Biscochitos find home in New Mexico, where they’re served at any special celebration. These crisp shortbread cookies, which have Spanish roots, are scented with the licorice notes of anise seed and the warm spice of cinnamon. Biscochitos traditionally have a meltingly tender texture, thanks to the inclusion of lard. However, most bakers don’t have lard at the ready, so we relied on a combination of equal parts butter and shortening for rich flavor and superlatively tender texture. The cookies come in many shapes and sizes, but we’re partial to the diamond shape that’s commonly used for weddings. To create this unique shape, we first rolled the dough into a circle and chilled it until it was firm. Then we cut the dough into strips (a pizza cutter made quick work of this step) and cut the strips diagonally into diamonds. To finish the cookies, we coated them in cinnamon sugar using the traditional method: We gently tossed the still-warm cookies in the sugary coating so it adhered and then let the cookies cool completely before serving them. Don’t let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for longer than 5 minutes or the cinnamon-sugar mixture won’t adhere.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon anise seeds
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 8 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; spread ½ cup cinnamon sugar in shallow dish. Grind anise seeds in spice grinder until finely ground, about 10 seconds.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, shortening, salt, remaining ½ cup cinnamon sugar, and ground anise on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour, and mix until dough forms, about 10 seconds.
- Roll dough into 9-inch circle, about ½ inch thick, on large sheet of parchment paper. Transfer dough, still on parchment, to large plate; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer dough, still on parchment, to cutting board. Using knife or pizza cutter, cut dough lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips, then cut diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips to form diamonds; space diamonds evenly on prepared sheets, about 20 per sheet.
- Bake cookies until set and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Gently toss cookies, a few at a time, in reserved cinnamon sugar. Transfer cookies to wire rack. Let cookies cool completely before serving.
