Raivas are a delicious cinnamon cookie made traditionally in Portuguese cooking. They are a bit different from regular cookies as you can see in the picture or if you’ve had them before, but they are definitely a favorite of mine and many Portuguese pastry enthusiasts around. The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward, so go ahead and try it out and tell us what you think!
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Directions:
1) Line cookie sheets with parchment or foil.
2) Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
3) Stir the flour and cinnamon together and set aside.
4) 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.
5) Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating smooth after each addition.
6) By hand, use a rubber spatula to stir in the flour mixture.
7) 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.
8) Roll the dough into a cylinder and divide it into 6 equal pieces.
9) Cut each of the 6 pieces of dough in half, then in half again, making 24 pieces of dough in total.
10) Roll one piece of dough into a rope about 20 inches long and join the ends to make it a circle.
11) 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.
12) Continue with the remaining pieces of dough, placing 9 on each pan.
13) 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).
14) Slide the papers from the pans to racks, to cool the cookies.
15) Store in a container for up to a week.
This recipe was inspired by our friends over at Food.com, so check them out as well!
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