Mantecado de Portillo

This sweet is known as mantecado de Portillo, a town in the province of Valladolid where they originate from, but also as Zapatillas Vallisoletanas, I imagine because of the shape they have and because many people know them from having visited Valladolid where they are omnipresent although is not a truly product typical of the city. "Sneakers" literally means sneakers.

The magic of these sweets is to make them crispy on the outside but soft on the inside, something that is achieved thanks to the glaze and the double baking to which they are subjected.

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough :

• 400 grams (14 oz) of flour
• 200 grams (7 oz)  of lard
• 100 ml (half a cup) of brandy (pomace or similar) or dry or semi-dry white wine.
• 1 egg yolk (large size, XL)

Glaze :

• 150 grams (5.3 oz) of icing sugar 
• 1 egg white
• 30 ml of Water (1 + half tbsp)
• 1 shot of anise (30 ml / 1 + half tbsp, more or less)

We put the lard warm in the microwave to make it easier to work with. Beat the egg and add it. Then we incorporate the well sifted flour and little by little, kneading so that it is well integrated (if necessary with our hands). Add the liquor or wine and knead to obtain a homogeneous mass (it is necessary to do it for 20 or 30 minutes).

The ball of dough that we obtain should be left for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap so that it consolidates.

After the time we remove from the refrigerator and spread with a roller on a smooth and floured surface until it reaches half a centimeter thick (1/5 inch) , approximately.

We cut with a cup or if we have a not very large oval mold we use it (that is the traditional way of this shortbread). The cuts that remain of the dough are put back together, flattened and cut again so as not to waste anything.

We preheat the oven to 250 degrees (480 F) . Place the mantecados on a baking paper and heat for about 15 minutes or until they begin to brown.

While they are baking we are going to make the icing. To do this, we mix the ingredients that appear at the beginning, under the corresponding subtitle.

We extract the cookies, let them cool and paint them with the icing sugar, on one side only (never do it freshly baked, not even warm).

Put it back in the oven at 100 degrees (212 F) for 10 minutes. Extract, let cool again and paint again with the icing on the side that was left unpainted. Back in the oven at 100 degrees (212 F)  and ready.

Let cool and enjoy.

If you're in a hurry and can't wait for the baking intervals, you can bake at first and then dip the entire shortbread into the icing (using tongs), letting them dry on a rack. When they dry, it will have a hard outer layer, but in this case it is preferable not to use egg white as there may be sanitation problems.