The ONLY Mexican Gingerbread Pig Cookies Recipe You Need to Make Marranitos 🐷
Looking for an authentic marranitos recipe that’ll make you feel like you’re in a Mexican panadería (bakery)? You’re in the right place.
Also, excellent choice on picking these adorable Mexican gingerbread pig cookies to make; they’re a classic for good reason.
Marranitos (meaning “little pigs”), also known as puerquitos or cochinitos, are way easier to make than you’d think — and they disappear fast (like, really fast).
We have the recipe listed below, but if you decide you don’t want to make them after all, head here to buy marranitos online (we won’t tell 🤐).
Mexican Gingerbread Pig Cookies Ingredients to Make Marranitos
These soft, cake-like cookies are flavored with molasses and warm spices, making them perfect for Day of the Dead, Christmas, or really, any time you’re craving traditional Mexican cookies.
While not an ingredient, you will need this pig-shaped cookie cutter to easily shape your marranitos 🐷 but the rest of the actual ingredients are listed below.
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup grated piloncillo (or dark brown sugar)
- 2 large eggs (1 for dough; 1 for egg wash)
- ¾ cup unsulphured molasses (but don’t use blackstrap)
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
📝 Quick Marranitos Recipe Notes
- Prep Time: 20 minutes (plus 30 minutes chilling)
- Cook Time: 12-15 minutes per batch
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Servings: About 18-20 large cookies (depending on the size you use → Get your pig cookie cutters here)
- Calories: About 150 calories per cookie
Step-by-Step Marranitos Recipe Guide
1. Mix the dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar
Using a stand mixer like this one (an affordable Amazon best seller ⭐️), or in a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and dark brown sugar together until light and fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes.
🐷 Marranitos Pro Tip: If you’re using piloncillo (unrefined raw cane sugar aka Mexican brown sugar), grate it first before mixing with the butter.
3. Add the wet ingredients
Add 1 egg, molasses, milk, and vanilla extract to the butter mixture.
Beat for about 2 minutes until well combined and smooth, scraping down the bowl occasionally.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients
Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until a soft dough forms. The dough should pull away cleanly from the bowl.
🐷 Marranitos Pro Tip: Don’t over-mix! Mix just until the dough comes together or your cookies will be tough instead of tender and cakey.
5. Chill the dough
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This makes it MUCH easier to roll out and cut.
If you’re in a hurry, you can skip this step, but know that your dough will be stickier and harder to work with.
6. Roll and cut the cookies
Preheat your oven to 350°F (about 175°C), and line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to about ⅜ to ½-inch thickness, then use this pig-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your marranitos.
🐷 Marranitos Pro Tip: Dip your cookie cutter in flour between cuts to get clean edges and prevent sticking.
Finally, place the little piggies on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
7. Apply egg wash
In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the cookies with the egg wash. This gives them that beautiful golden, slightly glossy finish.
8. Bake the cookies
Bake at 350°F (about 175°C) for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and small cracks begin to appear on the surface.
⚠️ Warning: Don’t over-bake them! The cookies should still look a bit soft in the center.
They’ll firm up as they cool and should have a soft, cake-like texture; NOT hard or crunchy texture.
9. Cool and Enjoy
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
These cookies are best enjoyed with a cup of Mexican hot chocolate, champurrado, atole, or café de olla for an authentic experience.
8 Important Tips When Making Marranitos
1️⃣ Use unsulfured molasses like this one – This is KEY for authentic flavor.
Blackstrap molasses is too bitter, and sulfured molasses has an off-taste, so make sure yours says “unsulfured” or “original” (or get the one linked above).
2️⃣ Don’t skip chilling the dough – I know it’s tempting, but chilled dough is SO much easier to roll and cut.
It also helps the cookies keep their shape during baking instead of spreading into oval blobs instead of cute little piggies.
3️⃣ Flour everything generously – Your work surface, rolling pin, and cookie cutter all need a good dusting of flour.
This dough is naturally sticky because of the molasses.
4️⃣ Roll to the right thickness – About ⅜ to ½-inch thick is perfect.
Any thinner and they’ll be too crispy (more like crackers than cookies), and any thicker means they won’t bake evenly.
🐷 Marranitos Pro Tip: If your dough is still too sticky after chilling it, add flour in 1 tablespoon at a time until it’s workable; but not too much or your cookies will be dry.
