Coricos are Mexican corn cookies made of masa harina, piloncillo, shortening or lard, and eggs. The recipe is popular in the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California.
Coricos de MaÃz have this crumbly texture and a gentle hint of spice, sweetened with piloncillo. I love them with coffee in the morning or a cup of tea in the afternoon.
They’re usually shaped into little rings and also go by names like tacuarines or bizcochuelos. To me, they’re a bit like polvorones, but with that earthy corn flavor that makes them so unique.
We usually enjoy them with cafe de olla or atole, but also as a sweet treat any time of the day!
Ingredients & Substitutes
- Masa harina: The same flour used for tortillas (Maseca is the most common brand). Don’t swap it with cornmeal or regular corn flour because it won’t work the same.
- Butter: I like unsalted butter, but you can use lard. In Sonora and Sinaloa, some people use shortening.
- Eggs: Two medium eggs at room temperature (about 50–60 g each).
- Piloncillo: Used to sweeten the cookies. Brown sugar works too (see notes).
- Spices: Cinnamon, star anise, and cloves for flavor, plus baking powder and salt for texture.
How To Make Coricos Corn Cookies
Step 1: Make the piloncillo syrup
Place water in a medium saucepan and add piloncillo, cinnamon stick, anise star, and whole cloves.
Bring to a boil, set the heat to low, and simmer while stirring from time to time until piloncillo is dissolved and has become an aromatic and light syrup (about 10 minutes).
Remove the pan from the stove and allow it to cool down completely.
Top Tip: Make sure the piloncillo syrup cools down before mixing it in. If it’s still warm, it will melt the butter and the dough won’t hold its texture.
Step 2: Make the dough
Place lard or butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add salt and, using the wire whip, mix at high speed until light and fluffy (about 7 minutes).
Add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
Add masa harina, and baking powder. Use the paddles and start kneading the dough at low speed while pouring the piloncillo syrup until everything is fully incorporated.
In the end, the dough should have a texture like play dough and don’t stick to your hands.
Step 3: Shape the cookies
Pinch a bit of the dough and roll it into a ball with your hands.
Place the ball on a surface and with the palm of your hands roll it into a rope about 5-6 inches (13 cm) long.
Take both ends of a rope and overlap them, pressing a little bit to make a ring shape.
Repeat until all dough is used and transfer the unbaked cookies to a baking sheet lightly floured with masa harina.
Step 4: Bake
Preheat your oven to 360°F/180°C and bake the cookies between 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove the sheet from the oven and allow the corn cookies to rest for 5 minutes, then with a spatula remove them and place them on a cooling rack.
Baking Notes
- If you don’t have piloncillo, you can use ¾ cup packed brown sugar or ½ cup molasses, and just add a little water if the dough feels dry.
- I like using a kitchen scale for accuracy, and you can switch the recipe card to “Metric” if that’s easier.
- For gifting, I love slipping these coricos cookies into a cellophane bag with a ribbon and a little tag.
- At home, I let them cool completely before sealing them in a container or zip bag. They keep fresh for about a week, as long as the lid is tight so they stay nice and crispy.
Serving Your Coricos
Just like any cookie, I enjoy coricos with my morning coffee, a glass of cold milk, a cup of tea, or even oatmeal atole.
Sometimes I crumble them over ice cream, it adds the best crunchy touch. Other times, I just dust them with a little powdered sugar and serve them as a simple dessert or snack.
Keep Them Fresh
I always let my coricos cool completely before putting them away. Once they’re nice and cool, I slip them into a container with a tight lid, or sometimes just a zip bag if that’s what I have on hand.
They stay fresh for about a week like that. If I don’t close the lid well, I notice they lose their crunch and get soft, so now I’m extra careful to seal them tight. That way, whenever I grab one, it’s still perfectly crispy.
