Portuguese Holiday Spice Cookies with Mixed Nuts • Broas Podres de Natal

For those who want some beautiful traditional Portuguese cookies, how about these broas podres de Natal? It’s normal to call cakes and cookies “podres” (rotten in Portuguese) when they’re made with olive oil or have a less fancy appearance, like these rustic little cookies. They’re also known as bolinhos podres de Almeirim, from the same town famous for its Stone Soup and Sweet Rice.

Even though it’s not a traditional portuguese “broa” like the classic biscuit, it has a crispy texture on the outside but creamy on the inside, at least in that sense it resembles a broa. This is also a super easy recipe, lightly sweet, and you can make a huge platter of these cookies in no time. This classic holiday recipe is pretty common at Christmas, but also graces tables during Easter, New Year’s, and Saint Martin celebrations. It’s super easy to make and wonderfully rustic as well. Let’s check the recipe! And Merry Christmas!

Portuguese Holiday Spice Cookies with Mixed Nuts • Broas Podres de Natal

Servings: 30
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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You have to try this recipe, these are some portuguese super rustic cookies, you have to taste it to believe it, creamy, crispy and nutty ;D

Ingredients

Water – 200ml
Brown sugar – 250g
Olive oil – 350ml
Cinnamon – 5g
Fennel – 5g
Flour – 750g (Unbleached)
Hazelnuts – 30g
Walnuts – 30g
Almonds – 40g
Salt – A Pinch
Sugar – For Sprinkling

Directions

Chop the hazelnuts, walnuts, and almonds, some coarsely and others more finely.

Combine the water, brown sugar, olive oil, cinnamon, fennel, and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan.

Place the saucepan on the heat and bring to the boil for a few minutes, then lower the heat and add the flour, stirring until you have a creamy mixture that easily separates from the saucepan.
Add the nuts to the mixture and mix everything together, remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Shape the dough into balls, trying to make them the same size. I made them 55g each. Place each ball on the baking tray and bake for about 22 minutes until they are golden brown on the outside and creamy on the inside. If you make them bigger, leave them in a little longer; if you make them smaller, leave them in the oven for less time.

Remove from the oven and roll each one in sugar, and that’s it, ready to eat. Merry Christmas.

Notes: You can skip coating them with sugar, but these cookies aren’t very sweet, most of their sweetness comes from the sugar coating. The name “podres” (rotten in Portuguese) shouldn’t scare you away, it’s just the traditional Portuguese way of describing olive oil-based sweets that have a more rustic, homemade appearance rather than polished perfection. These cookies are all about comfort and tradition, not Instagram-worthy looks. Make sure your fennel seeds are fresh for the best aromatic punch, and don’t worry if your cookies look a bit wonky, imperfection is part of their charm!

This recipe for Portuguese Holiday Spice Cookies with Mixed Nuts • Broas Podres de Natal was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Broas Podres de Natal foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.