5️⃣ The egg wash is important – Not just for looks 🥚 the egg wash gives marranitos their signature glossy, slightly crackled top, so don’t skip this step.
6️⃣ Watch them closely while baking – These cookies can go from perfect to over-baked in just a minute.
They should be lightly golden at the edges but still soft-looking in the center when you take them out.
7️⃣ Store them covered – Marranitos will stay soft for up to a week at room temperature in airtight containers like these.
Keep them covered or they’ll dry out and get hard. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
8️⃣ Make ahead friendly – You can make the dough up to 3 days in advance and keep it refrigerated, or freeze the shaped unbaked cookies for up to 2 months.
If you want to bake from frozen, add 2-3 extra minutes to the cooking time.
Mexican Gingerbread Pig Cookies FAQ
What does “marranitos” mean?
Marranitos literally means little pigs in Spanish, which is why these Mexican cookies are shaped like adorable piggies 🐷
They’re also called puerquitos, cochinitos, or cerditos, which are all different ways to say “little pig.”
This pig shape cookie became traditional after Spanish colonizers introduced pork to Mexico in the 1500s.
Are marranitos the same as gingerbread cookies?
Sort of — Marranitos are often called “Mexican gingerbread pigs,” but they’re different from American gingerbread and European gingerbread.
While they do contain ginger and cinnamon, the primary flavor comes from unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap molasses) and piloncillo (or dark brown sugar) — not the spices.
Mexican gingerbread cookies also have a softer, more cake-like texture compared to crispy gingerbread cookies.
Can I make marranitos without a pig-shaped cutter?
Absolutely — While you can buy a pig shape cookie cutter here for the traditional version, you can use any large cookie cutter you have (or even just a knife).
If you follow our recipe above, the flavor will be exactly the same no matter the shape.
This means you can go crazy with gingerbread men, stars, hearts, circles, squares, rectangles, or even “gatitos” (little cats 😻) instead of piggies.
Why are my marranitos hard instead of soft?
Here are the 3 most common reasons — You likely over-baked them, added too much flour, or didn’t measure your flour correctly.
- Remember, Mexican marranitos should be soft and cake-like; not hard and crunchy.
- Make sure to use the spoon-and-level method for measuring flour (don’t pack it), and take the cookies out when they’re just barely golden at the edges.
- They’ll continue to firm up as they cool, but should still be tender when you bite into them.
Can I make these gluten-free?
Yes — Just use a 1-to-1 ratio of this gluten-free flour blend in place of all-purpose flour.
You might also need to add an extra tablespoon or two of milk if the dough seems too dry.
🐷 Marranitos Pro Tip: Make sure your GF flour contains xanthan gum (the one we linked above does) for the ideal texture.
If not, they can get crumbly and may not hold their shape (which isn’t ideal for such distinct-shaped cookies); though they should still taste great.
What is piloncillo and do I need to use it for marranitos cookies?
Piloncillo is unrefined cane sugar that comes in hard cone shapes and has a deep, complex molasses-like flavor.
While it’s traditional in marranitos recipes, you don’t absolutely have to use it. Dark brown sugar is the best piloncillo substitute, and will work perfectly fine.
If you do decide to buy piloncillo here for the recipe, make sure you grate it before using as it’s very hard in texture.
Can I add more spices to make them more “gingerbready”?
Yes — While traditional marranitos are mild in spice, you can absolutely add more if you prefer a spicier cookie.
Try adding ½ teaspoon of ground anise, a pinch of cloves, some nutmeg and/or a dash of cardamom, which is used in Scandinavian gingerbread cookies.
Just don’t go overboard on the spice(s) or you’ll overpower the molasses flavor, which is the star of the show in Mexican gingerbread pig cookies.
Looking for more holiday treats? See my roundup of traditional Mexican Christmas cookies.
🍪 Want more authentic Mexican cookie recipes? Check out our other favorites
- 💍 Traditional Mexican Wedding Cookies (seen above)
- 🍪 Hojarascas: Mexican Cinnamon Cookies
- 💗 Polvorones Rosas: Viral Pink Mexican Cookies
- 🍪 Polvorones: Mexican Shortbread Cookies
- 🍪 Buñuelos de Rodilla: Mexican Sweet Fritters
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