December 10, 2009

Portuguese Biscoitos and a Christmas Wreath

Portuguese Biscoitos, a tender not-too-sweet treat just right for eating in the morning with a cup of coffee or dipping into a glass of red wine in the evening.  If you like a cookie that isn't too sweet, then these are for you!

These wreath-shaped cookies start out simply by beating eggs and sugar in a mixer, then adding flour and baking powder, after which some melted butter is added to the mixture until it all magically comes together into an easy to handle, soft dough.
The dough is rolled into little balls and then into long rolls, about 5 inches in length.
The ends are brought together and pinched closed.  These treats bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are a light golden color.
I keep these in a bag in the freezer where they stay fresh.  I'll take one or two out in the morning and by the time my coffee is done, the cookies are thawed and ready to eat!
My gardener never throws anything out.  As a result, we have quite a collection of wine corks.  When I saw a $75 Christmas wreath made out of wine corks online, I knew just what I was going to do with some of these corks!
I bought a grapevine wreath for about $6, got out the hot glue gun and got started!
The corks go on every which way - there's nothing to do but glue and stick!
Here is the finished wreath with some red berries woven between the corks.  I didn't glue the berries on so I can change them out for different seasons.  I might put some pansies on there for spring or sunflowers during summer.
Here's a closeup.  I'm guessing there are about 200 corks on this wreath!

You can find the recipe for the biscoitos here!

20 comments:

  1. The Portuguese Biscoitos sound really great, I like that they are not too sweet. I love the idea of making a wreath with wine corks - we have lots around (would be a great project for my daughter!)

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  2. The Biscoitos sound yummy- I'd want them all, so I don't know if they'd make it to the freezer!
    Your wreath is very creative and so cute!

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  3. Your wreath is much nicer than ones I've seen for sale. Your corks are far more interesting--lots of writing and designs--than the ones I normally get in my wine (I must really drink the cheap stuff). A great project.

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  4. What a cute and clever idea!

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  5. I love Portuguese baked goods, I had a friend when I was a kid who had a very Portuguese family. His grandmother used to make all kinds of awesome stuff. Good times.

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  6. Now, how cute is that! Good idea to change it with the seasons.
    Glad your bees are doing OK.

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  7. Those bisoioti's look fantastic. I've never seen/heard of them. AND I love that wreath. I've got a huge amount of corks and will be making this. Great idea.

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  8. Love the wreath! And the recipe, um yeah awesome I have everything on the list right now and was considering making some kind of biscuit cookie this weekend. Thanks!

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  10. That's really neat. I didn't think it would look very good, from the first photo, but it does.

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  11. I love that wreath. I don't have enough corks right now, but I'll start a collection for next Christmas.

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  12. Need to start saving corks. The biscotti sounds wonderful. Hope your weather has improved.

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  13. Those biscoitos look good, but that wreath has given me inspiration. I have saved wine corks for eons and haven't done anything with them. Thanks for the idea.

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  14. The biscoitos sounds and look delicious!

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  15. That wreath beats all! We save our corks too and this is a great idea. Thanks Karen!

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  16. I have 20 corks saved!
    And I'm going to start my baking this weekend. Maybe with your biscotti.

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  17. Those cookies look fantastic! We have an Italian version that seem similar. Definitely perfect for some coffee in the morning.

    I love that wreath idea. We always just throw away our corks but I think I am going to start stockpiling them!

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  18. Karen, how clever of you! Wreath cookies, AND a cork wreath. :)

    The cookies look delicious, and perfect for the season. I always save our corks, too... I'm going to remember your clever wreath and hope to make one, too.

    Stay warm and snug, my friend!

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  19. Hello!
    I came across your blog through searching for the spelling for "Portuguese biscoitos". I found it very interesting(I am Portuguese) to see the recipe and instructions on how to make them on a site from someone from Montana!lol How did you come across biscoitos? My mom came over today and we made over 700 of them (we share them with our family.:)) As we make the biscoitos, my mom who was born in 1940 has great stories of her childhood in Portugal, and she tells us all about it while we make the biscoitos,my children love to hear the stories!
    Well, you said to leave you a comment and you will visit our blog, well here it is!:)
    Thanks, I enjoyed the "Biscoitos" post!
    Connie

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