No not really. Maybe a cross between an english muffin in texture (but a little bigger and a little fluffier) and a king’s hawaiian in terms of level of sweetness.
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@Sasha - I’m sorry for your fail; had one recently trying to recreate my granny’s hamburger soup made in a pressure cooker,
Having never tried the muffins you’re trying to duplicate, I’m not sure I can offer much help or advice. I do however, suspect the muffins are richer than the KA recipe, which I did take a look it. They may also be more of a batter bread, with no kneading required.
I do have a number of New England cookbooks, one especially from a place with a lot of Portuguese immigrants. I can do a little research tomorrow and report back with my findings, if any. I do love quests as well as successful reproductions of taste memories.
How fun! Thank you. In my bit of google research, it appears the muffins are a northeast thing. And I have to confess, I only ever had them at this college pizza joint, and they may have been making them all wrong! So what I think of as a portuguese muffin may have had nothing to do with the real deal. But college nostalgia is so strong!
I’m afraid I’ve come up kind of empty handed on this search @Sasha, but if you want to retry, I’d go with a richer dough than the KA recipe, and stir in just enough flour to handle the dough. Or, alternatively, knead in just enough flour, so they’re not overly sticky. For the first rise I’d put them in a greased bowl, covered, until doubled in size. Punch down, roll into balls and place them together in a pan with an inch or two between them. Flatten slightly, cover again and let them rise until again doubled in size. Brush with an egg wash or with heavy cream, and bake at 350 degrees until done. Good luck and let me know the results, should you attempt them again.
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Sorry, Sasha, I haven’t made Portuguese muffins, but they are currently quite popular in the Boston area. Several places use them for eggs benedict and as hamburg buns.
Actually, your rolls look quite impressive! Here’s an older article from Huffpost with a link to another recipe that sounds quite similar to my husband’s Azorean grandmother’s sweetbread recipe:
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I had a 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree left and literally made up a recipe that turned out like a soft bar cookie kinda thing that I later enjoyed with vanilla yogurt.
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Thanks! I ran across that article in my research. I didn’t go with the recipe though, because the quantities were massive. 5 lbs of flour for starters…!
A picture of my Valentine gifting haul from Babette’s shop. Everything is absolutely delicious! Happy Valentines Day all 
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Fantastique !!!
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Ah hah! Be happy that I am a pack rat and did not clean out my cookbooks…
Your description rang a bell and I thought I had made a recipe like that from “Beard on Bread.” Hunted, found the cookbook and yes! Portuguese Sweet Bread. Off for a walk now, will post recipe when I return.
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Mrs. P made black olive cake with orange zest and fresh basil ice cream topped with date honey and orange zest for Valentine’s Day😋 It went great with a 10 year old port.
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Apologies for the delay - I was away so long the website would not let me edit my orig. post.
Anyhoo, I really liked the James Beard’s version of the sweet bread but doing some online research, some folks did not. Here’s a King Arthur flour one, that got excellent reviews.
And here’s someone who DID make the James Beard version, with great pics. They had a problem with a slow rise, I did not (maybe cuz my kitchen is warm.)
I made mine as small individual rolls, loved being able to grab one as a snack.
Huffington Post leads me to this recipe - I hope this is the one for you!
http://portuguesediner.com/tiamaria/bolos-levados-portuguese-muffins/
While not the most consistent sliced cookie shape, the combo of lemon zest and cornmeal in the mix made for a delicious shortbread. Moist inside, sublime crunch outer texture. Found the recipe in an old magazine at my Aunts place.
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Wow … Extraordinary.
Truly like the idea of a Savory dessert with black olives …
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How did I miss that creation. Wow is right.
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Thank you @Barca and @Rooster! Yes, we like the combination of savory and sweet.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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Beautiful! Can I have the recipe please?
Stunning! Is that the Jim Lahey no-knead?
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