Best Portuguese Spice Cookies Recipes

PORTUGUESE BISCOITOS RECIPE (TRADITIONAL BISCUIT COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and lightly flour a clean cutting board or work surface.
• In the bowl of a standmixer, add the butter, and sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.
• Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside. Add the eggs, extracts, and milk and mix until combined.
• Turn down the mixer speed and slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The dough should form a ball on the paddle. If it is too dry add 1 tablespoon of additional milk. If it is overly stick add one tablespoon of flour until it is workable.
• Remove the dough from the stand mixer and knead on the floured workspace. The dough should be the consistency of play dough.
• I used a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop to scoop out tablespoon-sized balls.
• On the floured work space, roll on dough with the palms of your hand to create a 5 inch "snake". Bring together the ends to form a ring. Place cookies 1 inch apart of the baking sheet.
• These cookies bake for 18-20 minutes to get toasty deep golden-brown bottoms and tan golden-brown top surfaces. *See images
• Cool cookies for ten minutes before removing and baking the next batch. Repeat the process until all cookies are done.
• Cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks time.

PORTUGESE SPIKES OF CORN COOKIES (ESPIGAS DE MILHO)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Beat all of the ingredients together except for the two flours. When well beaten, add all of the flour and mix well until blended. Dough should be firm enough to hold its shape when pressed. (Adjust firmness by adding either milk or flour, a little at a time).
• Using a cookie press with a star tip, pipe a rope of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cut the rope into 5 to 6" lengths, and then shape into an S. (Alternatively, you can make simple drop cookies).
• Bake at 350 F until done, about 15 - 17 minutes and cookies have light colour. Once all of the cookies are baked, pile the cookies on one cookie sheet and return to a 200 F oven for 30-45 minutes to add crispiness and colour.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing them in an air tight container.

AVô'S BISCOITOS (PORTUGUESE BISCOTTI/COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream together butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy in texture.
• Do not undercream or overcream. (Undercreamed butter/sugar looks yellow and dense. Overcreamed butter/sugar looks white and greasy.).
• Add eggs, mixing until blended.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.
• Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, stirring until combined.
• If dough seems dry or flakey, knead slightly.
• Scoop up ping-pong ball sized dollops of dough.
• Roll between your hands to form a 5-inch long "snake", even throughout the length.
• (if dough is too sticky to handle at this point, you will need to add a small amount of flour to the dough to make it workable).
• Brings ends of the "snake" together, slightly folding one end over the other, to form a donut-shape with a small hole in the middle.
• Place cookies 1-2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
• Bake 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Let rest on baking sheet 2 minutes before transferring to rack to cool.
• Enjoy!

PORTUGUESE CINNAMON BUTTER COOKIES (RAIVAS)

Steps:

• Line cookie sheets with parchment or foil.
• Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
• Stir the flour and cinnamon together and set aside.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer that has a paddle attachment until soft and light, about 2-3 minutes.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each addition.
• By hand, use a rubber spatula to stir in the flour mixture.
• Scape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and fold the dough over onto itself 2 or 3 times until it's smooth.
• Roll the dough into a cylinder and divide it into 6 equal pieces.
• Cut each of the 6 pieces of dough in half, then in half again, making 24 pieces of dough in total.
• Roll one piece of dough into a rope about 20 inches long and join the ends to make it a circle.
• Place the circle on one of the prepared pans and puch into a frown or inch worm shape(still with space in the middle), then just push the dough in at random spots making an irregular shape to crinkle it.
• Continue with the remaining pieces of dough, placing 9 on each pan.
• Bake the raivas until they are slightly puffed, deep golden, and firm when pressed with a fingertip, about 12-15 minutes.(Change the position of pand from upper to lower rack at least once during baking).
• Slide the papers from the pans to racks, to cool the cookies.
• Store in a container for up to a week.

EASY PORTUGUESE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, stir together the cornstarch and white sugar. Add the butter and cream well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the sugar mixture until a dough forms. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden brown at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.