Whether you live in the Albuquerque community OR you’ve passed through during the holidays, chances are you’ve been offered  a Bizcochito. For those of you who don’t know, a Bizcochito is a crisp cookie, flavored with cinnamon and anise. Traditionally, the cookies are cut into the shape of stars and crescent moons, but you can cut them however you’d like (our kids like ours in the shape of a Christmas tree!).

In honor of this Albuquerque tradition, we are posting the recipe for Bizcochitos that we borrowed from NewMexico.org (you can find the original recipe here.)

Recipe:

Makes about 6 dozen medium-size cookies

Dough:

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

Coating:

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cookies:

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl.

Beat lard or butter 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 singularly, incorporating each one in completely before adding
the next.

Mix the dry ingredients into the batter, beating only until mixed.

Add anise seeds, whiskey, and orange juice. A stiff dough, almost like a pie-crust 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 coating:

Toss together the granulated sugar and cinnamon until well blended.

Assembly:

Place cookies on baking rack to cool.

Once cooled enough to touch, roll cookies in the coating mixture and enjoy!

Storage:

Cookies can be stored for up to a week… IF they last that long!

We hope this recipe helps you enjoy your holiday season that much more! Make sure you check out our next post on hot to make a Luminarias for New Mexico’s oldest Christmas tradition: The Luminarias Festival!

If you need any electrical help whether it’s for hanging Christmas lights, replacing circuits and breakers, or troubleshooting electrical issues, call us anytime @ 505-554-3313 and don’t forget to ask us about our extended Work Warranty.