JIMMY PUNZO HAS HAD TWO HANDS covered in flour since before he was a teenager. The Las Cruces native often helped his mother, Yvette, create confections for the baking classes she was taking. “She would have me mix her buttercreams or bake the cakes so all she had to do was decorate them,” Punzo says with a chuckle.
In high school and college, he used the skills he developed to make a little extra cash on the side. But it wasn’t until attending the International Culinary Center in New York City, where he earned a grande diplome in pastry arts in 2016, that his passion became a career. “It was a whole different world, diving into the world of pastry,” he says.
After working for bakeries in New York and Napa, California, Punzo returned to his hometown in 2018 to get a degree at New Mexico State University. He also became a partner in Osito’s Biscochitos. Last year, he officially became the owner of the bakery, which he runs with his husband, Hector. “You start to learn about the palate for the community that you live in and cater to it,” says Punzo, who spent more than a year working on the current biscochito recipe.
While the official state cookie often comes in a thin shortbread style cut into a fleur-de-lis, star, or circle, Osito’s uses a distinctive thick diamond shape for its cookies.
Photograph courtesy of Osito's Biscochitos.
“It plays into tradition,” he says. “We want our cookies to bring and evoke the spirit of home.” Punzo recalls making the traditional anise-flavored cookies—known as “biscochos” to his family and many others in southern New Mexico—with his aunt. He says his heart is warmed every time a customer remarks, “These remind me of my grandma’s.”
While the official state cookie often comes in a thin shortbread style cut into a fleur-de-lis, star, or circle, Osito’s uses a distinctive thick diamond shape for its cookies. Passed down from the original owners and harking back to what they suggest is the biscochito’s original form, the shape has become their trademark and slogan (“If it’s a diamond, it’s an Osito’s”).
Punzo continues to experiment with new flavor profiles, including chocolate and raspberry-habanero. “We’ve taken something that everyone knows and put a twist on it,” he says. Although biscochitos is in the bakery’s name, Punzo remains excited about other seasonal pastries like empanadas, Mexican wedding cookies, and chocolate-chip-pecan cookies.
Still, for the holidays, biscochitos are king. He estimates baking roughly 17,000 of the sugary treats each week. “The oven stays on and never turns off,” he says.
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