Best Portuguese Cinnamon Butter Cookies Raivas Recipes

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.

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!

CINNAMON BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, blend sugars with a mixer. Add butter and mix.
• Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy.
• Add flour mixture and blend just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
• Roll in combination of remaining sugar and cinnamon.
• Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes.
• Remove immediately from pan and cool.

PORTUGUESE SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Position rack in center of the oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Starting with the pastry dough: mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl; cut the butter into small bits and work into the flour, along with the eggs, until a smooth dough is formed.
• Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside for 10 minutes before rolling dough out on a floured board.
• For the filling: combine the water, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, boil until the mixture reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer, takes about 10 minutes.
• Remove pot from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Crush the anise seeds in a mortar or a spice mill, add to the sugar mixture, along with the cinnamon, butter and breadcrumbs, mix well.
• The mixture should resemble bread stuffing.
• Roll out a third of the pastry as thinly as possible.
• Using a pastry cutter or knife, cut 3-inch-wide strips of pastry.
• With the same cutter make 1/2 inch horizontal slits just off one long edge of the pastry, about 3/4 inch apart.
• Spread some cooled filling down the center of the strip, then fold the side with the slits over the solid side, enclosing the filling and sealing the edges.
• Cut into 3-inch long cookies.
• Place on a lined baking sheet.
• Repeat with the remaining pastry.
• Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 15 minutes, be careful not to let them burn.
• Let cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature.