Back when I was little, my mom used to bake quite a bit. We always seemed to have lots of cookies on hand. However, it was not just cookies that we enjoyed. My mom made use of every last scrap of pie dough. She would bake it up in long slivers and would always sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar before baking.
These cookies remind me of those cinnamon slivers. These tasty gems are made with lard, which is the key to that flaky, pie crust-type texture. They are perfect with a cup of tea, coffee or milk. If you think that pie crust is the best part of pie, then you have landed on the correct recipe. This makes about three dozen cookies, depending on your preferred thickness.
Biscochitos
adapted from All Recipes Website
Ingredients/Cookies
1 egg
2 tbs Brandy
1 cup lard
1 tsp anise seed
3/4 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Ingredients/Topping
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup of sugar and the anise seed. Set aside. Using another bowl, sift together the baking powder, flour and salt. In the next bowl, whisk together the egg and Brandy.
Fill the bowl of a stand mixer with the lard and sugar/anise mixture. Beat on medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 3 minutes. Be sure to stop at intervals to scrape down sides of bowl. Next, mix in the egg/Brandy blend. Lastly, fold in the sifted ingredients until a dough is formed and no dry streaks remain. If it seems a little dry, try adding a few more drops of Brandy so it will bond together in a dough.
Lightly dust a flat surface and a rolling pin with flour. Roll out dough to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. Take a cookie cutter and cut out dough to desired shapes. Dust the bottom edges of the cutter at intervals to make sure it does not stick. Place cut outs on cookie sheet, spacing evenly. Continue with this process, re-rolling scraps and cutting until baking sheet is full.
Then whisk together the topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of the cookies.
Place pan in oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden on the edges. As the first pan bakes, cut out more dough, filling the second pan. Once the first sheet of cookies are baked, let rest on pan 2 minutes and then transfer cookies to the cooling rack. Repeat the forming and baking process until all the dough is baked.
**LAST YEAR: Cake of Leaves**