Santa Maria Ear Biscuits — Traditional Formula Published by ByAçores
This is the large-scale formula published by ByAçores: three kilograms of flour, ten eggs, lard, sugar, butter and a bread starter prepared the day before. The official Azores Handicrafts certification specification independently confirms the homemade starter, two kneading and rising stages, triangular shaping around the fingers, clipped tips and a second oven pass for drying. Starter flour and water, rising times, temperature, baking time and yield are unpublished.
- Yields
- Yield not stated; formula uses 3 kg flour
- Prep
- Starter prepared the day before; remaining times not stated
- Cook
- Very hot oven plus a second drying; temperature and durations not stated
Ingredients
- 3 kg / 6 lb 9.8 oz Wheat flour for the main dough
- 10 Eggs
- 500 g / 1 lb 1.6 oz Lard
- 1 kg / 2 lb 3.3 oz Sugar
- 250 g / 8.8 oz Butter
- 2–3 spoonfuls taken from the bread starter Bread starter or wheat-bread dough
- Quantity not stated Additional flour for the starter and dusting
- Quantity not stated Warm water for the starter
- Quantity not stated in the official specification Lard for greasing the trays
Method
The day before, take two or three spoonfuls of the starter used for wheat bread. Add a little flour and warm water, mix and leave to rise. The source quantifies neither flour nor water and gives no duration.
Once the starter has risen, combine it with the 3 kg flour, ten eggs, 500 g lard, 1 kg sugar and 250 g butter. Knead to a homogeneous dough.
Divide the dough into balls, cover them with a flour-dusted cloth and leave to rise. The source gives no ball weight, temperature or time.
Once risen, knead the dough again until workable. Roll it into a long strip and cut it into small pieces.
Roll each piece into a strip and flatten it with the thumb. Wind the strip four times around two fingers and remove it without unwinding, forming a closed triangle with three points.
Clip the three tips with scissors or a knife to create the “ears”. The official specification sets side lengths of 3.5–6 cm and a weight of 8–16 g for the certified product.
Grease the trays with lard and dust them with flour. Arrange the biscuits and bake in a very hot oven; temperature and duration are unpublished.
Once baked, stack the biscuits upright on the trays and return them to the oven to dry, an operation officially called abiscoitar. The duration of this second stage is not stated.
Sources for this recipe
The quantities and method were checked against the references below. Family recipes may vary; where no single official formula exists, we present a representative practical version and say so plainly.
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