Biscochitos-New Mexico's State Cookie

The biscochito, sometimes spelled bizcochito, is the state cookie of New Mexico and the other day when I was at Mora's Winterfest, an annual craft and baked goods fair, there were many different versions of them to choose from.

Last year I bought from each of the biscochito bakers at the Winterfest and found my favorite:  a thin, anisey cinnamony cookie, probably made with lard. It had a nice crunch and was baked to perfection. The others were good, but these cookies stood out.

This is a photo from last year's biscochito shopping trip. My favorites are in the middle, the same ones I bought at Winterfest this year. That was along with some chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies. Then there were the six red velvet cupcakes so gorgeously decorated a professional could have baked them and not the little girl who sold them to me. Add a couple loaves of pumpkin bread and I was good to go. (Buying local is important.)

I noticed quite a few readers looking at the biscochito post and recipe from last year, so I am sharing a link to it right here.

Some people like to dip their biscochitos in hot chocolate but I like tea with mine. Of course, I crook my pinkie finger whilst drinking.

We finally had some snow and the temp dipped to minus 10 F last night. This morning when the sun came out it was up to 10 degrees F and absolutely gorgeous.

There will be more cookie talk later, but until then, happy baking!

High Altitude Baking-Pie in the Sky by Susan G. Purdy

The first chocolate chip cookies I baked here at the ranch were a dismal failure: flat, spread out, and strangely bland tasting. We live at an altitude of over 7000 ft. and I knew there were ways to change ingredients and baking times to ensure cookie success, but it was hit and miss, mostly miss.

Baking brownies was inconsistent, too, with some pans coming out perfectly and the next time a gooey mess. I used high altitude techniques, but they didn't always work.

Enter the book Pie in the Sky by Susan Purdy, a book prized by several of my quilty buddies who live up here, too.

I stumbled upon the recipes while searching the internet for an apple cake I could bake at a high altitude. I found this blog post, tried the recipe, and it worked! The cake was flavorful, had risen properly and wasn't gummy or gooey in the middle. But, and here's a big ol' but, I had used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular white flour, so the consistency was kind of like sawdust. It wasn't the recipe's fault, just the goofball who decided to substitute a key ingredient.

So I bought the book and have tried a couple recipes so far: the Aspen Apple Cake which had been grainy made with my whole wheat substitution was moist and cake-like when the proper flour was used.

For Thanksgiving MBB made the 1-2-3-4 Cake, a white cake to which she added walnuts and chocolate frosting, and it was a hit.

Author Susan Purdy researched and experimented at various elevations while developing these recipes. I always thought high altitude baking was the same at 3000 feet as it is at 7000 feet. Nope. Purdy has recipes and directions for sea level, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000, and even 10,000 feet (ah....our Mogollon Baldy lookout job would have been muy different if this book had been there). There are tweaks of ingredients, temperatures, pan prep, equipment, even where the oven rack goes, specific to how high you are (that was a little big of a joke....sorry). Nothing has been left to chance.

In addition to cakes, there are recipes for cookies, pies, breads, souffles, quick breads and muffins: anything I might need to bake with no guesswork involved. My only quibble is about the food photos. There are not enough of them, just a few in the center of the book.  In case you wondered, I was not paid to write this review. I just liked the book.

Hmmm....this cake looks pretty good.