Similar Recipes
Video
Coricos (Mexican Corn Cookies)
Ingredients
- 4 cups Masa harina
- 1 cup butter (read note 1)
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
For the syrup
- 5 oz piloncillo
- 1 cup water
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 anise star
- 2 whole cloves
Instructions
Make the piloncillo syrup
- Pour water into a medium saucepan and add piloncillo, cinnamon stick, anise star, and whole cloves.
- Bring to a boil, set the heat to low, and simmer while stirring from time to time until piloncillo is dissolved and a light syrup has formed (about 10 minutes).
- Allow to cool down completely.
Make the dough
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add salt and, using the wire whip, mix at high speed until light and fluffy (about 7 minutes).
- Add the eggs and mix at high until fully incorporated.
- Add masa harina, and baking powder. Use the paddles and knead the dough at low speed while pouring the piloncillo syrup until everything is fully incorporated.
Shape the cookies
- Pinch a little bit of the dough and roll it into a ball with your hands.
- Roll the ball into a rope about 5-6 inches (13 cm) long.
- Take both ends of a rope and overlap them, pressing a little bit to make a ring shape. Repeat with all ropes until all are shaped
- Transfer shaped cookies to a baking sheet lightly floured with masa harina.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the cookies are lightly brown.
- Remove the sheet from the oven and leave it to rest for 5 minutes.
- Carefully, using a spatula, remove the cookies and place them on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy the corn cookies right away or store them in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can use butter, lard, or vegetable shortening to make this recipe.Â
- You can skip making the piloncillo syrup and just go with 3/4 cup brown sugar + 2/3 cup water instead.Â
Nutrition Information
Hope you loved my delicious corn cookies recipe! If you try it, please let me known below on the comments. And don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube!
Hi, can these be made with fresh corn masa from a molino? If so, do you know if the recipe amount changes too much?
Yes, you can make coricos with fresh masa from a molino, but I haven’t tested the exact amounts, so you may need to adjust the liquid a bit.
Quedan deliciosas!!!
I made these for my son-in-law who is gluten sensitive. I live in Arizona’s dry climate, so I had to add extra moisture to the dough. Luckily I had a little bit of maple syrup that I watered down and then the dough held together when I rolled it. Have not tasted the coricos yet, but when I tasted a tiny bit of it raw it tasted okay. I’ll let you know later!
Made these for our Mexican fiesta on Christmas Eve. Turned out really good . Thank you and Merry Christmas 2023.
Thank you for the recipe. I used a little bit of butter and coconut oil. I had a hard time making the masa playable. They keep breaking it so I added water and they are not very soft but they taste very good. Any suggestions?
Hi Alicia, was the coconut oil liquid or hardened like the butter? Make sure to use the the same amount as per recipe. A bit of water is good to use but not too much, the sough should have the texture as the one to make tortillas.
Also, the coricos should soften the next day, just allow them to cool down and store them in an airtight container.
Thanks to this recipe my coricos came out great! You need some practice to get the dough right so my advice is to start adding only half of the syrup and knead, from there, add more of needed. The flavor of those corn cookies are amazing and something worth to try.
Follow the syrup recipe given in the recipe. If dough is crumbly add more syrup until it can be rolled out.
I used very thick homemade golden syrup slightly diluted so Spices could be steeped in it. The ratio of liquid to dry was off and the dough wasn’t sticky/ wet enough to roll and shape. Would be nice if the recipe stated ounces of liquid as a light syrup isn’t an accurate measurement. With remaining dough I added agave syrup and the dough held together and rolled out forming the rounds. May try again noting liquid measurement to dry ingredient ratio.
Hi Maricruz! I am from Colima too!!! and I confess I never heard of coricos cookies before, thank you for saying the origin of the recipe, is very important to know these things. They looks amazing btw so I might try them once since I have maseca and piloncillo always at home.
I made these corn cookies yesterday and they were amazing! the recipe is so easy to follow. And now I know that coricos are a staple in Sonora, thanks! :D