Marranitos (or cochinos, or puerquitos, as they are called in some Mexican-American communities) are often called Gingerbread Pigs. This fun FarmHer spin on gingerbread man cookies is perfect for your next holiday party, a gift for your neighbors and friends, or to decorate at home with your family.
The cookie dough is easy to make and comes together in a few short minutes. The combination of molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger will fill your home with delicious scents of childhood Christmas memories.
Try the recipe below:
- Makes 16 Large Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 4 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- ½ teaspoon Ground Allspice
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cup Brown Sugar, packed
- ¼ Cup Molasses
- ¼ cup Buttermilk
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
For the egg wash:
- 2 Eggs whisked together
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients of 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, and then slowly pour in the molasses and buttermilk. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure those ones are 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 will be soft, so divide it into four equal-sized balls, wrap them in 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 it out on a well-floured surface to about 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 four cookies per ball of dough.) I like to dip my cookie cutter in a bit of flour to ensure 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.
These are my fav to make this time of year!
❤️ my Marianitos!