## Biscochitos: A Taste of New Mexican Christmas
Biscochitos are a traditional New Mexican Christmas cookie that is enjoyed by people of all ages. These delightful treats are light, crispy, and have a delicious anise flavor. They are often decorated with sprinkles, colored sugar, or a glaze. Biscochitos are a staple of New Mexican holiday celebrations and are a perfect way to share the joy of the season with family and friends.
This article provides three different recipes for biscochitos: a traditional recipe, a vegan recipe, and a gluten-free recipe. Each recipe is easy to follow and includes step-by-step instructions. The traditional recipe uses lard, while the vegan recipe uses shortening. The gluten-free recipe uses almond flour and tapioca flour. All three recipes are delicious and will be a hit at your next holiday gathering.
BISCOCHITOS TRADITIONAL COOKIES
This is New Mexico's traditional cookie. A great thick sugar cookie that is dusted with cinnamon-sugar. The traditional shape is fleur-de-lis, but use your favorite cookie cutters if you like.
Provided by Anonymous
Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Mexican
Time 25m
Yield 72
Number Of Ingredients 10
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.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 113 calories, Carbohydrate 13 g, Cholesterol 10.6 mg, Fat 5.9 g, Fiber 0.3 g, Protein 1.3 g, SaturatedFat 2.3 g, Sodium 24.2 mg, Sugar 4.9 g
BISCOCHITOS
Steps:
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream the lard with sugar and anise seed on medium speed. In a separate bowl. beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs to creamed mixture. Mix together well, adding wine to form a stiff-like dough, add more wine, if necessary.
- Refrigerate dough overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand for a while, until dough is soft enough to roll. Divide dough in quarters and roll to about 1/16 to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookie is golden brown. Meanwhile, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Drop the baked cookies into sugar and cinnamon mixture and set aside to cool.
BISCOCHITOS II
Mexican Cookies...great dunkers for coffee.
Provided by Christine J. Crabtree
Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Mexican
Yield 36
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Mix together shortening, margarine and sugar with a mixture until well blended. Mix in the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
- Roll out on a floured board to 1/2 or 1/4 inch thickness.
- Cut into desired shapes and place on baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 10 - 12 minutes. Garnish as desired or leave plain.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 210.6 calories, Carbohydrate 24.5 g, Cholesterol 10.3 mg, Fat 11.2 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Protein 2.6 g, SaturatedFat 2.4 g, Sodium 168.1 mg, Sugar 8.5 g
BISCOCHITOS I
This cookie is traditional in Taos, New Mexico. This particular recipe was given to me by my mother, Margaret Miera Romero.
Provided by Patricia Romero
Categories World Cuisine Recipes Latin American Mexican
Time 27m
Yield 36
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
- Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Cream shortening with sugar and anise seeds until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in flour and brandy until well blended.
- Turn dough out on a floured board and pat or roll to 1/4 or 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into shapes (the fleur-de-lys is traditional). Dust with a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 223.7 calories, Carbohydrate 25.9 g, Cholesterol 10.3 mg, Fat 11.9 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Protein 2.5 g, SaturatedFat 3 g, Sodium 61.1 mg, Sugar 9.8 g
BISCOCHITOS - NEW MEXICO'S STATE COOKIE
If you like snickerdoodles, you will love these tasty treats! NOTES: Biscochitos are the state cookie of New Mexico for a good reason - they're simply delicious! They are easy and fun to make, especially at Christmas time, and they store well in a tin or cookie jar for at least 2 weeks (they've never lasted longer than that at my house!). The lard is a key ingredient, important in the texture and flavor of the final cookie, so please do not replace it with another type of fat!
Provided by coolbee
Categories Dessert
Time 35m
Yield 50 cookies, 25 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 10
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.
ANISE SEED-CINNAMON COOKIES: BISCOCHITOS
Provided by Robert Irvine : Food Network
Categories dessert
Time 40m
Yield 3 dozen cookies
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
- In a small bowl combine sugar, orange zest, and sherry, and set aside to let flavors infuse the sugar. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, anise seed, and salt. In another bowl, beat the lard with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add lard and infused sugar to flour mixture and knead until it forms a cohesive mass. On a floured surface, roll dough to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Cut into rectangles and pinch 1 of the short sides into deditos (little toes) which will spread apart when baking.
- For the topping, combine cinnamon with sugar in a small bowl. Brush rectangles with beaten egg and sprinkle with topping. Transfer cookies with a spatula to baking sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes until crispy and edges are just beginning to turn golden. Serve with cota tea or atole.
LAVENDER AND LEMON BISCOCHITOS
Biscochitos are the state cookie for our home state of New Mexico. They are traditionally made with anise seeds, but I substituted lavender and lemon in this biscochitos recipe. The result is intriguing and delicious! I have also made these with lemon and dried thyme and they were scrumptious. -Marla Clark, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Desserts
Time 40m
Yield 6 dozen.
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg, lavender and lemon zest. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 1-in. round cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with additional sugar., Bake until bottoms are light brown, 9-11 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Store in airtight containers. Freeze option: Freeze cookies in freezer containers, separating layers with waxed paper. To use, thaw before serving.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 29 calories, Fat 1g fat (1g saturated fat), Cholesterol 6mg cholesterol, Sodium 16mg sodium, Carbohydrate 4g carbohydrate (2g sugars, Fiber 0 fiber), Protein 0 protein.
BISCOCHITOS/BIZCOCHITOS - ANISE SEED COOKIES
Usually every Christmas gathering in New Mexico serves these wonderful biscochitos. Biscochitos are said to be native to New Mexico, where they are traditionally made with lard. Other names associated with biscochitos are names such as Polvorones or Mexican Wedding Cookies. In Spain they are called Mantecosos. As the "Original...
