Spanish Delicacies: Polvorones & Mantecados

Dear readers,

I don't think anybody missed me last week but to those of you who were expecting my usual Wednesday and Saturday post I have to apologize: I just didn't feel like blogging. I haven't taken any break in blogging this year, except maybe one other post that I missed so, I thought a little break was well deserved.

With Christmas around the corner I wanted to talk about what kind of sweet snacks we like to eat for the holidays over here.

Polvorón comes from the word "polvo" that means dust or powder. It's a soft and very crumbly sort of shortbread covered in sugared powder, hence the name, that comes wrapped up individually, like you can see from the picture above.

The usual polvorón is only made out of flour, sugar, lard and almonds but I've found one that comes with dark chocolate chips: super yummy!

Polvorones are a variety of mantecados which I also quite enjoy but I prefer getting these brand of polvorones as they are hand made using the best quality Marcona type almond. The almond factory is located in my home town and you can only get these from mid October to begin December as they are usually sold out long before Christmas.

Ingredients: 34% Selected Marcona Almond, wheat flour, sugar, lard, cinnamon and lemon zest. It can contain traces of soy, lactose and egg. No additives or preservatives.

As kids we liked to eat them in one go while pronouncing "Pamplona", let me tell you: not a pretty sight!

Have you ever had Mantecados or Polvorones?

More on Spanish delicacies:

- Sobaos Pasiegos
- Miguelitos de la Roda
- Piononos
- Flan de Huevo