Gorditas de Azúcar are sweet Mexican griddle cakes made with flour, sugar, butter, and cinnamon. They’re soft and lightly sweet with golden, slightly crisp edges—somewhere between a pancake and a sweet biscuit.
These are not the savory masa Gorditas used for stuffing. This is a traditional family recipe from my mom’s side of the family in Francisco I. Madero, Durango, Mexico.
Learn more about the history and food traditions of my family’s home state in History of Durango Mexican Food.
¡Arriba Durango! 🤠
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Soft and lightly sweet. These gorditas have just enough sugar to make them special without being overly sweet.
- Easy to make. The dough comes together with simple pantry ingredients, and they cook right on a griddle.
- Perfect with your favorite toppings. Serve them warm with butter, jam, cajeta, Nutella, or whatever you have on hand.
- A traditional family recipe. This is the kind of simple Mexican recipe that reminds me of home and my family in Durango.
- Great for breakfast or a snack. Enjoy them with coffee, hot chocolate, or a cold glass of milk.
-Maggie
Ingredients
- Flour – Whole wheat is preferred, but you can also use all purpose flour.
- Butter – Swap out for lard or vegetable shortening, but butter will give it the best flavor.
- Sugar – You can also use 1 large cone of grated piloncillo instead.
- Eggs – Help bind the dough and give the gorditas a tender texture.
- Warm milk – Helps bring the dough together. You can also use a combination of water and sour cream.
- Baking Powder – This dry ingredient will make them puff up.
- Salt will accentuate the flavors.
- Cinnamon – Here, you see ground cinnamon, but you can also use finely chopped whole cinnamon.
My mom would occasionally add anise, depending on what she had in the kitchen.
A splash of vanilla also makes a delicious addition to the dough.
👩🏼🍳 Instructions
Making the Dough
- Soften butter and mix with the eggs in a large bowl.
- Add all the ingredients except for the flour.
- Gradually add the flour, mixing gently as you go.
- Once the dough starts to come together, slowly add the warm milk and continue mixing until a soft dough forms.
Normally, I make this recipe by hand in a large bowl.
If you’re using a KitchenAid mixer, use the lowest setting as you add the flour, or you’ll have flour everywhere.
Be sure to let the dough rest for 10 minutes before forming the balls.
- Form small dough balls.
- About the size of a golf ball.
- The dough will be sticky, but not too sticky to handle.
- Line a tortilla press with plastic wrap, add the dough to form a mini pancake. Be careful not to press too thin.
- Or, roll them out with a rolling pin. If using a rolling pin, use a little more flour so it won’t stick to your rolling pin. Rolling out will give you straighter edges than a tortilla press.
You can even use a plate to form the sweet gorditas.
Cooking the Gorditas
- Press out the dough ball individually.
- Heat up a griddle on medium heat.
- Cook on each side.
- Just like when you’re making pancakes, they don’t take long to cook. About 2 minutes on each side.
- Flip when it is golden brown.
- As they cook, you will see them puff up slightly but not much.
How to Store
Store the gorditas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
To freeze, place them in a freezer-safe bag, remove as much air as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Gorditas de Azúcar are sweet Mexican griddle cakes made with flour, sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Unlike savory masa gorditas, these are made with wheat flour and are served as a sweet breakfast or snack.
No. Traditional Mexican gorditas are usually made with masa and can be split open and filled with savory ingredients. Gorditas de Azúcar are sweet, flour-based griddle cakes and are not stuffed.
Yes. My family prefers whole wheat flour, but all-purpose flour works well too.
Yes. Lard or vegetable shortening can be used in place of butter. Butter gives the gorditas a delicious flavor, while lard makes them especially tender.
These Gorditas de Azúcar are one of those simple Mexican recipes that are easy to overlook—but once you try them warm from the griddle, they’re hard to resist.
Serve them with butter and jam alongside a cup of Café de Olla for breakfast, or add Nutella when you’re craving something a little sweeter.
Most of all, I hope you enjoy this little taste of my family’s kitchen in Durango. ❤️
Gorditas de Azúcar (Sweet Griddle Cakes)
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (shortening or lard can also be used)
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 cups flour (wheat or all purpose)
- ½ cup warm milk
Instructions
- Soften the butter.
- In a large bowl, mix the butter, eggs and water.
- Add the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
- Mix until combined.
- Slowly add the flour and warm milk.
- Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Knead for about 5 minutes.
- Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Form small dough balls about the size of a golfball.
- If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.
- Heat a griddle.
- Roll out each dough.
- Dust the rolling pin with flour as needed.
- Cook the gordita for 2 minutes on each side.
- Flip when the bottom is golden brown.
- Repeat until there are no more dough balls.
- Serve with jam, cajeta, or Nutella.
Notes
- Line it with plastic wrap.
- Add the dough.
- Be sure not to press down too thin.
Anything with lots of cinnamon sounds good to me. This sounds amazing.
Yes, I love all the cinnamon taste in the gorditas de azucar.
Never tried griddle cakes before. Looks delicious. I will make this weekend.
Hope you enjoy the gorditas de azucar. They are a favorite!
This was my first time making them and your easy to follow directions were so helpful.
So glad you liked this recipe!
These look so good! This is definitely a new one for me, but seems simple enough that I could make it easily! I love pushing myself out of my comfort zone with new recipes and this seems like a good place to start that process!
These Gorditas de Azucar are super tasty. You won’t regret it.
These look so amazing! I’d love to try them with Nutella!
With Nutella, they are YUM!