Although they don’t actually include ginger, marranitos (also known as cochinos, puerquitos, or other names in some Mexican-American communities) are sometimes referred to as gingerbread pigs. The molasses is what gives the flavor. This recipe is an adaptation from the Trans-Pecos region that includes the unusual ingredient of cinnamon.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 35 mins |
| Servings: | 15 |
| Yield: | 15 large cookies |
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsulfured molasses
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat brown sugar and shortening together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in 1 egg, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in molasses, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in flour until the dough is stiff enough to roll out.
- Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into cookies using a pig-shaped cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the tops of the cookies with beaten egg.
- Bake in the preheated oven until risen and edges are lightly browned, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool briefly on cookie sheets; serve warm or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- You may wish to add a bit of dry ground ginger, and you may use a milk wash instead of an egg wash.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 359 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 73 g |
| Cholesterol | 25 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 151 mg |
| Sugars | 30 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Marranitos are my favorite Mexican bakery cookie and I really enjoyed this recipe. My friends did too. The cookies are tender and cakey with just a little chewiness. Molasses flavor is strong but not overwhelming. I skipped the cinnamon because it competes with the molasses taste (for me). I didn’t find them too dry. I did mix in the first 5c flour directly, measured out an additional cup, and added from that until the texture was just firm enough to roll. Baked until set but before they browned significantly.
I gave it a 4 star because my dough was not sticking together but I just added more milk to the dough and then everything just came together, and I was able to roll it out. They tasted great and everyone liked them. I will be making these again. Thank you for the recipe.
I added a little bit of white sugar to the top of the egg wash before baking. Came out delicious!!! I keep them in a zip lock bag so that they stay fresh all week (if they last that long)
Love these cookies, made them for my mother in law… She said they were better than the paneria down the street…
Made it for the first time and it came out perfect! I have no issues with making them and the taste is on point. Will definitely be making again!
I followed the reviews on the amount of flour. I used five cups and it was easy to work dough. I rolled out to 1/2 inch thick. I did change the temperature on baking. Did 350 for 12 minutes. Cookies came out done and soft. No hard ends. Husband loves these cookies.
Loved it, did adjust and added ginger. I compared two recipes and split it down the middle but this recipe did the trick. Since the recipe was so large I split the batch in half and saved wrapped in plastic and baked the second week, it came out fabulous.
I love these – comfort food associated with my childhood. This recipe is great – now I make them at home – sometimes adding just a touch of ginger.
Se llaman puerquitos en las calles de Guadalajara también.
Wonderful cookies! I used 1/3 cup milk, 5.5 cups flour, and ginger as others have suggested. A bit more chewy (maybe cut back on the molasses) than the ones from the panderia, but otherwise identical. Love them! 😀
No changes needed – unless you count the shape. I cannot find a large piggy cookie cutter, so we use our Christmas cookie cutters! We love the recipe as is!
Good and yummy
I love it! I will keep making them, I did find them a little sweet, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. These are my dads favorites and mine, i am so happy to have fount this recipe!
I doubled the recipe and it came out delicious.. Fair warning use a stand mixer doing this by hand is a lot of work.
2nd time. I prefer it with the ginger but there still delicious w/o. By mistake I ordered the wrong cookie cutter from Amazon which came to be the best choice. I get 32 piggies. One being half the calories. You can eat two and not feel like a pig.
I followed the instructions exactly as the recipe said but my dough was too crumbly and wouldn’t stick together at all. So I added a total of 3/4 cups of milk and an extra egg just to be able to roll it out. I’m not sure where I went wrong or why I was having so much trouble but the end result was still good. They taste/look good but aren’t soft like I expected them to be. Even so, they’re still yummy. I didn’t have a pig cookie cutter so I used other fun shapes my kids picked out. 12 minutes in the oven was long enough for these since they’re way smaller than regular piggies. 🙂
Great recipe. I also did NOT use all 6 cups of flour. (I probably only used about 5 – 5.5 cups and some for rolling out the dough) and I did the 3/4 cup molasses and 1/4 cup honey as another reviewer recommended. They turned out soooo yummy!
I made these for a Cinco de Mayo themed party. Didn’t have pig shaped cutters, so used the largest biscuit cutter I have. I used 3/4 cup molasses and 1/4 cup honey (since folks here in Pennsylvania might not ready for the full molasses), 1/3 cup milk, about 5 1/3 cups flour (plus some additional for rolling), and 1 tsp ginger. Instead of an egg wash, I used milk brushed on top. They were some of the prettiest cookies I’ve ever made (and tasted great too)!
Followed Grasshopper’s advice on the flour, and it helped a lot! I let it set in fridge for a bit, and used my hands to help warm up dough to work it with rolling pin. It is a bit crumbly, so rolled out dough to make ’em 2 at a time, which REALLY cut down on my frustration! A little time consuming but worth it. These are better than any store-bought marranitos I can find in town. 4 out of 5 stars since i didn’t follow exact recipe. Will definitely make these again.
I have made this over and over again as the recipe instructs with no alterations. Perfect cookie every time.
the molasses flavor was too strong I will make it again with two-thirds the recommended amount. Aside from that they were good, but too thin, So I made them thicker and at the end, ended up making them 3/4 in thick.