Polvoron Food

POLVORON

Steps:

• Toast all purpose flour until light brown.
• Add powdered milk, iodized salt, margarine and mix evenly.
• ADD sugar into the flour mixture.
• put into a flat container and mold by a polvoron molder.
• Wrap polvoron in cellophane.

POLVORONES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for about 1 minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and increase the speed to medium-high. Occasionally stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, continue to beat until it is pale and fluffy, an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and orange zest.
• Sift together the flour, spices and salt, then blend with the almond meal. Add this to the creamed butter all at once, then stir with a wooden spoon or spatula for a couple of turns. Return the bowl to the stand and mix on the lowest speed until the flour is just incorporated without over-mixing. Turn out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, push together to form a large flat disc, and wrap well. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick liner.
• Scoop out the dough in tablespoons, roll into a ball and place on the cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Using a small spoon dipped in flour, press down on each ball so it forms a round disc about 1/2-inch thick. The dough will be fragile but if it cracks or the dough falls apart it can be gently pressed together or reshaped. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly golden, though the tops will still be pale, 14 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and while still warm, sprinkle generously with confectioners' sugar. Using a spatula, carefully remove the cookies and lay out on a cooling rack.

POLVORON WITH CASHEWS (FILIPINO SHORTBREAD)

Steps:

• If you want to make it with cashews: If you haven't done so already, crush the cashews. I like to crush it to the point where about half of it is almost powder and the rest is in small pieces. Over medium heat, melt a sliver of butter and toast the crushed cashews stirring occasionally until golden brown.
• Using a large skillet, toast the flour over medium to low heat. You want to make sure that you are stirring it continuously to avoid burning. Be patient! This can take up to 20-30 minutes. Just continue until the flour is tan/beige in color. Once toasted, remove from heat and allow it to cool completely.
• Sift cooled toasted flour with the pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl.
• In another large mixing bowl, sift together the powdered milk and the sugar.
• Add the flour mixture into the powdered milk/sugar mixture and stir well.
• Once combined, sift all the ingredients together back into the other large bowl (the one that previously held the flour).
• Pour in the melted butter into the mixture and stir well. The texture will be like lightly damp sand.
• If you have a molder, simply fill the mold with the mixture and press firmly with the back of a spoon. Release the shaped polvoron and set aside and repeat.
• If you don't have a molder (like me), use a mini cupcake pan:.
• Fill the mini cupcake pan with the mixture and press with the back of a spoon. If you want a completely flat surface on top, you can use the cap of a bottle. Once all cupcake holes are filled, place a tray (or a cutting board) big enough to cover the whole tray and carefully flip it over. The result will be perfectly shaped biscuits. If it doesn't come out, you can try using a meat pounder and lightly hit the tray when it's flipped over.
• Once you have molded all of the Polvorons, stack and store into an airtight container. Freeze for a couple of hours and remove.
• If you want to, wrap each Polvoron individually with the cellophane paper.

FILIPINO POLVORON

Steps:

• Toast the flour in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning, until it turns light brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool, at least 15 minutes.
• Cut waxed paper into twenty 4-inch squares.
• Stir butter, sugar, powdered milk, and lemon extract into the flour. Mix well. Fill a polvoron mold tightly with a portion of the mixture. Press the plunger down to release the candy onto a square of waxed paper. Wrap candy in the waxed paper and twist the ends. Repeat until all of the candy mixture is used up.

POLVORONES: SPANISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
• Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast in the oven until they start to go a faint golden color (roughly 8-10 minutes). Reduce the oven temperature to 250F (120C).
• Take the almonds out of the oven and grind into a flour-like texture in a food processor.
• Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the lard/butter, sugar, and cinnamon with an electric hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Add the flour and ground almonds to the lard/butter mixture and incorporate into a dough. (The dough will be quite crumbly, but that's okay!).
• Place a sheet of waxed baking paper onto a clean countertop or cutting board. In the mixing bowl, work the dough into the shape of a ball, and then put it on top of the baking paper. Carefully flatten it with a floured rolling pin to a rectangle with about a 1/2-inch thickness.
• Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into circular cookies.
• Move the cookie dough to a greased baking tray/cookie sheet (you might want to use a spatula, as the crumbly dough might break apart in your hands).
• 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 until you move them, as moving them hot will likely cause them to crumble to dust!
• Serve at room temperature, dusted with powdered sugar.

SPANISH POLVORONES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour flour onto a cookie sheet.
• Place the flour in the oven and toast it for about 8 minutes, occasionally stirring it so it toasts evenly. Alternatively, place flour in a non-reactive pan on the stove at medium heat and toast for 8 to 10 minutes while stirring. Remove from oven or pan and set aside.
• Place raw almonds on another cookie sheet. Toast the almonds until they change color just slightly, or about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove and place almonds into a food processor. Process almonds until they are finely ground into a flour-like texture.
• Reduce oven temperature to 250 F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla together with a hand or electric whisk.
• Add the flour and finely ground almonds to the butter mixture and incorporate all the ingredients well. The resulting dough will be very crumbly.
• Place a sheet of waxed paper on a cutting board or another flat work surface. Press the dough together to form a ball. Then press the dough onto the waxed paper.
• Carefully flatten it down with a floured rolling pin, into a 1/2-inch uniform thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
• Since the dough is dry and flakey, use a small spatula to carefully move the cookies to the cookie sheet.
• Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes until you see golden brown on the edges. Allow cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet. They are so delicate that moving them while still hot will break them apart.
• Once cooled, sift powdered sugar over the cookies and serve. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

POLVORONES (MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES)

Steps:

• Put 1/2 cup of the walnuts and the salt in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Roughly chop the remaining 1 cup walnuts.
• Position two oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the flour, then the ground and chopped walnuts. Divide the dough in half, forming each half into a ball. Wrap separately in plastic and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
• Put the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl.
• Working with half of the chilled dough at a time and keeping the rest in the fridge, roll the dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between your palms into balls. Arrange the balls on a large baking sheet, spacing them 1/2 inch apart.
• Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Toss the warm cookies in the powdered sugar. Transfer the sugar-coated cookies to a rack to cool completely. The cookies can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Once cooled, store them in an airtight container. You need to make sure they are cooled before storing them, otherwise they will get soggy. Sift additional powdered sugar and cinnamon over the cookies if desired before serving.