Wonderful Marranitos with hints of piloncillo and cinnamon in every bite. This Mexican Pan Dulce is full of flavors, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It’s a delicious treat that everyone loves!
This delicious treat is known by at least 3 names: marranitos, puerquitos, and cochitos (I’m sure I’m missing a few tho!). Whatever you call them, they are so, so delicious and hard to resist!
These Marranitos are a cross between a cookie and a bread. If you look for them at the latin stores, look for them in the Pan Dulce (sweet bread) fresh bakes area.
Invite some friends over, brew a big pot of coffee, and hand these out. They’re delicious when you dip them in your “cafecito”… You can thank me later 🙂
Ingredients
Homemade Marranitos may look intimidating to make, but the ingredients are actually fairly simple. To make about 14 Marranitos you’ll need:
- 8 ounces piloncillo (227 grams)
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour (approximately 500 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 eggs (1 to brush the cookies) room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil (75 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
***Make sure to scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full ingredient list and written recipe.
How To Make Marranitos
This recipe is so simple and don’t be intimidated by kneading the dough by hand. You’ll delight anyone you serve them to!
- First head over this Piloncillo Syrup blog post and start making it by following those easy steps.
- 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.
How do you know when the Marranitos are baked?
They take around 12 minutes to bake but if you want them more crispy like a cookie, bake for 15 minutes. But like anything baked, be sure to keep your eye on them starting at the 10 minute mark since it all depends how your oven works.
They are ready to come out of the oven when they start to turn golden brown at the edges. The middle of the bread will look soft with some cracks.
Chef’s Tips and Notes
- If the mold sticks to the dough, dip it into flour to coat it lightly.
- If you’re kneading by hand, add about 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk as it may become drier. When knead with a mixer, less liquid is needed.
- Brushing the pigs with eggs is optional to give that “barnish” to the bread
- The dough’s texture is like a paste and not like a cookie dough.
- Bread is ready when you touch it in the middle and it bounces back. Don’t leave it in the oven too long as it will become dry and more crispy.
Special Tools You’ll Need
- Rolling pin.
- Pig Cookie Cutter – If you can’t find a pig cookie cutter, you can use whatever you have at hand. The flavor of this delicious pan dulce will still be the same!
- Baking Tray.
- Mixing bowl.
How to Store
- To store: keep this pan dulce in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, then transfer to the fridge or freezer. I recommend freezer.
- To freeze: make sure the marranitos are completely cooled, and then transfer them to an airtight container lined with wax or parchment paper or freezer-safe bag before storing them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy!
MORE delicious…
Mexican Desserts
? If you enjoyed this recipe I’d love it if you take 5 seconds to rate and review it below on the blog. It’s also super helpful to me and other readers if you share any changes you made to the recipe. I’m so grateful you’re here! ??
Print Recipe:
Marranitos (Pig Pan Dulce)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces piloncillo (227 grams)
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour (approximately 500 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 eggs (1 to brush the cookies) room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil (75 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- 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.
Muy Delish Notes:
- To store: keep this pan dulce in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, then transfer to the fridge or freezer. I recommend freezer.
- To freeze: make sure the marranitos are completely cooled, and then transfer them to an airtight container lined with wax or parchment paper or freezer-safe bag before storing them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy!
Add Your Own Private Notes
Whenever you come back to this recipe, you’ll be able to see your notes.
Nutrition
The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.
My pilloncillo hardened when cooled I re heated it, placed it warm, but still crumbly..
what type of yeast is needed
I would love to know the story behind using the pig shaped cookie cutters. I find Mexican heritage stories so wonderful to hear! Thank you Ana!
Hello, I’m a Mexican (del D.F.) living in France and I want to try to make my own puerquitos for my children. Your recipe looks so good. What size cookie cutter did you use, for the larger ones? Thanks! Muchos saludos!
I love this Marranitos recipe! All of the spices remind me of ginger even tho there is no ginger lol! Can’t wait to try them again!