Sweets
Bolo de Arroz (Portuguese Rice Flour Muffins)
Leonor Perreira · Updated Nov 12, 2026
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 40 min
- cakes
- 6
- Calories
- 360 kcal
Who hasn’t ordered “um bolo de arroz e uma meia de leite” (a rice cake and a milky coffee) at a Portuguese pastry shop? This light, sandy cake, baked inside a band of white paper, has been a fixture of Portuguese breakfasts and afternoon snacks for generations.
Recipe
Bolo de Arroz
The sandy-textured muffin of Portuguese pastry shops, with a crunchy sugar top.
Ingredients
6 cakes
Method
- 1Beat the butter and sugar very well until pale and fluffy.
- 2Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each.
- 3Fold in the milk and the flours (wheat and rice, mixed with the baking powder) alternately, beating only until the batter is smooth.
- 4Make bands of parchment paper (or use metal rings lined with white paper) and put them on a tray or inside muffin tins.
- 5Fill them with the batter (about 2/3 full, to leave room to rise).
- 6Sprinkle the top of each cake with plenty of granulated sugar (this makes the famous crunchy crust).
- 7Bake in an oven preheated to 180 °C (350 °F) for 20 to 25 minutes.
- 8Take them out of the oven, let them cool a little and enjoy.
Tips
Despite the name, a good bolo de arroz isn’t made only with rice flour: the wheat flour gives it structure, the rice flour its sandy texture. Some add a little lemon zest.
It’s best on the day, while the sugar on top is still crunchy, but it keeps for 3 to 4 days in a tight tin; if it dries a little, it’s perfect for dunking in milky coffee.
