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Raivas (Portuguese Cinnamon Butter Biscuits)

Raivas (Portuguese Cinnamon Butter Biscuits) is a traditional Guinea-Bissau recipe for classic Portuguese-style butter biscuit flavoured with cinnamon. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Guinea-Bissau version of: Portuguese Cinnamon Butter Biscuits (Raivas).

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

35 minutes

Makes:

18

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Vegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesBaking RecipesGuinea-bissau Recipes



It was the Portuguese that brought these classic biscuits (cookies) to Guinea-Bissau where they remain popular to this day. Traditionally they are used for dunking into tea, coffee or hot chocolate, in which case the slightly hard texture of the biscuit makes sense.

Ingredients:

5 tbsp unsalted butter chilled and diced
110g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
350g (2 1/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan/350˚F). Line two baking tray with parchment paper or lightly grease with oil.

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.

Sift over the flour, cinnamon and salt, mixing until everything comes together as a smooth dough (do not over-work).

Turn onto a lightly-floured work surface and divide the dough into 18 equal pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, toll into a long, thin rope about 50cm (20 in) long. Crinkle this rope together the to create an irregular, squiggly pattern (see the image). Carefully transfer to your prepared baking tray and repeat with remaining pieces, arranging them about 3cm (1 in) apart so they have room to spread whilst cooking.

Transfer to the centre of you pre-heated oven and bake until golden and firm, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes then carefully transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely.

These will keep in an air-tight container for up to a week.