Staff Writer| The Pueblo Chieftain
The biscochito - or bizcochito as it's officially spelled in New Mexico - was the first cookie to be adopted by a state. The anise-flavored shortbread-type cookie became the New Mexico state cookie in 1989.
Biscochitos date to 16th-century Spain, hence their name "Spanish cookies" in at least one reference. That's what Cleofas Jaramillo calls them in her 1942 cookbook, "The Genuine New Mexico Tasty Recipes." Her recipe calls for rich pie pastry dough - which she undoubtedly made with lard - to which she added baking powder, sugar and anise seed. She rolled the dough, cut it into thin strips, shaped curlicues at the end of each strip, dipped them in sugar and baked.
The Web site for Golden Crown Panaderia (bakery) in Albuquerque notes that the Spanish biscochito has been influenced by Mexican and Native American cultures since it was brought to the New World. The rich, sugary cookie is served throughout the year, especially during fiestas, weddings and at Christmastime.
Roselea Murphy's "The Pink Adobe Cookbook," with recipes from her landmark Santa Fe, N.M., restaurant, includes biscochitos among its desserts. This recipe calls for lard, sugar, egg yolk, anise seed, flour, salt, baking powder, water and cinnamon-sugar for dusting. The cookie dough is cut into fancy shapes with cutters before baking.
"La Cocina de la Frontera" by James Peyton breaks with tradition and uses half shortening and half butter instead of lard in its biscochito recipe. The author notes, "Although customarily made of lard, which gives them a flaky texture and rich rustic taste, I think the combination of shortening and butter . . . is just as rich while reducing the saturated fat." Peyton's recipe includes a tablespoon of brandy and he dusts the cookies in cinnamon-sugar both before and after baking.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and wife Barbara's recipe for biscochitos, available on the Internet, insists on lard (“a must, no substitutes”) and includes sweet table wine.
Many other versions available online vary between lard and shortening, and a few call for butter.
- Mary Jean Porter