For summer vacation, my family decided to take a driving tour of New Mexico. It was sort of a last-minute pick when other options fell through. We absolutely fell in love with the state. The scenery was beautiful, everyone was nice everywhere we went, and the food was fantastic. I was even able to meet up with a fellow foodie friend from back in my often blogging days. On our last day in New Mexico, we ate at a fantastic little restaurant in Santa Fe, Casa Chimayo. I highly recommend going and trying their brisket stuffed sopapilla. Even their salsa was amazing. As we were paying, the owner (or maybe his wife?) gave us each a biscochito. These are the official state cookie of New Mexico, and I believe she said it was her grandmother’s recipe. It was delicious. It’s got a shortbread texture with a cinnamon flavor. I dreamed of it the rest of the (many) miles back to Louisiana.
Once we arrived home, I set about trying to make biscochitos. I tried several recipes and none were quite like hers. I ended up making a mix of recipes and being satisfied. I took some to a family reunion, sent some to my husband’s work (I made many batches of trials, so we had cookies coming out of our ears!). Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, my daughter chose New Mexico as a state to research in her American Studies class. I’m telling you, we all fell in LOVE with that state! She asked if I would make biscochitos for her to bring for her classmates to taste. I sent four dozen to school and her class wiped them all out. Even though I haven’t blogged in forever (sorry, I’ve been busy!), I decided to commit this recipe to the blog so she can share with her friends and I can share with you guys.
Biscochitos (or Bizcochitos – either spelling works)
Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, cut into chunks (1 cup)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed anise seeds (I crushed them in a coffee grinder)
1 teaspoon butter vanilla emulsion
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brandy (if making for children and you want a clean conscious, use regular vanilla)
1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed, for topping
Method:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a stand mixer (I use the scraper paddle), beat butter, sugar, and salt until well-mixed. Add butter vanilla emulsion (you can also find this at Hobby Lobby if you don’t have time to order online) and brandy. Mix in well. Mix flour and anise and allow to mix until blended.
On a floured surface, mix flour in with dough until not super sticky. Use a flour rolling pin to roll dough out and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a parchment-covered baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Once baked, place 1 cookie at a time in the bowl of cinnamon sugar and gently spoon sugar over. Dust off excess and allow to cool. Store in a tupperware at room temperature.
Cooking With Christen 