White mantecados. Traditional recipe

How to prepare some white sugar mantecados . Christmas dates leave us indelible memories. Good times with the family, holidays, gifts, lunches and dinners … And of course, all the Christmas desserts and sweets that are prepared with love and care in all the houses.

Depending on where in Spain we are, the most traditional elaborations change, and even in each house some sweets are more typical than others. But perhaps there is something that is common to all the succored “Christmas assortment” with its shortbread , classic marzipan , traditional empiñonados , the nevaditos and these lardy white , among others.

They are usually sweets that are bought, to save work added to everything that must be cooked at home on those dates. But we can also make them homemade, and most are easy to prepare. An example is the white mantecados, which today I will show you how they are made in a few simple steps.

This Christmas we encourage you to prepare your own white mantecados at home. Even the smallest of the house can help you, it is a very simple recipe and it adapts perfectly to them. It is a delicious snack, you will tell me. And send me the photos of your creations, I am always very excited to see the result of my recipes.

Preparation of the shortbread dough

1. Melt the lard. In a water bath, or also in the microwave, a minute and a half at half power. Pour into a large bowl.
2. Add the wine and the juice of half an orange, mix well.
3. We put the yeast on the flour, and then we are adding the flour, little by little, to the bowl with the liquid. We are mixing and the dough will be formed.
4. At first stickier and then more consistent. Remove from the bowl and knead with your hands.
5. We will obtain a homogeneous, pliable and soft dough. We make a ball, we pass it to a floured bowl and cover with a clean cloth or transparent film.
6. We will let the dough rest for about 8 hours, in the refrigerator. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare the dough the day before.
7. After time, we return with the manual kneading to soften the dough.
8. We are cutting portions, and we extend them with a rolling pin. We leave a thickness of 1 centimeter high. With a metal mold or a glass, we are removing round portions of the dough.

Baking and final presentation of white mantecados

1. We preheat the oven to 200ºC, for 10 minutes
2. We place sulfurized paper in the oven tray, and we are placing the portions of dough, separated from each other.
3. We bake 15/20 minutes (depending on the power of your oven) at 200ºC, heat up-down. Until we see that they are golden on the top.
4. We remove them from the oven and let them cool on a rack. Later, we put them in a source and sprinkle them well with icing sugar. So we are going to give it that characteristic finishing touch.

And the white mantecados for the desktop would be ready, accompanied by a good coffee and a glass of homemade coffee liquor . A perfect combination.

Tips for some yummy butters

• Keep in mind that during the process of preparing the mantecados, the dough will have to be left to rest for about 8 hours. It is advisable to prepare it the day before, and then the next day give it the shape and bake.
• You can also make double the amount, and take a few as a gift to colleagues at work, friends or family home. They will thank you and you will see how there is not even the first one, they are great.
• To preserve them, you can store them in a metal box, like the typical cookies. If you have many left over, make several heights, and put some baking paper in the middle.
• Its name is given by the lard that is used in its manufacturing process. It gives it a characteristic flavor and texture. In any supermarket or specialized store you can find it without problem. The rest of the ingredients are very basic, which are always at home.
• The mantecados are part of the most traditional pastry, with an origin that dates back several centuries ago, thanks to the nunneries. The Convent Sweets are all excellent, with recipes improved over the years, where the expert hand of the nuns is noted.