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Semolina Polvorones
Polvorones are Spanish cookies popular across Latin America, Spain and the Philippines. With a firm yet crumbly texture, they’re similar to shortbread. Our take on the popular cookies was inspired by a lesser-known Basque version made with semolina and spiced with orange zest and cinnamon. To give the cookies deep, complex flavor, we toast both the walnuts and semolina in a skillet before making the dough. Adding the ground cinnamon to the hot semolina bloomed it, bringing out its aroma. Flattening the dough into very thin rounds resulted in cookies that were too delicate; ½-inch-thick disks held up best, especially when tossed in powdered sugar after baking. The cookies are indeed fragile when hot out of the oven, so let them cool several minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
24
cookies
Don’t be alarmed if the semolina smokes slightly during toasting. And don’t coat the cookies with powdered sugar until you’re ready to serve them; they look best immediately after they’re sugared.
3 hours
45 minutes active, plus cooling
Ingredients
-
54
grams (¼ cup) white sugar
-
1½
teaspoons grated orange zest
Directions
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01In a food processor, add the white sugar and zest and pulse until combined. In a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to the food processor. Wipe the skillet clean, then add the semolina and toast, stirring, until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and toast, stirring constantly, until speckled, golden brown and fragrant, another 2 to 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the cinnamon, then transfer to a plate and cool to room temperature.
Semolina or (finer) Durham? Does it matter?