Pumpkin Piñata Cookies – homemade orange sugar cookies stacked together, decorated like Jack-O-Lanterns and filled with Halloween candy!
“This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.”
RECIPE IS BELOW IN PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BUT BLOG POST IS FULL OF “HOW TO MAKE IT”, TIPS, INFORMATION AND FAQ
A few years ago I made some Surprise Inside Love Letter Cookies and I just loved how they turned out. So when it came to deciding on Halloween treats to make this year, I thought that I would make a Halloween version of those Surprise Inside cookies.
So, I thought Pumpkin Jack-O-Lantern Piñata Cookies would be perfect.
My 4 year old just thought that these Piñata Cookies were the coolest cookies ever since they had candy inside of them.
Why You Should Make these Pumpkin Piñata Cookies…
- Fun for kids to shake and open
- can be decorated as regular pumpkins or Jack-O-Lanterns
QUICK GLANCE AT INGREDIENTS FOR Pumpkin Piñata Cookies:
- cream cheese
- unsalted butter
- Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- Orange Food Coloring
- salt
- all-purpose flour
- Black Cookie Icing
- Halloween M&Ms
(AMOUNTS IN RECIPE CARD BELOW)
How to make Pumpkin Piñata Cookies:
- Make Cookie Dough
Make the cookie dough according to the recipe below.
- The Dough!
So this is a sticky dough. Once you mix it, you’ll probably need to dump it out onto the counter and start kneading it with a little extra flour to make it all come together.
- Roll it out
Roll dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. - Cut out cookies
Cut out 48 pumpkin cookies.
Take 16 cookies and cut out a circle or smaller pumpkin shape in the center.
Lay cookies on a prepared baking sheets and bake for cookies for 10 minutes.
Cool Completely. - To Decorate:
Use Black Cookie Icing to pipe Jack-O-Lantern faces onto 16 of the cookies. Set aside to dry.
-
Place 16 solid base cookies (without the face) on a flat surface.
Pipe black icing around the edges of 16base cookies.
Stack center cookies (with centers removed) on top of base cookies.
- Fill the Piñata cookies
Fill centers with hard chocolate candies or sprinkles
-
Pipe black icing around the edges of center cookies and top with the 16 Jack-O-Lantern face top cookies.
-
Let cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions
I use liquid or gel food coloring when I make these cookies. Either will work for these.
You can add M&Ms, any small hard candy or sprinkles to the centers of Piñata Cookies.
More Halloween Cookie Recipes:
SPONSORED ITEMS USED IN THIS RECIPE:
Pumpkin Piñata Cookies
Pumpkin Piñata Cookies
Pumpkin Piñata Cookies - homemade orange sugar cookies stacked together, decorated like Jack-O-Lanterns and filled with Halloween candy!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Orange Food Coloring
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups all-purpose flour + extra for rolling
- Black Cookie Icing
- 2 cups Halloween M&Ms
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese and butter.
Mix in sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing after each one.
Add vanilla extract and orange food coloring.
In a large bowl mix flour and salt.
Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture.
Mixing until the dough comes together. If it seems to not be coming together all the way in the bowl, place it on a flat surface and knead with extra flour until dough comes together.
Roll dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut out 48 pumpkin cookies.
Take 16 cookies and cut out a circle or smaller pumpkin shape in the center.
Lay cookies on a prepared baking sheets and bake for cookies for 10 minutes.
Cool Completely.
To Decorate:
Use Black Cookie Icing to pipe Jack-O-Lantern faces onto 16 of the cookies. Set aside to dry.
Place 16 solid base cookies (without the face) on a flat surface.
Pipe black icing around the edges of 16base cookies.
Stack center cookies (with centers removed) on top of base cookies.
Fill centers with hard chocolate candies.
Pipe black icing around the edges of center cookies and top with the 16 Jack-O-Lantern face top cookies.
Let cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.
Notes
You can use M&MS or Sprinkles inside of these cookies
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 492Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 83gFiber: 2gSugar: 44gProtein: 7g
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Check out all of these great #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipes for today
- Pumpkin Piñata Cookies from Big Bear’s Wife
- Blood Splatter Cakesicles from Semi Homemade Recipes
- Jalapeno Mummy Poppers from Jen Around the World
- Halloween Brownies from Devour Dinner
- Candy Coated Strawberry Witches from The Redhead Baker
- Mummy Macarons from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifles from Cookaholic Wife
- Monster Mix from House of Nash Eats
- Candy Corn Carmel Thumbprint Cookies from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Candy Corn Popcorn Balls from Sweet Beginnings
- Deviled Corn from Pastry Chef Online
- Mini Halloween Oreo Cheesecakes from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Hocus Pocus Billy’s Grave Pudding Cups from I am a Honey Bee
- Hocus Pocus Hot Chocolate from For the Love of Food
Welcome!!! It is almost Halloween which means it is time for this year’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek recipe and giveaway event!!
#HalloweenTreatsWeek is a yearly Halloween blogging event that is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife & its a creepy and haunting week-long event is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats, recipes and some frightfully fun giveaways.
“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers ‘tis near Halloween.”
For the 4th annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek event we have 28 hauntingly talented bloggers that are sharing their favorite Halloween recipes throughout the week!
Follow the hashtag #HalloweenTreatsWeek on social media and look at the bottom of each post to see all of the Halloween recipes that we’re sharing!
Prize #1 from Dixie Crystals
41 Pieces Silicone Bakeware Set
3 Piece Halloween Silicone Spatula Set
Nordic Ware Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan
Giveaway open to US Residents 18 years or older. All entries will be verified. No PO Boxes Please. Prizes will be sent directly from sponsor to winner, bloggers are not responsible for prizes. This giveaway runs from October 11th – October 15th at 11:59PM EST. Winners will be selected soon afterward and contacted by e-mail. Winners will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. There are a total of 1 (ONE) prize pack and therefore we will have a total of 1 (ONE) winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Disclaimer: These posts and recipes are part of the week-long event, #HalloweenTreatsWeek but all opinions are 100% mine! We would like to Thank our amazing brand sponsors: Dixie Crystals that provided a prize pack for our giveaways and also sent some samples and products to the #HalloweenTreatsWeek bloggers to use in their recipes.
What a fun idea! Any kid would love busting into one of these to find the treats inside!
These pumpkin pinata cookies look wonderful. Could you please also give some ideas on how to pack them?