Going Back in Time...Muffin Style

Good Evening Dear Readers!

Today I'm taking you on a trip down memory lane thanks to a recent Pinterest entry I found for making Marranitos, or Mexican Piggies. These pastries are not quite a cookie and not quite a bread. As with many other pan dulce it is lightly sweetened and goes well with coffee or milk.

Long ago when I was a mini Muffin, my parents would take me to the Pink Elephant Panaderia in San Jose occasionally on Saturday mornings. There I could choose out any pastry I wanted. Usually I chose a cookie covered in crunchy sprinkles because they were so pretty, but as I grew older I developed a taste for Conchas instead. After I chose my pastry my parents would make their pan dulce selections and away we'd go. They always included some piggies for my brother since they were his absolute favorite (and still are I might add). Of course, they always knew that I wasn't completely satisfied by my single cookie so they always threw in a few extra piggies for me as well.

These trips used to be so memorable to me because over the years, we didn't always live close to The Pink Elephant, and the panaderia isn't in the greatest side of town. Either way, we kept coming here year after year since it was known for being one of the best panaderias in the Bay Area and it was always a special treat whenever we went.

Finished piggies...errr I mean Bears

The tradition of going to the Pink Elephant didn't start with my parents though: my grandparents had been going there for years before my parents started dating and eventually got married. I'm not sure how long it has been around but to this day The Pink Elephant is still standing and serving the hispanic community wonderful pastries daily. It is one of my wishes to some day continue that tradition and take my son, the muffin-lette, there and let him choose his own pan dulce.

So, as I mentioned earlier: I found this recipe online for Marranitos via Pinterest and decided to give it a try and share the results with you.

Mmmmm, the molasses smelled so wonderful

Authentic Mexican Marranitos (Molasses Gingerbread Piggies)

I'm sure you noticed by now that the piggy pictures I posted aren't actual piggies. I assure you, I haven't completely lost my muffin sense and do realize that the cookie cutter I am using is bear-shaped and not pig-shaped, I still just call them piggies out of habit. Sadly, when I started this project I didnt have a pig cookie cutter large enough to make a proper Marranito and the only cutter I had available was the bear cutter you see in my photos.

Ginormous Bear cookie cutter!

Since I didnt get permission to re-post this recipe I felt that it was only fair to re-direct my readers to where I originally found the recipe especially since I didnt make any notable adaptions.So, this recipe can be found via my Pinterest board or going directly to this link.


I did however, want to point out a few things about this recipe that will help make your life easier and make a more authentic, tastier pastry:

• Use lard (or Manteca in spanish) if at all possible - This will give you the best possible taste and texture. Just ignore the fact that it wont necessarily be very healthy.
• Use that egg wash! The gloss and texture is very reminiscent of the piggies I used to get when I was a kid - just dont go too crazy with the wash or else you'll end up with scrambled eggs on top of your pan dulce
• Add in the cinnamon but skip the rest of the spices the reviews say to add. The flavor you achieve is the closest to actual panaderia piggies and I always think its nice to try something one way before you decide to try out your own variations of the recipe.
• Section out your dough into large palm sized balls.I found this was easier for me to handle when I rolled out and stamped my dough versus to handling the entire batch of dough at once.
• Dont be afraid of handling the dough too much. It is very forgiving and fairly easy to handle. 
• As always, have fun and add in as much love to your pastries as possible. It definitely affects the flavor :)

After the first batch made it out of the oven I gave the first piggy to Mr. Muffin (ha ha I hope he doesn't mind me calling him that) who declared them a success. That poor piggy didn't stand much of a chance and was devoured well before the next batch could make it out of the oven. Overall, this is a fairly easy and quick recipe to make, even for impatient Muffins such as myself and is simple enough for bakers of any skill to master.

Well Sleepy Muffin Readers - as usual I am starting to get pretty sleepy so I must bid you Adios.

Until next time!

The Little Sleepy Muffin

What are you Thankful for?

Hey there Sleepy Muffin Readers!

