The Best Marranitos Recipe
I have done it! After three failed attempts, here is the best marranitos recipe (Mexican piggy cookies) ever, and it’s vegan!!. Ok, I might be a little too excited about this one, but hear me out. This is my favorite pan dulce, you can ask any of my family members, and they will be sure to tell you I have eaten many marranitos in my life!
A marranito is a Mexican pastry shaped like a piggy. It can be soft like a sweet bread or more on the hard side like a cookie. This version is the perfect combination of a pastry and a cookie. It is made with a combination of whole wheat and white flour and infused with a piloncillo, star anise, clove, and cinnamon syrup.
I’ve reworked this recipe from a couple years ago to include a good amount of fat. When I first created this recipe I was trying to be no-oil, but quickly realized that I just can’t do it. I do try to limit the amount of oil that I use in cooking, but when it’s something as delicious as this marranito pan dulce fat is good once in a while.
They taste just as they should, so much so, that the kids ate them so fast I hardly had time to photograph them. We dunked them in the thickest Mexican hot chocolate.
The Recipe: The Best Vegan Marranitos
- I recommend eating the marranitos by dunking them in hot chocolate or coffee.
- If you would like to make these without fat you can substitute the amount of vegan butter with apple sauce.
- You can find the marranitos cookie cutter that I used right HERE Enjoy!
Marranitos
Ingredients
Piloncillo Syrup
- ⅔ cup Water
- 1 cone Piloncillo, (8 oz)
- 2 Cloves, whole
- 1 stick Mexican cinnamon (2 inches)
- 1 Star anise
Marranitos
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp. Flour, all-purpose
- 1 cup Flour, whole wheat
- 1 tsp. Baking soda
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- ⅓ cup Vegan butter, melted
- ½ cup Piloncillo syrup
"Egg Wash"
- 2 tbsp Unsweetened plant milk
- 1 tbsp Maple syrup
Instructions
To make the Piloncillo Syrup
- Place water, piloncillo, cinnamon, clove, and star anise in a medium saucepot set to medium heat. Simmer slowly and stir until the piloncillo dissolves. Continue to simmer until the mixture has the consistency of natural maple syrup. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Strain. (For this recipe we will only be using 1/2 cup of the piloncillo syrup. You can save the rest to use later.)
To make the marranitos
- In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat and all-purpose flours, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Combine 1/2 cup of the piloncillo syrup with the melted butter and mix well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough begin to comes together.
- Use your hands to incorporate the dough together and form a ball. The dough will be on the wet side. If the dough is too dry add a bit more of the piloncillo syrup.
- Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 - 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thickness.
- Use a large pig-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the dough and place them on a parchment-lined sheet tray.
- Reform the dough scraps into a ball and roll out again to cut out more marranitos. Repeat this process until you cannot cut out any more.
- Combine the plant milk and maple syrup in a small bowl to make your "egg wash". Brush marranitos with "egg wash".
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the marranitos are golden brown on the bottom.
- Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Notes
Nutrition
Can someone say what piloncillo is and where to buy it? Looks like you need to buy it in two different forms. I’ve never heard of it!
Piloncillo is raw unrefined cane sugar. It comes in a cone form, you can find it at Mexican grocery stores or in the Mexican section of the grocery store.
What’s the difference between using melted syrup and butter vs grated piloncillo and softened butter?
If you use softened butter and grated piloncillo it will have the texture of a cookie, if you use melted piloncillo and butter the texture is somewhere in between a cookie and a pastry.
I made these this morning for my Fathers birthday and they are absolutely delicious! My parents said they tasted better than the ones they get at the panaderia. My father has high cholesterol, thanking you so much for classic Mexican recipes made vegan. It’s really helping him change his eating habits.
I’m so glad!
I want my Marranitos on the softer side, do i cut them thicker ?
Yes, the thicker they are the softer they will be.
Thanks so much for posting these vegan versions. My son has food allergies and it’s great to be able to make them at home to know what is in them. Allows me to have some coffee and marranitos with him on a Sunday morning like my dad and I used to.
Our cones of Piloncillo weigh between 4 and 4.5 ounces. Do we really need 8 ounces (two of our cones) or would one cone suffice? Super excited to make these – I’ve been searching for a vegan version for a long time :-) Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes – I’ll post a note after I’ve made these.
You could half the recipe for the piloncillo syrup since you do have some syrup leftover
Do we have to use wheat flour ? Can we just do all purpose flour for the whole recipe?
You can use all-purpose flour for the whole recipe.
This recipe mentions clove in the instructions but not in the recipe list….did I miss something?
Hi Joan, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have modified the recipe to include the clove.
I am so excited for your recipe!! I actually was just thinking about testing out recipes for Vegan Marranitos. When I was in Mexico City, I tracked down the cookie cutter for the piggies because I really wanted to make a vegan version but it just been sitting in my cupboard. I will definitely be making your recipe asap! :-)
Hey Jeni. I hope you like it. I tested this recipe so many times. It was hard to have it be low-fat but I am happy with the results.
Looks so good!