2 posts tagged “new mexico”

 

 

After 15 years of trying to make a decent biscochito cookie I finally got the recipe right!  It is crisp, yet not crumbly, it dunks well in coffee, it is buttery, and not greasy and has just the right amount of anise flavor.

I've searched the internet, cookbooks, and tried to modify my own mother's recipe to no avail.  I finally scrapped the traditional recipe and started from scratch with a really good sugar cookie recipe.  I compared other recipes and finally came up with this one.  Please note that these cookies were baked at around 6,000 ft elevation.  (don't know if this has any effect on the cookies but thought I'd throw that out there.)

Also, I live in NM and have eaten MANY different versions of this unique little cookie and I have to say that to the "trained biscochito palate" this cookie of mine is a winner.  Ok, I might be boasting a bit.  Here's the recipe.  Give it a try and tell me what you think.

 

INGREDIENTS

6 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar (C&H is best, it's very fine)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup butter (at room temperature)

1 cup Crisco shortening (at room temperature)

2 eggs

1/4 cup white wine

3 tsp. anise seed

1 tsp. anise seed extract (optional for a stronger anise flavor)

PLUS: To dip cookies prior to baking

3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

2. Blend/sift flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda together.  Set aside.

3. Cream butter and shortening with blender until light and fluffy.  Mix in sugar, beat again until well blended.  Stir in the wine and last, the eggs.  Blend well.  Add optional anise seed extract here.

4. Mix into the sugar cream 1/2 the flour mixture until blended, mix in last half until it forms a dough. When the dough comes together add the anise seed.  (I like to use my hands to do this part)

5. Let the dough sit aside for 1/2 hour in a cool spot.  Prepare sugar and cinnamon mixture.

6. Roll out dough on floured surface to about a 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut shapes with cookie cutter.  Use a knife to lift up the cut dough and lay it in the cinnamon sugar.  Place on non-stick cookie sheet or on parchment paper.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned on the edges. Let cool and store in air tight container.

 

A FEW MORE THOUGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS

For a sweeter version of the cookie sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top of cookies before baking.

Biscochitos tend to taste better a few days after baking.

They are one of the best compliments to a good cup of coffee.

If you don't want a buttery cookie substitute all shortening for the butter.

The traditional biscochito is make with lard, yes that's LARD.  I think that using all lard makes the cookie taste funny and messes up the texture.  It can add a bit of unique flavor so if you want to try lard, I would suggest substituting no more than 1/2 cup of lard for the shortening. 

Milk or juice can also be substituted for the wine.  I prefer wine.

 

HAPPY BAKING!!! 

 

Sunflowers are abundant this time of year and show their happy little faces for about a month in fall.  They sway in the wind, chatting with one another and say hello as I pass them on the road. 

 

Bison are as abundant as the sunflowers, but they're around all year long.  They're shedding their winter coats here but when it gets cold they will look simply marvelous.  Bison hides are so soft.  I love their pompadour hairdos.

 

Sitting alone on the side of the road near our house is a retired box car.  It was converted into a habitable space for a time but now it houses bats, bees and various rodents. Box cars are valuable areas for storage around these parts. Who needs a tough shed.

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Here's some fancy meadow decor.  Long lost and forgotten rusty old car wears some green leafy vines so fashionably.  Old farming implements also provide a curious eye something interesting to look at.

 

Beautiful New Mexico sunsets..... ahhhhhhhhhhh  what can I say, I love them.  They often bring a refreshing reprieve from the bland, colorless winters.

 

 

Skulls abound around the yard seem to capture and emit an essence of prairie life.  They are reminders around our home of how they provide life sustaining food for our family.

 

Neighboring cows walk along the lonely highway near our home.  Cows break up the monotany of a treeless and bleak country road.  We stop and say hello from time to time and give them our best impression of a moo.  They sometimes look indifferent and sometimes look a bit annoyed but I'd like to think that we are an interesting break in their monotany as well.

 

 

Here's Buck the horse.  He used to live on a neighbor's land but moved away a while back.  We miss Buck.

 

 

 

Bears sometimes visit.  We don't mind them except for their ravenous appetite.  Our bees don't like them at all.  After building a fortress of sorts around our bee hives we haven't had any bear attacks on our honey...yet.