinnamon.

Do not doubt that there is no better air freshener for the home than a tray of freshly baked sweets or a good piece of Roscón to leave the Three Kings in the great night … do not forget to leave a shot of brown liquor next to you that I assure you that way they leave more gifts.

Preparation of the base of the polvorones

1. We chop the roasted and skinless almonds.
2. We toast the flour taking great care that it does not burn and that it only cooks.
3. To do this we put it in a frying pan over low heat and cook it without stopping stirring for about 7 minutes. It must be removed before it begins to take color.
4. We sift the flour to avoid the lumps that will have formed.
5. Once the flour is cold, we add the lemon zest, the cinnamon, 100 g. of the ground sugar, the ground almond and the butter with ointment texture.
6. The sugar that we use the normal sugar that we will have previously ground.
7. This point is important to prevent grains from appreciating. Thus we will have much finer polvorones.
8. We work the dough until we get a smooth and uniform paste. We spread the dough between two oven papers until it has a thickness of about 2 cm.
9. We make the portions of polvorones with the help of a cookie cutter.
10. We keep the polvorones in the fridge until the dough has hardened. The time required to harden the dough will depend on how soft it is.

Baking and final presentation of the polvorones

1. With the oven previously heated to 180º C, we bake the polvorones for 12-13 minutes.
2. We will have heat from above and below and the fan option on.
3. When the polvorones are ready, remove the tray from the oven and place the polvorones on a rack.
4. We must be very careful since the dough will be very soft and can break very easily.
5. Once the polvorones are on a rack, sprinkle the rest of the ground sugar and let them cool completely before handling them.

It is not necessary that I tell you that they are delicious, with this recipe you have for 3 or 4 polvorones for each one, do not be gluttonous and share. Good profit and you have no excuse that you can still eat them at Christmas!

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

Tips for some fluffy puddings

• For their presentation I recommend that you wrap them in tissue paper or keep them in a metal box with a good seal.
• This is a basic recipe that you can tune with other ingredients by adding other nuts such as hazelnuts or walnuts, and give it other colors and aromas: chocolate, lemon, anise, sesame seeds, etc. As I always tell you, imagination to power.
• For those friends on the other side of the pond I clarify that in Uruguay, Paraguay or Argentina butter is called butter.
• In Spain and for this recipe, butter is the fat or fat of the pig, in this case we use Iberian lard that is of higher quality. You can get the butter in any supermarket or by ordering it from your usual butcher. The other ingredients are very easy to get.