← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 250 g piloncillo or dark brown sugar, grated
• 120 ml Water
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 170 g Butter, softened
• 2 tbsp honey or molasses
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 500 g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Method

1. Simmer the piloncillo, water and cinnamon stick for 10 min, stirring, until the sugar dissolves into a syrup. Remove the cinnamon and cool to room temperature.
2. Beat the butter with the honey until creamy. Beat in the cooled syrup and the eggs.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt, then mix into the wet ingredients to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
4. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F) and line two trays. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1 cm thick and cut out pigs with a 10 cm cutter. Re-roll the scraps once.
5. Set the pigs on the trays, brush with beaten egg and bake for 10–12 min, until puffed and just firm when pressed. Cool on a rack.

Tips

• Don’t roll them thin: the thick dough is what keeps them soft and bready rather than crisp.
• No pig cutter? Any shape works, but they won’t be marranitos.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Pati Jinich Isabel Eats Mexico in My Kitchen