Polvorones Food

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES (POLVORONES DE CANELA)

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and 1 cup confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture until incorporated. Shape dough into a square and wrap in plastic; refrigerate 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out cookies. (Scraps can be rerolled once.) Divide evenly between two parchment-lined baking sheets. Using a 3/4-inch round cutter, cut out a hole in the center of each cookie. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges begin to brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• In a small bowl, stir together remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Working with one cookie at a time, toss in cinnamon sugar until thoroughly coated. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

POLVORONES (MEXICAN PINK SUGAR COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together the shortening, white granulated sugar, and vanilla extract for 2 full minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then turn the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, until it's all fully combined.
• At this point divide the dough into as many colors as you want, then add food coloring and mix with your hands or the stand mixer. Once the dough is dyed, wrap it in plastic and set it in the fridge to rest for an hour.
• While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
• When the dough has rested scoop out 1/4 cup size balls of dough (I just use a standard ice cream scoop) and roll them into a smooth ball before rolling in the cane sugar. Place 5 balls of dough on a baking sheet and flatten slightly with the back of a measuring cup, sprinkle a bit more sugar on each cookie then bake for 12-14 minutes one sheet at a time until the cookies have spread out and cracked but haven't browned at all.
• Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough until all the cookies are baked.

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.

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

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Cream butter with the 2 kinds of sugar until very creamy and light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add baking powder and salt to flour and add to cream mixture in thirds. Finally, blend in the brandy.
• Roll out on floured board to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter (smallest available). Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes, until light gold in color. Sprinkle with mixture of sugar and cinnamon while still hot. Yields: about 5 dozen.

POLVORONES FROM PUERTO RICO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
• Combine shortening and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Add flour, 1 cup at a time, until completely mixed; the dough should be stiff and able to hold its shape when formed into a ball. If this consistency is not achieved, add a little more flour.
• Make 1-inch balls of dough and place 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Use your finger to make small indentations in the middle of each cookie and fill it with a cube of guava paste.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light golden on the bottom, about 15 minutes; do not overcook. Cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.

POLVORONES DE LIMON- TRADITIONAL SPANISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• How to prepare the flour before baking:
• Preheat oven to 300F/150C. Place the all-purpose flour on a baking tray and dry it in the oven at 300F for 30 minutes. Do the same thing with the almond flour, but keep it in the oven at 300F only for 20 minutes.
• Let the flour cool completely. The flour might look clumpy, but this is how it should be.
• Sift both flours together with the cinnamon and set aside.
• How to make the polvorones cookies:
• Lard or butter should be at room temperature.
• Cream together lard or butter with the powder sugar. You can do it by hand or with a mixer.
• Add the mixture of all-purpose flour and almond flour over the lard and sugar.
• Add the lemon zest and juice.
• Mix until you have a crumbly dough. Do not overmix.
• Place the dough on a floured surface and bring it together into the shape of a ball. Wrap it in plastic foil and refrigerate it for an hour.
• Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
• Cover cookie trays with parchment paper.
• Roll the dough about 0.5inch/1.5cm thick on a lightly floured surface.
• Use a cookie cutter or a round glass(approx. 1.4inch diameter or 3.5 cm)and cut the dough.
• Grab them with a spatula and place them on the cookie tray. Bake at 400F/200C for no more than 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the tray.
• TIP: Do not try to remove the hot cookies from the tray as they are very crumbly. When cool, the cookies keep their shape. Also, do not keep them in the oven for more than 10 minutes. The cookies will dry out and change their texture.
• When the cookies are completely cool, dust them with powder sugar and wrap them in a special paper for polvorones or wax paper cut in 7.4x6.7 inches(19x17cm).
• The polvorones last a long time if kept in dry, cool places. They make great gifts for the holidays.

POLVORONES - MEXICAN COOKIES

Steps:

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and shortening until creamy. Add 1 1/2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, the orange zest, and the orange juice and beat until blended.
• In another bowl, stir together the flour, nuts, and sea salt. Add the flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time to the butter mixture, beating until thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be crumbly. Transfer the dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap and press the dough into a ball. Wrap and then refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours.
• Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F Line a baking sheet with parchment (baking) paper or with a silicone baking mat.
• Using your hands, roll or squeeze small pieces of the dough into 3/4-inch (2cm) balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart and gently pressing them to flatten slightly.
• Bake the cookies until the eges turn pale gold, 10-15 minutes (my oven takes slightly longer).
• Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. When the cookies are ready, remove the baking sheet from the oven. While they are still hot, using a spatula, remove the cookies one at a time and carefully roll them in the sugar. Set aside on a rack and let cool completely, then roll them again in the sugar, shaking off any excess.
• Serve the cookies at once, or layer between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 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.

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

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.