Marranitos Mexican Pig Shaped Cookies Food

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.

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 (MEXICAN GINGERBREAD PIGS)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream 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, ground ginger, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix 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 3/8 inch thickness (or a little less than 1/2 inch). Use a pig shaped cookie cutter like this one to cut into pigs. Place pigs 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the remaining beaten egg over the tops of the cookies.
• 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.

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 (PIG PAN DULCE)

Steps:

• In a heavy medium saucepan add the piloncillo, water and ground cinnamon. Over medium high heat, bring the water to a boil, stirring the piloncillo often until it has melted. Lower the heat to a gentle boil and cook until the syrup has thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine ingredients.
• Place the flour on a clean work surface and make a nest.
• Add the egg, vegetable oil, vanilla and cooled piloncillo to the center of the well. Use a fork to gently break up the eggs, keeping the flour walls intact as best as you can. Use your hands to gently bring the flour inward to incorporate. Continue working the dough with your hands to bring it together into a ball.
• Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. At the beginning, the dough should feel wet, but stick with it! It might not feel like it's going to come together, but after 8-10 minutes of kneading, it should become cohesive and smooth.
• Note: If the dough still seems too dry, sprinkle your fingers with a tiny bit of water to incorporate. If it's too sticky, dust more flour onto your work surface. Shape the dough into a flat square disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick. With a pig shape cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
• Bring together the scraps, re-roll the dough and cut out more cookies.
• In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with one tablespoon of water. Then brush over the cookies lightly.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Let the marranitos cool before serving.