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Craving an authentic sweet taste of Mexico? Let these marranitos (also known as puerquitos or cochinitos de piloncillo), the beloved Mexican gingerbread pigs, transport you to a vibrant fiesta with every bite. They’re everything you’ve been dreaming of – soft, sweet, spiced, and flavored with plenty of yummy goodies like molasses and vanilla. These Mexican gingerbread cookies are a pan dulce (sweet bread) and are known for being pig-shaped, which adds a fun element to the recipe. Just like you find in Mexican bakeries, they are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
These cute little pig shaped cookies, known as marranitos, are a sweet and spiced cookie recipe from Mexico. They offer a bold, rich flavor.
Do cookies make you go weak at the knees? If so, also try sour cream cookies, these Italian pistachio cookies, and these cute waffle cookies too.
Why You’ll Love It
Really delicious: These chewies are made with brown sugar, rich-flavored molasses and warm spices to boast the most incredible flavors in every bite.
An authentic Mexican cookie recipe: These south-of-the-border cookies are a traditional Mexican treat.
Simple to make: They aren’t hard cookies to make at all. You just have to make the dough, cut out the cookie shapes and bake until done.
Marranitos Mexican Cookie Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Dark brown sugar: If you can find it, use piloncillo instead, which is a brown sugar often used in south-of-the-border cookies.
Molasses: For a rich flavor.
Vanilla extract: Always good in cookies.
Spices: Ground ginger and ground cinnamon, along with a pinch of allspice, add a fantastic flavor to these Mexican gingerbread pigs.
Eggs: To bind the dough together.
Baking soda and baking powder: To get the texture just right.
How to Make Gingerbread Pigs
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the cookie dough: Beat the butter with the sugar in a bowl and then add eggs, molasses, milk, and vanilla extract. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate large bowl and then add this, a cup at a time, to the beaten egg mixture, to achieve a firm dough.
Chill the dough: Wrap it up in a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Make the cookies: Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use a pig cookie cutter to cut it into pig shapes. Brush over some egg wash with a pastry brush and add some sugar crystals if desired.
Bake them: Arrange the marranitos on a prepared baking sheets and bake until lightly browned or golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, use gluten-free flour.
Another extract: Swap the vanilla extract for another kind, perhaps caramel or hazelnut extract.
Zest them up: Add some orange zest or lemon zest to the cookie dough.
Other spices: Ground nutmeg would be good in these cookies.
Molasses: For a less rich flavor, swap the molasses for corn syrup or agave syrup.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Start your Mexican-inspired meal with this street corn salad and spicy yogurt dressing.
Main dishes: Next up, serve pork carnitas or charro lentils.
Dessert: Enjoy marranitos for dessert, to finish off your Mexican feast in style! You could also make some Mexican rice pudding to go with them (and Mexican candy shots if you want a real fiesta!)
How to Store Mexican Pig-Shaped Cookies
Store: Keep marranitos in an airtight container at room temperature and eat within a week.
Freeze: You can freeze the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for a few hours.
Top Tips
Rolling out the dough: It’s easier to roll out if you let the dough sit for 10 minutes beforehand.
Line your cookie sheet: Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and you’ll have easier cleanup after baking.
Soft or crispy: Bake the cookies for 15 minutes if you want them soft or for 17 to 18 minutes for a crispier result.
Mexican Gingerbread Pigs FAQs
I got these from Amazon (they’re so cute!)
Piloncillo is a type of brown sugar that’s popular in Mexico. For the most authentic flavor in marranitos, melt one piloncillo cone in ¼ cup of water. Cook this mixture over a medium low until the mixture begins to thicken and then stir in the butter until melted, and proceed with the recipe.
Sure. Freeze the dough in a ball and then thaw it out and cut out and bake the cookies whenever you’re ready.
Mexican Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Marranitos
Equipment
- Pig Cookie Cutter 4-Inch Pig Shaped
Ingredients
- ½ Cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 Cup dark brown sugar, or grated piloncillo
- 3 eggs, large
- ½ Cup unsulfured molasses
- ¼ Cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 5 Cups all purpose flour
- 2 Teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- ½ Teaspoons baking soda
- ½ Teaspoon allspice
- nonstick cooking spray, as needed
- sugar crystals, optional
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add 2 eggs, molasses, milk and vanilla and continue to beat for another minute.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
- Add one cup of the flour mixture at a time, beating to combine.
- The dough will be very thick when all the flour has been added.
- Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and then wrap up into a ball.
- Refrigerate for up to 24 hours (minimum 3 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces and roll out. Cut out pig shapes with your pig shaped cookie cutter.
- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and arrange the cookies on there.
- Whisk the remaining egg and brush over the cookies. If you want to add sugar crystals, sprinkle or dip the edges of the cookies in the sugar.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
Line your cookie sheet: Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and you’ll have easier cleanup after baking.
Soft or crispy: Bake the cookies for 15 minutes if you want them soft or for 17 to 18 minutes for a crispier result.
Nutrition
Let marranitos whisk you away to the vibrant streets of Mexico. These pan dulce (sweet bread) cookies offer a chewy, soft texture that just melts in the mouth. They’re a great way to share a piece of cultural heritage with loved ones and they also make a great gift for foodies.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
