Recipe: Broas de Mel – Madeira Honey Cookies
Holiday Season
The end of the year is nearing! Christmas is a special season everywhere but more so in Madeira. With it the kitchen and homes on the island fill with festive smells of all the delicacies relating to the holiday season. Porco Vinha d’Alhos, Bolo de Mel and Broas de Mel belong to those.
Broas de Mel – Madeira Honey Cookies
We will now show you how you can bring a little Madeira in your own home with this easy Broas de Mel recipe. One can find Broas do Mel all year round in Madeira homes and grocery stores. However, it is a delicacy especially present during the festive end-of-the-year season. It is then mostly enjoyed with a good glass of Madeira wine!
Attention. The dough needs to rest in the fridge for 24 hours, so please start the preparations one day prior to cooking.
Ingredients
- 750 grams flour
- 560 grams sugar
- 2 eggs
- 250 grams sugarcane honey also called molasses
- 35 grams ground cinnamon
- 5 grams ground cloves
- 15 grams ground nutmeg
- 25 grams Baking Soda
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 95 grams Butter
- 95 grams lard (which is pork fat) – these 95 grams can of course be replaced with 95 gr. of butter
- Almonds (possible addition and finishing touch)
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients (except the eggs and sugar cane sugar).
- Once mixed, make a hole in the middle and add the eggs and the molasses / sugar cane sugar.
- Knead the down again and again until it becomes smooth and no longer sticks to the bowl.
- Leave in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Roll the dough into balls.
- Place the balls onto trays with non-stick paper.
- Possible addition: place an almond on the cookie ball as a finishing touch
- Leave in the oven at 150ºC for 30 minutes.
- Store in a sealed container in a dry place. Can be stored for up to 6 months without losing quality.
Enjoy and bon appetit!
