The debate between polvorones and mantecados being the same thing has been around for some time but remember that when it comes to food one ingredient can make a whole different thing with a different name, kid of like the difference between ice cream and gelato, bolognese and ragú, you get the picture.
Now, let’s get to the history facts. The origin of Polvorones and Mantecados dates back to the 16th century, specifically to the Estepa area, where it was common to use lard in pastries due to the abundance of oaks in their forests, the habitat where this animal was raised. It can be said that the Polvorones have their origin in Andalusia, in the Estepa region. In the 16th century, the use of lard in baking was common. It was a time when the quantity and quality of pork was not in doubt.
In the 19th century, Filomena Micaela Ruiz, also called La Colchona, dedicated herself to selling her mantecados in the places visited by her husband, who was a transporter. With the aim of achieving this, he created a shortbread with a faster drying system that would make it possible to keep them in good condition for longer.
It would not be until 1928 when the first mixers were introduced in the production process of this sweet, causing the number of factories to increase to ten. It was at this time when it was decided to create various brands of Polvorones and mantecados and more than 400 thousand kilos of mantecados were produced.
Currently, both sweets compete for the title of typical Christmas sweet and, even so, many people continue to confuse them. If this is your case, today we will tell you how mantecados and Polvorones differ, both in flavor and texture as well as ingredients.
The definition of mantecado according to the RAE is that of “a bun kneaded with lard”, while that of a Polvorón is that of a “cake, usually small, made of flour, butter and sugar, cooked in a strong oven and that melts in dust when eating it. Unfortunately, these definitions do not make it completely clear what the differences are between both types of sweets. At first glance, the first thing to note is that the appearance is not the same, both in size and shape.
While mantecados are round and a little smaller, Polvorones are oval in shape and a little larger in size. Furthermore, in general, Polvorones are wrapped in paper to prevent them from falling apart until they are consumed, since they are less compact than Mantecados. But in addition to appearance, there are other differences between mantecados and Polvorones related to their flavor, texture and ingredients.
The differences between the ingredients of mantecados and Polvorones, which makes their flavor and texture completely different. In addition, it should be mentioned that the Polvorones contain previously baked flour, which makes them much denser on the palate. Undoubtedly, its ability to “fall apart” is what differentiates the Polvorón from the Mantecado. The shortbread contains egg white, which brings together the rest of the ingredients. However, the Polvorón does not, so it is common for it to fall apart easily.
For this reason, many people crush it before opening it, so that it becomes compact and does not collapse while they eat it. The mantecado is more compact, melty and buttery, while the Polvorón falls apart into “powder”.
Another of the main differences between mantecados and Polvorones are the ingredients with which they are made. The Polvorones dough contains butter, almonds, sugar and wheat flour. It has less butter and more flour than shortening, so it requires less baking time. In addition, it should be noted that both the almonds and the flour are toasted before making the dough, which gives it its characteristic texture, color and flavor. To top it all off, it has a whitish coating because sugar is sprinkled on the surface.
For their part, mantecados traditionally do not contain almonds and are covered with sesame seeds but in Puerto Rico both are usually topped with sprinkles and guava and is common to add a yellow coloring to the dough. Like Polvorones, they contain flour, but it is not previously toasted, but rather added to the raw dough. Both are delicious and deserve a place at your table specially during holidays.
In Puerto Rico the variation is vague since both are commonly made the same way, raw flour, shortening, sugar, butter, etc., but mantecados are denser because they use more shortening and bake into a crunchier cookie than polvorones that use a little less shortening resulting in a more crumbly cookie with a lighter texture. Polvorones are the ones commonly made with different flavors like almond, pistachio, etc.
