Marranitos (Mexican Pig Shaped Cookies)

Name: Marranitos (Mexican Pig Shaped Cookies)
Prep time: 18 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 1 h 32 min
Yield: 32 small or 16 large cookies
Ingredients: 1 1 cup almond flour; 1 1 cup pea protein; 2 2 tablespoons Psyllium Husk Powder; 1 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ ½ teaspoon baking soda; 1 ½ 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ ½ teaspoon ground cloves; ½ ½ cup lard; ¾ ¾ cup allulose sweetener; 2 2 large eggs; 1 ½ 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

User Reviews

5.0

6 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
18 mins
Cook Time
18 mins
Additional Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 32 mins
Servings
32 small or 16 large cookies
Calories
133 kcal
Course
Dessert, Snacks
Cuisine
Mexican

Marranitos (Mexican Pig Shaped Cookies)

Ava Acevedo

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These adorable low-carb and gluten-free marranitos (Mexican gingerbread pigs) are deliciously sweet and soft like the authentic pan dulce from the panaderia, but with less than 1 net carb per cookie!

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Ingredients

Servings

1 1 cup almond flour
1 1 cup pea protein
2 2 tablespoons Psyllium Husk Powder
1 1 teaspoon baking powder
½ ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ ½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ ½ cup lard (or unsalted butter)
¾ ¾ cup allulose sweetener powdered
2 2 large eggs for dough, plus 1 egg (for egg wash, optional)
1 ½ 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses see notes

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Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup almond flour, 1 cup pea protein, 2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.
In a larger bowl, or in the bowl of your standing mixer, cream together the 1/2 cup lard and 3/4 cup allulose sweetener until light and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add in 2 large eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses. Mix to combine.
Add half of the whisked dry ingredients, and mix well. Add the the remaining slowly, giving time to incorporate, and mixing until the cookie dough forms. The dough is quite heavy so if using a hand mixer you might need to knead by hand to get a smooth dough.
Divide the dough in two. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. (You could start rolling the dough straight away but it's easier to cut the pig shaped cookies after the dough is chilled).
Preheat the oven to 170 °C (340 °F) and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Place half of the dough on a silicon mat, parchment paper or lightly floured (use pea protein powder) surface. Roll out the dough to 3/8 inch thickness (~ 1 centimeter). Cut the dough into marranitos using the pig-shaped cookie cutter. You'll get about 32 cookies with the small cutter, about half that with the large one.
Transfer the piggies to the cookie tray, evenly spaced at least one inch apart. Use a pie server or spatula to help gently lifting them if needed. Re-roll the scraps of dough together and cut more puerquitos
If you wish more golden brown marranitos, whisk one extra egg and brush it over the cookies lightly (If the egg is too thick, add a splash of water).
Bake the marranitos for about 12-13 minutes, until they are puffed up and with just a hint of light browning around the edges. (If the dough wasn't chilled, they will be ready faster at 10-11 minutes). The cookies are soft but can be handled straight from the oven. They may be served warm.

Equipments used:

Notes

* Powdered or confectioner's sweetener is a better choice for creaming the lard or butter, as it quickly dissolves and gets lighter and fluffier. You can easily powder the sweetener yourself in a a blender or food processor for a couple of seconds.
* For soft marranitos, I recommend pure allulose (or xylitol) sweetener, or erythritol baking blends that also contain allulose. Pure erythritol will turn the cookies crisp/crunchy. You can use it if that's how you like them.
** Authentic marranitos pan dulce are made with piloncillo sugar and/or brown sugar, and sometimes also take up to a whole cup of molasses. To make this low-carb and keto friendly marranitos recipe, I used blackstrap molasses. Only one tablespoon has enough concentrated flavor to make these taste similar to piloncillo cookies, while adding a negligible amount of carbs to the recipe (each cookie has 0.7 net carbs). If you prefer to skip it altogether, you can substitute the sweetener in the recipe for a keto gold or brown sweetener.

Nutrition Information

Show Details

Serving 2small cookies or 1 big cookie Calories 133kcal (7%) Carbohydrates 2.7g (1%) Protein 7.7g (15%) Fat 10g (15%) Fiber 1.4g (6%) Sugar 1g (2%) Net Carbohydrates 1.3g