The Teaspoon: Polvorosas

By Diana

One of my favourite biscuits are a Venezuelan delight called Polvorosas. If you go to any 'kiosko' - equivalent to British 'off licences'- you will be able to find 101 versions of these sweet cookies. But like any traditional dish, everyone has their own style when it comes to recipes. However, believe it or not, it was my Syrian grandma the only one that for me made the best Venezuelan Polvorosas. Her version was a biscuit as hard as a rock, almost a threat to your teeth but so delicious that I could have just skipped lunch and jump straight to dessert, everytime she spoiled me with my preferred treat.

The following recipe is not more than just another attempt to bring back childhood memories. Although they are not quite the same I used to steal from her cupboard, these ones are equally good. This is a super easy recipe, you can add orange peel, almond essence, vanilla from the pod or any other tiny little pinch of spice that you consider convenient. If in doubt just leave a comment! I hope you like them!

Ingredients

125 g vegetable fat
150 g granulated sugar
300 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation method

Preheat your oven to 180 C / 356 F.

In a bowl mix all the ingredients using your hands, until you obtain a dough. The texture of the dough will be slightly harder than usual and it will take you about 5 minutes to incorporate all the ingredients together. Your might think that the dough is dry in consistency and that you have done something wrong, but that's the right feeling. So do not worry and use the images in this post for reference.

Prepare a baking tray with baking paper. With your hands make small balls of dough and place them over the prepared baking tray. Use a knife to make a superficial cross on top of each ball of dough.