Description
Marranitos (or cochinos, or puerquitos, as are they are called in some Mexican-American communities) are often called ‘Gingerbread Pigs,’ although they don’t actually have ginger in them – and no cinnamon either. In fact, traditional marranitos get their delicious spicy-brown goodness from molasses. This recipe is a trans-pecos region variation, it uses the non-traditional addition of cinnamon. You may wish to try also adding a bit of dry ground ginger, and you may use a milk wash instead of an egg wash.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 cup unsulfured molasses
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- 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.
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Servings: 15