If you grew up near New Bedford, Fall River or anywhere the Azorean diaspora settled, you know these as “Portuguese muffins” — the griddled rounds sold in every New England market. In São Miguel, where they were born, they are bolos lêvedos, and they are one of the Azores’ sweetest exports.
This is the streamlined weekday version of the recipe (my full family bolos lêvedos recipe, with the long rise and the grandmother stories, is also on the site): soft, faintly sweet dough, cooked on a dry griddle until golden — no oven involved.
Split them for butter and jam, build breakfast sandwiches, or toast them like English muffins — which they outclass without visible effort.
Portuguese Muffins Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes (plus about 2 hours rising) · Cook time: 15 minutes · Total: about 2½ hours · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~113 per serving
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 packet (2¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water (about 110°F)
- ¾ cup warm milk (about 110°F)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Instructions
- Mix the yeast with the warm water and a pinch of sugar; let it foam 5 to 10 minutes.
- Combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the yeast mixture, warm milk, eggs and melted butter, and stir into a sticky dough.
- Knead 8 to 10 minutes (or use a dough hook) until smooth.
- Rise in an oiled, covered bowl 1 to 2 hours, until doubled.
- Punch down, divide into 8 to 10 pieces, shape into balls and flatten into discs.
- Rise on a floured sheet, covered, 30 to 40 minutes more.
- Cook on a dry nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low, 4 to 5 minutes per side, adjusting the heat so they cook through without burning.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
- Low and slow on the griddle — they need time to cook through their fluffy middles.
- They freeze beautifully; toast straight from frozen.
- In New England they make legendary breakfast sandwiches — eggs, cheese and linguiça, obviously.
