Difference between mantecado and polvorón

Strictly speaking, a polvorón would be a kind of mantecado but its acceptance and consumption has become so important that it has finally made a niche for itself among mantecados, taking on its own identity.

The mantecados may or may not have almonds in their composition, either in the form of flour, granules, pieces or whole, but the polvorones always contain almonds in their composition.

In the case of mantecado the wheat and almond flours (if it has it) are not toasted. The sugar used to make it is granulated and, as a general rule, eggs or egg whites are used in its preparation.

On the contrary, in the polvorones the flours, as much of wheat as of almond, always must be toasted before their elaboration. The sugar used is glazed and does not have egg or white in its composition. These characteristics are the ones that make the polvorón need less time of baking being in addition what confers to the same its typical texture that causes that it crumbles when we touched it and that when pressing it with the hands it amalgamates again. That's why the powder magazine must always be wrapped in paper.

Traditionally, polvorones have an oval shape and mantecados are more rounded.