Growing up in our home, the cookie jar was never empty — and it was never filled with Oreos or chocolate chip cookies! My mom always had a batch of Biscoitos ready to go, and for as long as I can remember, they were the perfect partner to a warm cup of tea. This Portuguese Biscoitos recipe is my way of sharing that simple, cherished tradition with you.
What are Portuguese Biscoitos?
Biscoitos are a traditional Portuguese butter biscuit — crispy, lightly sweet, and absolutely made for dunking in your morning tea or coffee. The name simply means “biscuit” in Portuguese, and you’ll find them throughout Portugal and especially in the Azores, where they’ve been a staple in family kitchens for generations. In my family, they were always made in large batches because one tray was never enough!
How to Make This Recipe
These Portuguese Biscoitos come together with simple pantry staples — flour, butter, lard, sugar, eggs, and warm milk. The key is creaming the wet ingredients together first, then combining them with the flour to form a dough you can knead by hand. Once the dough is ready, you’ll pinch off small pieces and roll them into little wreath shapes with the ends crisscrossing each other. That shape isn’t just for looks — it’s how my mother and grandmother always made them, and it’s how I make them too. Bake until golden and you’re done.
Tips for the Best Portuguese Biscoitos
- Make sure your butter is softened and your eggs are at room temperature before you start — this helps everything cream together smoothly.
- Don’t skip the lard. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but it gives Biscoitos their authentic texture. Butter alone won’t get you there.
- Warm the milk slightly before adding it — cold milk can make the dough stiff and hard to work with.
- When rolling the wreath shapes, keep them roughly the same size so they bake evenly.
- Watch the oven closely toward the end. You want golden, not brown. Start checking around 18 minutes.
- These biscuits firm up as they cool, so don’t panic if they feel slightly soft right out of the oven.
- Store in an airtight tin at room temperature — they’ll stay crispy for several days, if they last that long!
These biscuits bake up perfectly on a good heavy baking sheet — I use baking sheets and line them with parchment for easy cleanup.
Serving and Storing
This Portuguese Biscoitos recipe is best served the traditional way — with a cup of tea or a bica (Portuguese espresso). They’re wonderful on their own or alongside a slice of queijo fresco. Store in an airtight tin at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze them in a sealed bag for up to a month; just let them come back to room temperature before serving.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Print
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Baked Goods
Ingredients
7 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, plus a bit more to dust the kneading surface
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 1/2 cups of butter, softened
7 tablespoons of lard, melted
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups of milk, warm
Instructions
Preheat oven at 350 F, and lightly grease or line your baking trays with parchment paper.
1. Put the flour in a large bowl and create a well in the center by pushing up the flour to the sides of the bowl. (Note: The old fashion way would be to add everything into the center of the well and mix everything together by hand if you want to give that a try, or when I make them I like whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt together in a very large bowl… then make a well at the bottom of the bowl.)
2. In a separate bowl, cream together the warm milk, sugar, butter, eggs and lard… then I add the creamed mixture into the center of the flour bowl and mix everything together until it gets too hard to mix with a spoon. At this point you can begin to knead by hand. Take the dough out of the bowl and place on floured surface and continue to knead until you can form the dough into a large ball.
3. Start to break off small pieces of dough and roll them out into wreath shapes with the ends crisscrossing each other.
4. Place on baking trays and bake until golden in color. Depending on your oven it should take about 20 minutes.
Notes
This number of biscuits you make will depend on how big you make them!
Love Portuguese baked goods? Try my Carrilhos recipe or Bolos Levedos next.
