Polvorones are my most favorite memory growing up. These delicious cookies were available at many stores and sold by neighbors from their houses. I remember buying 3 for ten cents, and back then, the sprinkled ones were my favorites. Polvorones are pretty much our version of shortbread cookies. These cookies are delicate, buttery, not too sweet, bite-size, and they crumble in your mouth as you bite into them. Mantecaditos is another name used for these cookies in Puerto Rico. Polvorones could be eaten as they are, but in Puerto Rico, we like to add a bit of almond extract and decorate them with maraschino cherries, sprinkles, and/or jam.
Table of contents
What are polvorones?
I love polvorones. The name polvorones derives from the word "Polvo," meaning dust, playing on the idea that the cookie crumbles ever so slightly once you bite into the cookie. Both shortbread cookies from Spain and Scotland dust their cookies with powdered sugar, adding more meaning to the play-on-words for the name. I find these cookies highly addictive, although they are not at all super sweet. These are the kind of cookies you would be offered with your coffee or tea right around the 3 o'clock pick-me-up.
Today I bring you a traditional Puerto Rican version of these cookies. By no means am I saying this is the only way we make these cookies on the island, but this is one of the basic ways? The recipe yields a cookie that tastes and behaves exactly like what I used to eat as a child. I have searched a few of the recipes out there on shortbread cookies, and most follow the same pattern of one pound of flour to one pound or about a pound of fat. Many recipes now call for the use of only butter, but like this one, many others call for lard.
My thoughts on lard
"Oh lard, it's bigger. It's bigger than you. And you are not me. The lengths that I will go to. To use this in my cooking. Oh no, I've said too much. I set it up."
My version of Loosing My Religion by R.E.M
The truth is, I LIKE LARD! There, I said it. In a world where admitting you like something that is not considered healthy is a fall from grace, I will come out and state that I do not see anything wrong with lard. Of course, if used in moderation. Actually, I do not see anything wrong with many foods as long as we eat them in moderation—more on consuming fats like lard in this article. The issue lies in the fact that foods that were not easily accessible are now accessible and foods that once were considered a treat are now commonplace every day.
When it comes to cooking, especially baking, lard has some properties which help create flakiness and airiness. Although, in this link, you will see a few reasons supporting the use of lard in your cooking. If you decide to give lard a chance, I recommend the following.
- Never buy your lard from the shelf of an aisle in a major grocer. These shelf-stable products tend to be hydrogenated, linked to trans-fats which is the type of fat we really want to avoid.
- Please find a local farmer who renders fat from his/her pigs. Not only will you get a better, fresher product, but you will also be supporting your local community. I buy my lard from a reputable organic farm a few miles away from where I live. The lard is rendered and canned in a mason jar at the farm and kept under refrigeration.
- Suppose you cannot find or do not have a local nearby. If you live in a city, visit your farmer's market. You do not have to, necessarily, visit the farms to get a great product. Ask the farmers at your local farmer's market.
What if you still do not want to use lard
I have to admit that I, too, felt apprehensive about using lard in these cookies, but I wanted to taste the recipe the way it was created. Also, I thought about the people who still might not want to have lard in their cookies. So I tried making these cookies with coconut oil, and they worked quite well. Unfortunately, I have had a few bad experiences with coconut oil, in which my tastebud now picks up odd hints of flavor from the oil, so I have stopped cooking with coconut oil. Although making these cookies, I did not experience any of these problems. The issue could have been the batch of oil itself, but this recipe has redeemed the coconut oil for me.
Another option would be a new type of no hydrogenated fats and a 0g trans fat shortening made from palm oil. I made a batch of polvorones with palm oil, and the cookies were as delicious as ever. There are some benefits to using palm oil, which I am relatively new at, so I will not dive too deep into that just yet. However, I do remember back when I was younger. My mom would tell me how they used coconut oil and palm oil for cooking and beauty rituals, so she found it interesting how the boom on the uses of coconut oil has become a fad.
How to make Polvorones or Mantecaditos
Leave butter on the counter and let it come to room temperature—Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, cream butter and vegetable shortening.
Add in sugar and cream together. Add almond extract and flour, and blend. Take mixture by teaspoonfuls and rub with the palm of the hands to form balls. Arrange in an ungreased cookie baking sheet. Press each ball gently with the palm of your hand to form the cookie. Decorating these cookies is best before baking.
Decorating your Polvoron or Mantecaditos
The cookies themselves do not need any other addition. They are scrumptious all on their own. But adding a little decoration never hurts. Here are a few options;
Jam
If you want to use jam on the cookies, press the back of the teaspoon onto the cookies. Then, add the jam onto the dimple, and bake. I am a Puerto Rican, and guava is king, lol. This I say that almost jokingly because I was in a guava strike at one point in my life. I remember saying to my nephew, just because I am Puerto Rican does not mean I have to like everything guava. Today, I have a different view of the tiny fruit, and if you haven't yet, you should try it for yourself.
Cherries
If using maraschino cherries, cut each cherry in half and garnish each cookie with a piece in the center.
Sprinkles
There are some options for decorating these cookies to make them that much more appealing for the little ones.
- Fill the dimple sprinkles.
- Instead of making a dimple with the teaspoon. Press the tines of the fork onto the cookie. Then add the sprinkle.
- Or pour the sprinkles (this also works well with colored sugar) onto a dish. Press the cookie onto the sprinkles and then bake.
Baking
Once you decorate the cookies, bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
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📖 Recipe
Polvorones
Ingredients
- ¼ pound butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 5 Maraschino Cherries
Instructions
- Leave butter on the counter and let it come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a bowl, cream butter, and vegetable shortening.
- Add in sugar and cream together.
- Add almond extract and flour, and blend.
- Take mixture by teaspoonfuls and rub with the palm of the hands to form balls.
- Arrange on a lightly greased cookie baking sheet.
- Press each ball gently with the back of a teaspoon to create a depression and form the cookie.
Decorating these cookies is best before baking.
- The cookies themselves do not need any other addition. They are scrumptious all on their own. But adding a little decoration never hurts. Here are a few options;
Jam
- If you want to use jam on the cookies, press the back of the teaspoon onto the cookies. Then, add the jam onto the dimple, and bake. I am a Puerto Rican, and guava is king, lol. This I say that almost jokingly because I was in a guava strike at one point in my life. I remember saying to my nephew, just because I am Puerto Rican does not mean I have to like everything guava. Today, I have a different view of the tiny fruit, and if you haven't yet, you should try it for yourself.
Cherries
- If using maraschino cherries, cut each cherry in half and garnish each cookie with a piece in the center.
Sprinkles
- There are some options here for decorating these cookies to make them that much more appealing for the little ones.
- Fill the dimple sprinkles.
- Instead of making a dimple with the teaspoon. Press the tines of the fork onto the cookie. Then add the sprinkle.
- Or pour the sprinkles (this also works well with colored sugar) onto a dish. Press the cookie onto the sprinkles and then bake.
- Once you decorate the cookies, bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
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