There are times that we get tired of always eating the same food for breakfast or snacks. They are always the typical cookies or toast, and there is never anything new to break the routine.
Fortunately, Andalusians have the perfect recipe to innovate in the world of sweet food. With the help of the Spanish Tortas, you will have your new favorite food item for any time of the day.
In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about them. From how to make them, to the changes you can make to the ingredients, to the way you can serve these Spanish crackers, and much more.
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Background of the Dish
Actually, there is no agreement on the origin of these recipe cakes, but it is known that they were developed in Andalusia approximately during the 16th century.
It is believed that it was made from a combination of Arab and Jewish dishes.
Already in the 17th century, Oil Cakes began to be named in different literary works of Spain, which shows that for centuries they have been a staple food in the food of the south of that country.
Something that makes them so popular is that they only take a couple of ingredients, they are easy to make, and they are quite cheap, especially when compared to other baked goods.
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Things You’ll Need for Spanish Tortas
To make this recipe you just need the main tortas ingredients, which are water, flour, olive oil, sugar, and dry yeast.
The other ones are mostly replaceable, so keep reading to learn more.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) water
- 1½ cups + 1 tbsp (250 g) flour
- 5 tablespoons white sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon anise liqueur
- 1 tablespoon anise grain or matalahúga
How to Make Spanish Tortas – Step by Step Guide
- To start with this torta recipe, grab a frying pan, and heat the extra virgin olive oil together with the anise grain. Once it starts to sizzle, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.
- After that, mix the dry ingredients in a deep bowl and add the oil with the anise (cold), the water, and the anise liqueur.
- Then, knead until you get a homogeneous dough. Start by stirring with a spoon and, when necessary, move on to using your hands.
- Up next, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for an hour or until doubled in volume.
- Now is the time to degas the dough by punching it and removing the air and dividing it into 14 balls of equal weight. For this, it is useful to have a kitchen scale.
- Shape each portion of dough into a ball, flatten with the palm of your hand and stretch with a rolling pin until it is as thin as possible, trying to maintain a well-rounded shape.
- Place the cakes on baking trays covered with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle each cake with sugar and bake in the oven, preheated to 220ºC with heat up and down, for about 6-7 minutes or until they start to color.
- Remove the Spanish crisps from the oven and let the cakes cool before eating.
Substitution of Ingredients
Even though there are some main ingredients for making this homemade crackers recipe, you can still make some replacements and still get some nice Spanish tortas.
If you are looking to give it a new flavor, you can turn them into orange crackers. Just replace the water with the same amount of orange juice.
Or another way of doing it is by adding some citrus fruit zest to it.
These are olive oil crackers, but you can use any type of vegetable oil. The best replacement is sunflower oil because coconut or other types of nut oils aren’t so good for this recipe.
If you want to try other Spanish dessert recipes, we encourage you to try the olive oil cake recipe, the Spanish Crepes, or the easy Spanish cheesecake recipe.
And make sure you don’t miss the best Spanish cream puffs or also known as Miguelitos and the Spanish panellets recipe.
Tips on Serving Spanish Tortas
The best part about these homemade tortas is that you can eat them at any time of the day.
In Andalusia, it is commonly eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, but as we said, you can enjoy them at any moment.
Some people like to serve the Spanish Tortas with coffee, tea, or any type of drink. You can eat them by themselves or with some fruits, jam, cream, or even cream cheese.
If you like almond desserts, make sure you try the Spanish almond cookies or the Spanish marzipan sweets.
As far as Spanish desserts go, you have a wide variety of sweets you can try, especially if you’re thinking about the holidays.
Polvorones and mantecados are quite famous and easy to make, alfajores and Spanish Christmas pastries are also very delicious.
How to Store Spanish Tortas
If you follow this crackers recipe, there are 2 main ways to store them.
The first one is to simply leave them at room temperature, but make sure to store them in a covered container. It can be a simple plate covered with plastic wrap or a clean bag, or a Tupper.
You can also freeze them. Just let them cool to room temperature and store them in a covered container, then freeze them for up to 30 days.
Then you just have to defrost the Spanish tortas the night before and they will be ready.
Recipe Card: Spanish Tortas
Spanish Tortas Recipe
There are times that we get tired of always eating the same food for breakfast or snacks.
They are always the typical cookies or toast, and there is never anything new to break the routine. Fortunately, Andalusians have the perfect recipe to innovate in the world of sweet food.
With the help of the Spanish Tortas, you will have your new favorite food item for any time of the day.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) water
- 1½ cups + 1 tbsp (250 g) flour
- 5 tablespoons white sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
- 5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon anise liqueur
- 1 tablespoon anise grain or matalahúga
Instructions
- In a frying pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil together with the anise grain. When it starts to sizzle, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a deep bowl and add the oil with the anise (cold), the water and the anise liqueur.
- Knead until you get a homogeneous dough. Start by stirring with a spoon and, when necessary, move on to using your hands.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for an hour or until doubled in volume.
- Degas the dough and divide it into 14 balls of equal weight. For this, it is useful to have a kitchen scale.
- Shape each portion of dough into a ball, flatten with the palm of your hand and stretch with a rolling pin until it is as thin as possible, trying to maintain a well-rounded shape.
- Place the cakes on baking trays covered with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle each cake with sugar and bake in the oven, preheated to 220ºC with heat up and down, for about 6-7 minutes or until they start to color.
- Remove the tortas de aceite from the oven and let the cakes cool before eating.
Notes
If you want to make some changes to these olive oil crackers, you can easily do it by adding more flavor extracts.
You can use vanilla or almond extra, or you can use some lemon or pomegranate zest to give it an extra flavor.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 176Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 1gSodium 201mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 5g
Hola, I’m Paulina! Together with my team, we are passionate about Southern Spain. Here we share all you need to know for great times in Southern Spain with the best places to visit, stay and, of course, the best food to eat.
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