Biscochitos New Mexicos State Cookie Food

BISCOCHITOS - NEW MEXICO'S STATE COOKIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift flour with baking powder and salt.
• In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream lard with sugar and anise seeds until fluffy.
• Beat in egg until incorporated.
• On low speed, add milk and flour mixture to lard mixture until incorporated.
• Turn dough out on lightly floured board, knead gently to form a ball, then press to 1/4 inch thickness.
• Cut into shapes OR roll into balls (~1 inch in size).*.
• Toss shapes in cinnamon and sugar topping.**.
• On greased baking sheets, bake for 13 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned. Yield: about 50 small cookies.
• *If you roll them into balls, be sure to press them down slightly with a fork after positioning them onto baking sheets.
• **The easiest way to do this is to put several balls/shapes and the cinnamon and sugar into a small tupperware container. Put the lid on and shake gently.

BISCOCHITOS TRADITIONAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, and set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the lard and 1 1/2 cups sugar until smooth. Mix in the anise seed, and beat until fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Add the sifted ingredients and brandy, and stir until well blended.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 or 1/4 inch thickness, and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. The traditional is fleur-de-lis. Place cookies onto baking sheets. Mix together the 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the tops of the cookies.
• Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms are lightly browned.

BISCOCHITOS

Steps:

• Put the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the anise in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
• In a small bowl, cut the butter into pea-sized pieces.
• Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
• Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and ice water and mix with your fingers just until the dough comes together into a ball.
• Working on a lightly floured surface, take egg-sized pieces of the dough and smear them away from you with the heel of your hand into 6-inch streaks. (This step helps to achieve the layered texture of the authentic cookie without using lard).
• Scrape up all the streaks of dough and pile them on top of one another to form a disk.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• On a portable (this will be refrigerated again), lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
• Refrigerate for 30 miutes, or until firm.
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie sheet.
• With a cookie cutter, cut out 2 1/2-inch circles (I use stars), and place them on the cookie sheets about 2-inches apart.
• Chill the cookies 10 minutes before baking.
• Reroll the scraps of dough and cut out more cookies, chilling before baking.
• Meanwhile, mix the remaining 1 Tablespoon ground anise and 2 Tablespoon sugar together in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle a thin layer of the sugar mixture over the cookies.
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
• Cool on the pan on a wire rack.
• May be store at room temperature, well-wrapped, for up to 5 days.