Provided by Teresa Morgan
Categories Cookies
Number Of Ingredients 3
Steps:
- 1. Make Sugar-Cinnamon Mixture; set aside. Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture: 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 table spoon ground cinnamon. 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 wine, 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.
GF BISCOCHITOS
These are one of my son's favorites. He requests them every Christmas. Great anise-tasting butter cookie. You won't be able to tell there's no wheat. Free of peanuts and nuts too so it's a nice change for kids on restricted diets.
Provided by FreetoFeast
Categories Drop Cookies
Time 1h20m
Yield 48 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until fluffy.
- Crush anise seeds.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 - 15 minutes.
- Cool on a rack.
CHERRY BISCOCHITOS
I discovered the wonderful anise flavor of biscochitos, which are traditional cookies of New Mexico. I created my own version with maraschino cherries and fresh cranberries. -Mary Shivers, Ada, Oklahoma
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Desserts
Time 55m
Yield 11 dozen.
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, cherry juice and extract. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries and cherries., Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-in. star-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately dust with confectioners' sugar. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool., Freeze option: Freeze cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw before serving or, if desired, reheat on a baking sheet in a preheated 350° oven until warmed.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 35 calories, Fat 2g fat (0 saturated fat), Cholesterol 1mg cholesterol, Sodium 11mg sodium, Carbohydrate 5g carbohydrate (2g sugars, Fiber 0 fiber), Protein 0 protein.
MI TIERRA BISCOCHITOS
Biscochitos are the best thing to get with your coffee when you eat breakfast at a Mexican bakery. Mi Tierra makes my favorite version of these rich Mexican cookies. Sorry, there is no substitute for the lard-it's the secret ingredient!
Provided by Robb Walsh
Categories Cookies Mixer Egg Breakfast Bake Brandy Anise Cinnamon Pastry Kidney Friendly Dairy Free Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free
Yield Makes 36 to 48 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 8
Steps:
- Put the flour, baking powder, salt, the 1 1/2 cups sugar, and the anise seed in the bowl of an electric mixer and blend at low speed. Add the lard in small batches, increasing the mixer speed to medium until the lard is well incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add the beaten eggs and the brandy.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. Form the dough into Ping-Pong-ball-sized pieces. Place 12 balls on each of four cookie sheets. Dip a fork in dry flour and press the balls twice to form a crisscross pattern. The resulting cookie should be only about 1/4 inch high. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. Using a spatula and spoon, drop the baked cookies one by one into the sugar and cinnamon mixture and roll gently to coat. Set aside to cool.
BISCOCHITOS
Biscochitos are a traditional New Mexico holiday cookie. This recipe makes a fairly sturdy cookie that travels well. I made about 50 dozen of these to send out for Christmas one year.
Provided by Debra Christensen
Categories Cookies
Time 40m
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- 1. Preheat oven to 350°
- 2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and set aside. Note about the flour: I can only get Arrowhead Mills pastry flour in my small town, and I've never tried this cookie with anything else. The texture is exceptional in this recipe, and a lot about biscochitos is the texture. I would recommend it over all-purpose flour. Note for the cinnamon: Most traditional biscochito recipes don't put cinnamon IN the cookie, but dust it on the top with the sugar.
- 3. Cream lard, butter, and sugar together.
- 4. Stir in egg, anise, vanilla, and cognac. Brandy or orange juice are good substitutes for the cognac.
- 5. Stir in dry ingredients to butter and liquids mixture.
- 6. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch and cut out cookies. My preferred cookie cutter for these has an open top. I press the cutter into the dough and sprinkle the coarse sugar (regular granulated sugar works fine, too) into the top and shake around. Empty the loose sugar out, then push the dough out onto the baking sheet.
- 7. For small cookies, bake for about 10 minutes until the edges just barely start to turn light brown. I use air insulated cookie sheets, so there might need to be an adjustment for regular cookie sheets.
BISCOCHITOS
Steps:
- 1. stir dry ingredients together including the ground anise. 2. beat lard, butter and sugar until fluffy 3. Add egg, yolk, lemon zest, orange zest and continue beating 4. Shape into ball, divide in half 5. Place each half between was paper and roll out 1/8 inch thick. Smooth out any creases. 6. Layer the rolled dough on tray and chll 25-30 min. 7. Work with one portion at a time. Cover remaining chilled dough covered with wax paper 8. Cut the cookies with a small 2" cutter 9. Use a spatula to transfer to prepared cookie sheet. (grease sheet or use parchment or spray with Pam) 10. Space 1 1/4 inch apart 11. Lightly sprinkle cookies w mixture of 1 t. ground cinnamon and 2 1/2 t sugar 12. Bake in upper third of a preheated 375 degree oven until lightly brown 7-9 min.(1 sheet at a time) 13. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack. Remove from sheet and place on rack and continue to cool 14. Store airtight in containers w wax paper between layers for 2 weeks or freeze for 2 months.
Tips:
- Use high-quality ingredients. This will make a big difference in the flavor of your biscochitos. Look for fresh, organic ingredients whenever possible.
- Don't overmix the dough. Overmixing will make the biscochitos tough. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Chill the dough before baking. This will help the biscochitos hold their shape and prevent them from spreading too much.
- Bake the biscochitos until they are lightly golden brown. Overbaking will make them dry and crumbly.
- Let the biscochitos cool completely before storing them. This will help them keep their shape and flavor.
Conclusion:
Biscochitos are a delicious and easy-to-make Mexican cookie that is perfect for any occasion. With their sweet, buttery flavor and delicate texture, they are sure to be a hit with everyone who tries them. So next time you're looking for a special treat, give biscochitos a try. You won't be disappointed!
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