How to make
The Spanish Christmas Polvorones are made in a similar way that the Spanish make all their Christmas butter cookies.
As with typical Polvorones, the flour is toasted beforehand. This can be a difficult task because there is a risk of it burning in the oven and ruining the taste of the sweets. That's why I suggest baking the flour in a pan, where it can be monitored and controlled much better.
For this purpose, take a wide pan, in which the flour is distributed in a thin layer, about 1 finger thick. Turn on initially on low heat (3rd stage out of 9).
After a few minutes of mixing, increase gradually until you reach the 6th stage and the flour has lost its raw smell. Stir until it turns a slightly creamy color, not darker.
Leave it to cool, by stirring again at the beginning, because the pan will still be hot and the bottom layer may burn.
Toasted flour adds the specific flavor of the Spanish Christmas cookies.
Next step is to grind the hazelnuts, you can also use ready made hazelnut flour.
In a bowl, mix the grinded nuts, the toasted flour, the cinnamon, 2.1 oz (60 g) of the powdered sugar, the wine and the fat at room temperature.
Knead a soft dough. Because it is greasy, it is almost non-sticky and easy to work with.
Roll it out on a kitchen counter or a layer of baking paper into a crust no more than 1 cm thick and cut out the cookies with a round cookie cutter. In the middle of each, make a hole with another smaller shape or ring. Collect the scraps and roll them out and cut them again.
Arrange your cookies on a tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes at 340°F (170°C) in a preheated oven.
Do not wait for them to turn golden, as they will harden too much. They will still be tasty, but won't melt in your mouth and be more crunchy instead.
After they have cooled, roll the finished Christmas cookies generously in the remaining powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
