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Marranitos (Mexican Gingerbread Pigs) are a pan dulce, or sweet bread, flavored with molasses and commonly found in Mexican bakeries. Best served with a cup of milk or coffee and eaten on weekend mornings!
Is this real life?! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d learn how to make a batch of Marranitos (these little Mexican gingerbread pigs), let alone share them online. But here I am, sharing one of my favorite childhood Mexican treats like it’s no big deal. Who am I kidding – I’m nearly 30 years old, and these are still one of my favorite Mexican sweet breads! Let me explain.
- they’re shaped like little piggly wigglys. that right there is enough to put them in my top five.
- they’re somewhere between a cookie and a cake. they’re not hard, but not totally soft either. best of both worlds.
- they’re not too sweet, which makes them perfect for dunking in a glass of milk or coffee on weekend mornings.
- did I mention they’re shaped like little pigs? okay, just checking.
If I could only pick one recipe to remind me of my childhood, it would be this one. I’ve probably said that about other recipes before, but I really (really, really) mean it this time. I grew up eating marranitos, or cochinitos as my family called them. I’ve also heard them called puerquitos, but they all mean the same thing – just different Spanish words for “little pigs”.
Mexican Pan Dulce
My family used to pick up a big bag of pan dulce, or sweet bread, at the local Mexican bakery every weekend to eat for breakfast or dessert, and the only bread I’d ever reach for was the marranito.
They’re the perfect mix of rich molasses flavor with a hint of sweetness that’s satisfying and filling. Unlike other Mexican sweet breads that never really hit the spot (I’m looking at you, conchas), marranitos always seem to do the trick.
Ingredients and tools you’ll need
Making these little Mexican gingerbread pigs is much easier than most people think! Aside from the usual baking ingredients like flour, butter, eggs, and the like, you’ll need some dark brown sugar, milk, a bit of ground ginger, and some unsulfured molasses. All are ingredients you can find at most grocery stores, so the actual recipe ingredients should be very easy to find.
However, my favorite thing about this recipe – the cute little pig shapes – is something you’ll probably have to order online. Here’s the pig cookie cutter I have. It’s smaller than the size of the marranitos you’ll find in a Mexican bakery, but it’s a normal size for homemade pan dulce.
I have no kids, so I have no firsthand experience in this department, but I imagine this would be a fun baking project for the little ones. At least I certainly enjoyed making these. What’s more fun than stamping out little piggies with a cookie cutter?!
This recipe has been a huge hit in my house. Between John and I, we’ve eaten all but 3 of these gingerbread pigs, and I’m definitely not sorry about it. It’s been cold and has even snowed here already, so we’ve been dunking these marranitos in some Mexican hot chocolate.
Slowly but surely, I’m getting in the holiday spirit and am so excited that this will be the first year John and I spend Christmas together. We’ve been together for about 8 years, and this is our first Christmas together! How nuts is that?
I’ve always gone to OKC to spend the holiday with family, and John’s always gone to central PA to do the same. Since we got married in May, we thought it’d be best to take turns every year and switch off Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this year, Christmas will be with my family, and next year it will be with his.
I must admit, having our families be so far apart is definitely a challenge, but we’re making it work. It’s just one of many challenges I’m sure we’ll run into as a married couple, but that’s what it’s all about, right? All because of a little four-letter word – love. 🙂
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Marranitos (Mexican Gingerbread Pigs)
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, divided
- ¾ cup unsulfured molasses
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the dark brown sugar and mix until well combined. Add in one egg, molasses, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix together until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl, add the flour, ginger, baking soda, and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients 1 cup at a time and mix until well combined. The dough should cleanly pull away from the mixing bowl.
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to ⅜-inch thickness (or a little less than ½-inch).
- Use a pig shaped cookie cutter to cut the dough into pigs. Place the pigs 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- In a small bowl, crack open the remaining egg and whisk. Brush the beaten egg over the tops of the pigs using a pastry brush.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe, using easy to find ingredients. Decided to try my hand at these. Thank goodness, my BFF & brother love cochinitos, too; otherwise, I would’ve eaten them all by myself!
This is my favorite pan dulce, too. Brings back wonderful childhood memories. Also reminds me of Sunday’s with my dad. We’d stop by the panederia after Mass to pick up his weekly sweets(and my cochinito). I’d take him home, have a cup of coffee and pan dulce. Grateful for those memories….
Excellent recipe! Very tasty cookies. The dough was very easy to work with.
Thanks, Karen. I’m so happy you liked them! They’re my favorite.
OMGoodness, I made these marranitos today and they are UTTERLY DELICIOUS! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes…I look forward to making the conchas next!!
Oh wow, I can’t wait to try and make these homemade. I have a similar childhood memory, being 1/2 Mexican. We ate these on Sunday mornings at my grandparents house after Menudo for breakfast.
A very dear friend of my mothers would bring me these cookies when I was a child. I just remember that whenever I saw Uncle Earl I was always hoping he’d have the pink box that contained the piggy cookies. This recipe brought back SO many happy memories. Thanks so much for sharing.
Do you use piloncio or brown sugar? I saw a comment that these cookies were dry. Have you had many Comments about them being dry ?
I got my cookie cutter and am so excited to make these for Cinco de Mayo. I am throwing a surprise party for my husband and son on that day and these will be a great touch for after the chicken enchilada inspired empanadas I will be making!! Thank you so much for the great recipe!! I’ll let you know how it goes after I make them.
So my reply is late lol but the marranitos were such a big hit that my mom requested I make them for my aunt who is visiting OKC from California this week!! Everyone loved them! Even my friend’s from Mexico enjoyed them!! I will be keeping this recipe for life. Thank you so much for sharing it, because I plan to make them with my babies when they get older. This will become a family tradition! 😁
I’m so glad you liked them! They’re always a crowd pleaser when I make them, and I’m so happy to hear it’s going to be a family tradition. That’s what cooking is all about!
Actually, I came back here to make them again with my 4 year old son tonight. He loves them and calls them cookies, so when I asked him if he wanted to make cookies, these are what he wanted. We use various cookie cutters sometimes which started because my piggy cookie cutter got rusty and broke. So it will be exciting to let my son help make cookie shapes for the very first time ever. Dough is prepped, just gotta roll it out in go. Wish me luck lol.
I made these pigs with a 7 year old for a Chinese new year celebration (Year of the pig) even though it’s a mexican recipe, I thought why not!? They look delicious.
Had to convert to UK grams but that was fairly easy and dark treacle is what we have labeled for Molasses.
Easy and quick recipe, thanks again for this
I’m so happy you liked it, Laura. Thank you!
These are MOUTH-WATERING! I didn’t have the pig cookie cutter so I made my own. If you search “How to make a cookie cutter, you get a few links that work MAGIC! I suggest using Wiki-how, they make the cutters with aluminium and they work GREAT!
I am 85 years old and “Cochitos” have always been my favorite Mexican bakery item! My children/grandchildren/husband would always buy one for me when they went to a Mexican bakery. Thank you for the memory and I hope to try the recipe soon after I buy the cookie cutter!
I’m so happy it brought back so many good memories for you! It’s my favorite bakery item, too 🙂