BUTTER & ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS

Crumbly, sweet, buttery, delicious VEGAN BUTTER & ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS.

Need I say more? *drools*

Growing up in Puerto Rico, one of those staple birthday party foods that were always served were ‘polvorones’. From the Spanish word ‘polvo’ (meaning powder or dust), ’polvorones’ are a type of very crumbly shortbread cookies usually made with butter, shortening, flour, sugar, and nuts (especially almonds).

They are also known as ‘mantecaditos’, from the word ‘manteca’ which means shortening or lard in Spanish. Some variations include a bit of guava paste on top as decoration, but the plain ones are a classic!

Well, these BUTTER & ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS taste just like those ‘polvorones’ that were always part of the spread at any family gathering. And I’ve been transported back to my childhood.

As a vegan, you may think that you will no longer be able to enjoy certain foods that you love because of certain ingredients. Like shortbread cookies due to the fact that they’re mostly made from butter.

Well, lucky for all of us, there are a lot of products available nowadays that taste, cook, bake and provide the same functionality as their non-vegan counterparts. Case in point is Country Crock Plant Butter, a line of vegan butters made with plant based oils like avocado, olive, and almond. It tastes like dairy butter and it’s excellent for cooking, baking and spreading.

This butter is a one-to-one substitute to dairy butter in any recipe and yields amazing results in all your bakes.

For this recipe, I’m using 1 cup (or two sticks) of the Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil but you can use any of the varieties available (except for the Sea Salt variety since this is a sweet recipe 😉). You combine the butter with sugar and flour and that’s it! Whip everything together using a hand mixer until you have the perfect dough.

I’m also adding some almond extract because I had it available, and because the ‘polvorones’ I remember had that almond-y taste. But, you can leave it out if you want to, they’ll taste just as delicious without it!

Then, there’s not much left to do but bake, slice and enjoy!! Oh, and dust them with some confectioners’ sugar for good measure!

Let’s get baking!

VEGAN BUTTER & ALMOND SHORTBREAD BARS

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 1 Cup Country Crock Plant Butter (2 sticks)

• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp almond extract

• Confectioners' sugar, optional for dusting

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Using an electric hand mixer, cream Country Crock Plant Butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then, gradually beat in flour (about 1/2 cup at a time).

3. Once the flour is fully incorporated, add the almond extract and mix for another minute.

4. Press dough into an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan.

5. Prick the dough with a fork to avoid butter from bubbling while baking.

6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until light brown.

7. Cut into squares while warm, but let it cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

8. Dust with confectioners' sugar and enjoy!

Let me know if you make this! Tag me by using @mindfulgrub or the hashtag #mindfulgrub when you share your creations on social media. I‘d love to hear how it went for you!

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Recipe adapted from tasteofhome.com