Cochinitos de Piloncillo (Marranitos)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan for piloncillo syrup
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Rolling pin
• •4 to 5 inch pig-shaped cookie cutter
• •Two rimmed baking sheets

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the syrup

   Put the piloncillo, water, canela stick, cloves, and anise seed in a small saucepan. Set it over medium-low heat and stir until the piloncillo dissolves completely. Simmer gently until the syrup smells dark and the spoon leaves a thin trail across the surface, about 8 to 10 minutes. Strain it and measure 3/4 cup. If you have more, simmer it a little longer. If you have less, add a spoonful of water. Cool completely before using. Hot syrup melts the lard and gives you a greasy dough. No me vengas con atajos.

2. 2

   Mix the dry base

   Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground canela, and salt in a wide bowl. Use your fingers to break up any lumps. Baking soda gives these cochinitos their soft lift and helps the piloncillo brown properly. Too much and they taste soapy. Measure like a grown cook.

3. 3

   Rub in the lard

   Add the soft manteca de cerdo to the flour mixture. Rub it in with your fingertips until the flour looks sandy and holds together when you squeeze a handful. La manteca es el sabor. Butter makes a different cookie. Vegetable shortening makes a cheaper one. This dough wants lard.

4. 4

   Form the dough

   Beat the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Add them to the flour mixture, then pour in the cooled piloncillo syrup. Mix with a wooden spoon until a dark, soft dough forms. Turn it onto the counter and knead only 6 to 8 times, just enough to bring it together. If the dough cracks at the edges, add milk one teaspoon at a time. If it smears on the counter, dust with a little flour. The dough should feel like soft clay, not wet batter.

   Do not knead this like bolillo dough. These are tender pan dulce cookies. Too much kneading wakes up the gluten and the cochinitos bake tough.
5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Pat the dough into a thick disk, wrap it, and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This rest lets the piloncillo settle into the flour and makes the dough easier to roll. Skip the rest and the pig shapes will spread into something sad and shapeless.

6. 6

   Roll and cut

   Heat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 3/8 inch thick. Cut with a 4 to 5 inch pig-shaped cutter. Press straight down and lift straight up so the legs stay clean. If you do not own the cutter, trace a pig shape with a small knife from a cardboard template. The shape matters. A cochinito should look like a cochinito, así se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Brush and bake

   Set the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared sheets. Brush the tops lightly with the egg wash, including the ears, snout, and legs. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are glossy brown, the edges are set, and the centers still feel slightly soft when touched. Do not wait for them to become firm in the oven. They finish setting as they cool.

8. 8

   Cool and store

   Let the cochinitos rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. Eat one warm if you have no discipline, but know this: they are better after several hours, and best the next day. The piloncillo softens the crumb overnight. Store in a covered tin or airtight container with a piece of parchment between layers.

Chef Tips

• •Buy real piloncillo, not brown sugar pretending to be culture. Look for hard cones in a Mexican market. Panela, papelón, or jaggery can work if piloncillo is impossible to find, but the flavor will shift. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use clean manteca de cerdo from a Mexican carnicería or a good rendered lard. Avoid hydrogenated supermarket lard if it smells stale. Some commercial panaderías use manteca vegetal because it is cheap and predictable. That is their business. In a home Huasteca-style batch, lard gives the tenderness.
• •Roll them thick. Thin marranitos turn into hard cookies. These should bend a little when fresh and soften more by the next day.
• •The syrup must be cool before it touches the dough. Warm syrup makes the lard melt and the flour drink unevenly. That is how you get greasy edges and dry centers.
• •Serve them with café de olla, atole blanco, champurrado, or plain milk for children. No frosting. No sprinkles. The shine comes from egg wash and piloncillo. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Advance Preparation

• •The piloncillo syrup can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before mixing the dough.
• •The dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for 2 days. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling.
• •Baked cochinitos keep well in an airtight tin for 5 days. They are softer on day two than on day one, which is exactly what you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 55g)