Today we bring you the recipe for the orange and lemon mantecados, a different version of this Christmas dessert so typical of Spain. The history of these lard cookies (mantecados) and polvorones in Spain dates back to the 16th century. The basic ingredients found in mantecados and polvorones are wheat flour, lard and sugar. The main difference between the two is that in the polvorón there are almonds and it is eaten exclusively at Christmas. Whereas mantecados are eaten in many Spanish regions throughout the year, especially at breakfast. Prepare our version!
Ingredients for the Spanish mantecados
- 125g of lard
- 250g of wheat flour
- 125g of sugar
- 8g baking soda
- 1 large egg
- Juice of half an orange, freshly squeezed and filtered (without pulp)
- Juice of half a freshly squeezed and filtered lemon (without pulp)
- 1 egg yolk to brush the biscuits
- 1 small handful of sugar to sprinkle on the biscuits
Preparation of Spanish mantecados
- In a large bowl, fork the lard until creamy, add the sugar, stir until incorporated, also add the egg and mix until smooth.
- Now add the baking soda and flour (mixed in advance) and gradually incorporate them into the lard mixture.
- When you have incorporated half of the flour, add the juices, continue mixing and add the rest of the flour with a spatula. Knead for a few minutes until the dough is soft and homogeneous.
- Prepare a small bowl with a little oil to shape the cookies. Also prepare a baking tray with baking paper to finally bake the mantecados in the oven.
- In order to shape the cookies well, you have to wet your hands with oil to take portions of dough that are neither too big nor too small to make balls that you will put on the baking paper, leaving space between them.
- When they are all ready, brush the top of the mantecados lightly with the egg yolk; this will give them a nice golden and shiny appearance when baked. Sprinkle sugar on top as well.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC to finally bake our mantecados for 15 to 20 minutes at the same temperature. Leave to cool and you can enjoy these delights! You will love them!
