Pati Jinich's Piggy Cookies

May 5, 2014Patricia @ ButterYum

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I can't think of a better day to post these wonderful Mexican cookies than today.

Piggy cookies (traditionally called: cerditos, cochinitos, marranitos, or puerquitos) are simply amazing and I can't believe I made it all these years without having them in my life.

So for those not familiar with traditional Mexican Piggy Cookies, let me explain - they have a delicately sweet, cinnamon flavor and their texture is soft and puffy; almost cake-like. The recipe for these cookies is from Pati Jinich's cookbook Pati's Mexican Table. She has published the recipe here.

Several months ago, I had the pleasure of making these cookies for Pati during an event in which she was making an appearance - I had never heard of them, but when we were discussing which recipes we wanted to serve during the event, Pati suggested I make these because they were a favorite of her family.... and now, they're a favorite of my family too!

We need honey and Piloncillo (or dark brown sugar) for this recipe. I've used both piloncillo and brown sugar for these cookies and and the piloncillo version really does taste better. You should be able to find it at your Hispanic grocery store.

Grate the Piloncillo sugar on a box grater. Combine the grated piloncillo sugar, water, and a ceylon cinnamon stick in a saucepan and gently heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens a bit. Then the honey and butter are stirred in. Next, the dry ingredients and eggs are added and everything gets stirred together...

recipe cerditos, cochinitos, marranitos, or puerquitos

how to make cerditos, cochinitos, marranitos, or puerquitos cookies. how to photos

Until the mixture looks like this. The dough is very soft and sticky at this point so it needs to be chilled before it can be rolled out. Put the dough into a plastic zip-top bag and store it in the refrigerator for anywhere from 2 - 48 hours.

Once the dough is chilled properly, it's time to roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. To ensure each of my cookies end up being the exact same thickness, I used 1/4-inch dowels in this photo, but I now use rolling guides.

Be sure dust well with flour to prevent sticking. Dip the pig cutter in flour too. Place the cookies on a parchment or silpat lined half sheet pan. Use a pastry brush to remove excess flour.

recipe and directions for how to make cerditos, cochinitos, marranitos, or puerquitos cookies. how to photos

Then brush the cookies with an egg wash just before popping them into a preheated oven to bake. When the cookies are done baking, cool completely and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Then hurry up and grab some before they all disappear!! In the very rare instance that you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container to maintain their soft chewy texture.