Broas Castelares (Portuguese Sweet Potato Cookies)
User Reviews
4.9
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
15 mins
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Additional Time
6 hrs
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Total Time
6 hrs 45 mins
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Servings
30 pieces
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Course
Dessert, Baked Goods
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Cuisine
Portuguese
Broas Castelares (Portuguese Sweet Potato Cookies)
Description
Broas Castelares are traditional Portuguese cookies that blend cooked sweet potatoes with ground almonds, shredded coconut, cornmeal, and all-purpose flour. The sweet potatoes are roasted whole until soft, then the flesh is scooped out and mashed manually to maintain texture. Mixing these with sugar and orange zest adds a fragrant sweetness and citrus aroma. Eggs bind the mixture along with other dry ingredients, creating a thick batter that is portioned and baked until set with a slightly golden crust.
The resulting cookies have a moist, tender crumb and a sweet, nutty flavor with hints of orange and coconut. They make a comforting dessert or snack with a complex texture that comes from the combination of almond meal, cornmeal, and coconut.
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet potato
- 3 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 orange zested
- 1 cup coconut shredded, dried
- 1 ½ cups ground almonds
- 3/4 cups cornmeal finely ground
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 egg
- 1 egg for brushing, large yolks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F/ 200 °C.
- Wash the sweet potatoes and leave them unpeeled. Poke some holes in them with a fork and place them on a baking tray and place in the oven for about 45 minutes until they've softened. Turn the potatoes halfway through.
- Once cooked, take the sweet potatoes out of the oven and leave to cool off until they're safe to handle.
- The, scoop out the flesh from the potato skins and pass it through a potato ricer. You'll have around 0.88 lb (500 g) of cooked sweet potato remaining.
- Put the cooked sweet potato flesh in a saucepan, and mash it. Do this manually – if you use a blender it may affect the texture. Add half the sugar and mix .
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook for about 5 minutes, while stirring continuously to prevent the mixture burning.
- Once the mix has become fragrant, take off the heat to cool for a bit. Then crack the 3 eggs and mix in with the potato mixture.
- Stir in the remaining sugar, ground almonds, coconut, orange zest, flour and cornmeal.
- Mix to a smooth batter – it will be thick but sticky.
- Let it cool down completely, then wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours at least or overnight to rest and become firm.
- When ready to bake the broas, bring the dough back to room temperature and preheat the oven to 400 °F/ 200° C.
- Grease a large baking tray and start forming the broas.
- Get your hands covered with vegetable oil, and keep some extra within easy reach to re-coat your hands as needed., Take about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape it into an elongated oval and place it on the tray.
- Lightly beat an egg yolk and use a silicone brush to brush the egg yolk over the broas.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes or so, or until lightly browned. The top might look mottled and very dark in some places, but this is normal.
- Take out and place on a rack to cool.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.9
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