Puerquitos

• By Ruby
• December 31, 2012
• 5 Comments

Happy New Year’s Eve!

It’s the last day of 2012! How ‘bout that? How FAST did this year go?? I feel like I’ve been running like a headless chicken trying to catch up with it!

This year I did something that I had always wanted to do!  Sadly, it wasn’t opening up my own restaurant.

BUT!

I finally started my own food blog! It has been really fun so far.  I love having a space where I could share  my cooking and baking adventures.  &  I really love seeing your comments.  THANKS so much.  It really encourages me to continue blogging and cooking!

SO… they say eating pork on New Year’s Day brings us good luck. Most cultures follow this tradition in hopes of starting the year right. Among the most popular meals to eat on New Year’s Day are Hoppin’ John and Pork with Sauerkraut.

Apparently the way that pigs eat with their snout digging forward and their hooves pointing forward is believed to be the reason (The Food Timeline). Forward, is the direction most people want to go when the New Year arrives, right?

And I just happen to be a pig in the Chinese calendar.

Just sayin’.

Well, I made these molasses-flavored piggy cookies called “puerquitos” in honor of this tradition. Puerquitos (pronounced: pwair-key-toes) means little pigs or piggies in Spanish. They are one of my very favorites at the Mexican bakeries. They’re a cookie but they’re thick, almost like bread. Their edges are crisp and inside they’re soft and moist, but not too moist. This means they taste great when you dunk them in milk or coffee. Best of all they taste like molasses and I just L-O-V-E molasses. Call me weird but I just do! These cookies are actually very similar to gingerbread men cookies except they’re not spicy and usually don’t have ginger or cloves, or even cinnamon.

When I first made gingerbread men cookies using the recipe from The Joy of Cooking book, I thought to myself, “Hey, these cookies kind of KIND of taste like PORKIE BREAD”, which is what I ever so affectionately call them. That’s what led me to the idea of adapting this gingerbread cookie recipe to make my puerquitos. But I was worried they would not come out right. So I made another batch using an official puerquitos recipe that I found on the internet.

Verdict: I preferred these cookies that I adapted on my own. YAY! And I also have a surplus of puerquitos in the kitchen. OOPS!

These are a bit thinner than the kind at the bakeries. But then they’re thicker than gingerbread men cookies. & Wow, I really LOVE the flavor. They’re just the right amount of molasses and cinnamon. They’re sweet enough. Seriously this recipe from the Joy of Cooking book has the best gingerbread cookie recipe ever. That’s why I just HAD to adapt it and use it to make PUERQUITOS (little piggies) and I’m proud to say I’m really satisfied with the results!

& MMMM! They smell beautiful when they’re baking in the oven. Seriously, these puerquitos unlike the real kind (sorry Wilbur) smell divine!

Please little puerquitos bring me good luck for this New Year!
Best wishes to all for this New Year. Lots, lots, and lots of good luck in 2013!

Puerquitos

Print recipe

Yields	about 10 cookies
Meal type	Breakfast, Dessert
Region	Mexican

These molasses pig cookies, called "puerquitos" in spanish, are crispy around the edges and soft inside. Usually found in mexican bakeries. They are in between a cookie and a bread, which means these cookies are thicker than most other cookies.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 3/4 cups dark brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Note

Recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking's Gingerbread People (reduced fat) recipe

Directions

Step 1

Whisk together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Step 2

In a large bowl beat the butter and dark brown sugar at medium speed. Add the egg and beat just until combined well.

Step 3

Add the molasses and vanilla and stir well.

Step 4

Gradually add the flour mix and mix with a wooden spoon. Use your hands to knead the dough well.

Step 5

Divide dough in half. Form each dough into a round disc and wrap in plastic. Let sit for about 2 hours or even up to 8 hours at room temperature. Or you could even keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Step 6

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly flour working surface and roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut shapes with a cookie cutter. I used a pig-shaped cardboard (about 1/2 inch bigger than my regular gingerbread man cookie cutter) and traced with a sharp knife.

Step 7

Place cookies one inch or two apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush each cookie with egg wash on top.

Step 8

Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are just starting to brown.