The biscochito, spelt bizcochito in New Mexican Spanish, is a cookie that was developed in Santa Fe de Nuevo México. The cookie was originally created by the Spanish colonists and the Native American Pueblos, based on lard cookies from European cultures, especially of Portugal and Spain. (www.newmexico.com)

Thanks to a recipe found on the good old interweb, (www.newmexico.org), I have remembered, and baked, a childhood favorite!

Enjoy- and happy Christmas ❤

cookies–

• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 pound lard, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1½ tablespoons ground anise seeds*
• ½ cup orange juice, fresh or from concentrate
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) whiskey

Topping

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Sift together 5 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat lard in electric mixer, gradually adding sugar until extremely light and fluffy; about 8 minutes. Stop mixer every couple minutes to scrape down
sides of mixing bowl. Add eggs singly, beating in each one before adding the next. Mix in dry ingredients, beating only until incorporated. Add anise seeds, whiskey, and orange juice. A stiff, pie-crust–like dough is what you’re after. Add some or all of remaining flour, as needed, to get
proper consistency.

Spoon dough into cookie press, if you wish. Push out dough into shaped cookies on ungreased cookie sheets. If you don’t have a cookie press or prefer to make them with cookie cutters, the dough can be rolled out ¼
inch thick on floured work surface and cut into favorite shapes, then arranged on cookie sheets. In either case, avoid handling the dough more than necessary.

Bake cookies 12 to 15 minutes.

For the topping

While cookies bake, stir together topping ingredients.

Assembly

Transfer cookies to baking racks to cool.

Gently roll cookies in topping mixture. If not eaten sooner, cookies will keep a week.

*I only made two changes to the recipe: I used vegetable shortening instead of lard, and I increased the anise seeds to 2 T, and toasted them in a dry skillet before putting them through the grinder.