Biscochitos: A New Family Tradition

As I previously mentioned I wasn't lucky enough to inherit a biscochito family recipe, so I had to find my own. I fell in LOVE with her recipe mainly because she had pictures of the actual recipe card from her grandma ( If that doesn't make them Authentic New Mexican biscochitos I don't know what does.) The cookies themselves were amazing as well.
Coley and I decided to make cookies this year for our annual Christmas party at work as well as a few for my husband to take to his co-workers, plus plenty for us since we love them so much. :)First you should gather all your ingredients.


 

Then cream the lard.



Next, beat the eggs and add the anise seeds.



You will then add the egg mixture to the lard and mix well.Slowly add in the flour mixture and and combine. (At first you will be able to use your electric mixer, but as the dough gets thicker you will need to knead together with your hands.




Now you will separate your dough into smaller balls and wrap in plastic wrap. ( The recipe says to do 3 balls, but we did 6. It also says to refridgerate overnight, however we put 5 balls of dough in the fridge for about an hour and the 6th one in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Once we took the dough ball from the freezer we rotated another one in.)


While the dough is chilling combine your sugar and cinnamon in a bowl large enough for dipping cookies. During this time you can pick cookie cutters also.




















Once dough is chilled enough flour your rolling surface and roll dough. (We like ours pretty thin.)

 


Dip uncooked cookies in sugar-cinnamon mixture and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

 

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, then immediately dip cookies in sugar-cinnamon mixture once again.



Let cool, then enjoy! (Of course we had to throw some Hello Kitty cookies in!)

 

Biscochitos

Makes 9-10 dozen small cookies. 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lard (1 pound box)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 teaspoons anise seed
6 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sweet white wine (plus a 1/4 extra if needed) *We use Brandy instead

1/2 cup sugar + 1 Tablespoon cinnamon 

Cream together the lard and 1 1/2 cups sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and anise, add to the lard/sugar mixture. Mix well.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture. Knead well with your hands until dough sticks together, it should be slightly sticky but able to form a firm dough ball. If the dough is too dry add more wine a teaspoon at a time, if it is too sticky add more flour a teaspoon at a time.

Divide the dough into three large balls  *We did six smaller balls instead and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight so the dough becomes firm and manegable. * We did not let them sit overnight.

The next day preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough with a liberally floured rolling pin on a liberally floured surface 1/8 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Dip one side of each cookie into cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet sugar side up. To ensure all cookies bake evenly, bake each shape cookie in batches of alike shapes and sizes. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bottom of the cookies are brown and the tops are golden.

Remove from oven, and immediately dip in cinnamon-sugar again, dipping them while they are warm is key to getting the cinnamon sugar to stick. 

Store in a cool-dry place or freeze for up to six months.

Enjoy!