Tareco

Tareco (Brazilian corn and wheat cookies)

Tareco is a beloved homestyle Brazilian cookie that combines wheat flour and cornmeal into a tender, lightly sweet biscuit with a golden, sandy crumb. It is traditionally served with coffee or as a simple everyday snack.

Prep

15 min

Cook

25 min

Total

40 min

Serves

Makes about 24 cookies

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •250 g (8 oz (about 2 cups)) wheat flour, all-purpose/plain flour
• •200 g (7 oz (about 1½ cups)) cornmeal (fubá), fine yellow cornmeal, the kind used for Brazilian cornbread; do not substitute coarse cornmeal or polenta
• •150 g (¾ cup (5¼ oz)) granulated sugar
• •120 g (½ cup (4¼ oz)) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature; lard is the traditional fat and can be substituted 1:1 for a more authentic flavor and crumblier texture
• •2 large eggs, room temperature
• •8 g (2 tsp) baking powder
• •2 g (½ tsp) fine sea salt
• •5 ml (1 tsp) whole milk, only if needed to bring the dough together
• •3 ml (½ tsp) vanilla extract, optional, not in every traditional recipe

Steps

1. 1 Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. 2 In a large bowl, whisk together the wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until evenly combined.
3. 3 In a separate bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or hand mixer until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
4. 4 Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla if using, until the mixture is smooth.
5. 5 Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix with a spatula or your hands just until a soft dough forms. If the dough feels too dry to hold together, add the milk a little at a time; it should stay slightly sandy and hold its shape when pressed, not sticky.
6. 6 Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into balls of about 25 g / roughly 1 oz (about 1 heaped tablespoon). Place them on the prepared sheets, leaving 4 cm / 1½ inches between them, and flatten gently with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass to about 1 cm / ⅜ inch thick.
7. 7 Bake on the middle rack for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through, until the bottoms are golden and the tops are pale gold with just slightly browned edges.
8. 8 Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. They firm up as they cool; do not overbake or they will lose their tender crumb.
9. 9 Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days; in Brazil they are also commonly dunked in coffee or fresh milk.