Marranitos Mexican Gingerbread Pigs Food

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN MARRANITOS (MOLASSES GINGERBREAD PIGS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, shortening, baking soda, cinnamon and vanilla until the mixture forms a firm paste.
• Add, mixing after each addition until blended, the molasses, egg and milk.
• Gradually add the flour, mixing to form a dough; Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick; cut with a large pig-shaped cutter; Place each marranito on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• In a cup or small bowl, beat egg; Using a pastry brush, paint tops of marranitos lightly with beaten egg.
• Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until browned.

MARRANITOS & PUERQUITOS (SOFT MEXICAN GINGERBREAD PIG COOKIES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed for about a minute. Reduce the speed to low then slowly pour in the molasses and buttermilk. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure that ones mixed in before adding the next. After the eggs have been mixed in, add one third of the dry ingredients, wait for it to incorporate, then add the next third, wait and then add the rest.
• At this point, the cookie dough is going to be soft, so divide your dough into 4 equal sized balls, then wrap them up with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for 4 hours to chill.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Once the dough has chilled, roll your dough out on a well floured surface to abut a 1/2 inch thickness. Use your cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, then evenly space them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (You should be able to get 4 cookies per ball of dough) I like to dip my cookie cutter in a little bit of flour to make sure I get clean edges.
• Once you have your cookies on your cookie sheet, brush on the egg wash, and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have risen and the tops have begun to crack.
• Let your cookies cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

MARRANITOS (MEXICAN PIG-SHAPED COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together brown sugar and shortening until smooth. Mix in 1 egg, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the baking soda, cinnamon, and molasses. 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 remaining beaten egg over the tops of the cookies.
• Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the centers of the cookies appear dry and edges are lightly browned.

MARRANITOS (LITTLE GINGER PIGS)

Steps:

• Place the piloncillo in a small saucepan with 1 cup water, star anise, and cinnamon.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Remove saucepan from heat and allow to cool completely, stirring the mixture as it cools so that the sugar dissolves.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Whisk together cloves, ginger, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix in the shortening (or lard) and strain the piloncillo syrup in until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
• Divide the dough in half.
• Working with half the mixture at a time, roll out to 1/3-inch thickness and cut out with a pig-shaped cookie cutter.
• Place the cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.
• Brush with the egg wash.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
• Cool on wire racks.