Today is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be grateful for:


First and foremost I'm extremely grateful for the most wonderful man in my life. He makes me laugh and sometimes he drives me crazy but overall he has made my life 100x better than I could ever imagine. I could go on and on about how wondering and amazing he is. Believe me, there is never a dull moment in my house with him around.

I'm also grateful for my family. I''m thankful to have my parents nearby and and glad that I am able to have a good relationship with them. My brother is deployed overseas I miss him very much but am grateful for the opportunity to have him in my life as well. In addition to my immediate family, my in-laws are also worth being thankful for. They are some of the sweetest, loudest, loving people I have ever met.

My puppies Max and Peach and also my rabbit Bunn are also on my list of things to be thankful for. Its hard to stay discouraged or grumpy after a rough day at work when you're greeted by a whirlwind of fur at the door when you come home. They definitely make things interesting at home and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In a little over two months we're going to be welcoming our little muffin-let into this world and I'm already so thankful for the miracle he is. Right now he is kicking and moving around like mad (and occasionally driving me crazy) but I already love that little guy dearly and cant wait to have him in my arms.

Finally, I'm thankful for a comfy home, good food to eat, a place to work, and a fairly peaceful and happy life. My life is far from perfect but God has truly blessed me with many wonderful things.

So, dear Reader, what are you thankful for?

West Elm Knock-off Doormat

Hey there Readers!

I really can't believe that the holidays are already here. To be honest, I'm not really ready for it. Usually I already have my house decorated well before Thanksgiving but I think between carrying around a little muffin-lette (who is currently moving around like crazy) and making things to sell at local craft fairs it came way too fast. Did I mention that the weather has been more unusual than normal here in Texas? Driving home from work today, it was 70 degrees! What kind of holiday weather is that?!?

So for those looking for a few home decor projects to do for the holidays look no more!

West Elm knock-off Doormat

I subscribe to the CasaSugar blog and the other day there was a list of ideal gifts to give for the new homeowner. One of the items on this list were these cute but simple holiday doormats from West Elm.

I absolutely love their designs, however with the holidays coming up and a baby on the way there was no way I could justify a $30 price tag. So, then I thought...I can do that! It might not be perfect but I can still get a similar effect for about half the cost.


Items you'll need:

• Outdoor doormat - I found mine at Walmart for $7 - it wasnt exactly like the one in the picture above but it did have the jute material in the center of the mat
• Spray Paint of your desired color - For this project I tried going with fabric spray paint and wasnt completely thrilled with the lack of color vibrancy. Plus it set me back $5 whereas Rustoleum would cost a little less
• Thin cardboard or posterboard
• Scissors
• Some basic drawing skills

Isn't he cute?

So, anyone who has known me for any length of time knows I love bunnies. So I thought it was very fitting to make a bunny image on my doormat.  First, grab your poster board and sketch your bunny design. I did a quick Google image search and found some silhouette images of bunnies and chose one that would be easy to replicate.

Once you are satisfied with your design carefully cut out your image - the outline will be your template. The actual bunny cut out can be used for another project if you want.



Next, setup your workstation in a well-ventilated area that you can get messy. I have a small paint booth I made for myself out of a portable closet so I can paint anytime I want, but if you don't have something like that available, newspaper or a garbage bag will be more than sufficient. Arrange your template on top of your mat and start spraying.

Voila! You're done! I'd recommend leaving your mat there overnight so it dries completely. I love how simple this project was. It also gives you plenty of flexibility to customize it to your liking (I'm thinking monogramming and other embellishments).

The whole project probably took me about 30 minutes to do from start to finish which is great because Sleepy Muffins tend to get a bit impatient if a project takes too long. 

A few things I discovered with this project:

• Make sure you find something to weigh down your template. I noticed when I was spraying my mat that the paint caused the paper to curl up fairly quickly so I didnt get very sharp lines on my finished mat.
• As I mentioned before: try out regular spray paint instead of fabric spray paint. I thought it would be alright for this mat but it didn't give me a vibrant enough color.

Well until next time Readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

The Little Sleepy Muffin