Polvorones are most closely associated with Andalusia, particularly the town of Estepa in the province of Seville, which has been producing them commercially since the 19th century and where the polvorón industry remains a significant part of the local economy. The town’s association with the cookie is old enough and specific enough that Estepa polvorones carry a degree of reputational weight in Spain similar to what a specific wine region carries for its bottles. The Christmas season is when they appear in greatest quantity — polvorones are fundamentally a holiday food in Spain, sold in decorated tins and given as gifts throughout December.

The technique of toasting the flour before using it is what gives polvorones their characteristic texture and flavor. Raw flour produces something closer to a conventional shortbread; toasted flour develops a nutty, slightly bitter depth that is entirely its own thing and essential to the final result. Lard, not butter, is the traditional fat, and it matters — the lower water content produces a more tender, more crumbly texture than butter would, and the flavor is subtler and less assertive than you might expect.

Polvorones traveled with Spanish colonization to Latin America, where they took on regional variations across Mexico, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere. Mexican polvorones tend to use butter instead of lard and are often shaped into balls and rolled in powdered sugar after baking, producing something closer to a Mexican wedding cookie — related, but a distinct object from the Andalusian original.

• Arab Influence
• Islamic Culinary Tradition
• Moorish Influence

---

Regional Roots

• Spain