Sunshine Cookies

Turn any day into a sunny day. Share these adorably cute candy-filled piñata-style Sunshine Cookies to make anyone's day a little brighter.

The sun hasn't blessed us with its presence much this summer, so I thought I'd bring some sunshine inside. I spent the morning baking these whimsical sun-shaped cookies.

To my surprise, the sun came out in the afternoon and some friends and their kids stopped by. We spent the afternoon playing in the sunshine and snacking on these sweet candy-filled cookies.

Everyone had a blast cracking the cookies open to find the candy hidden inside.

What's not to love about cookies and candy especially when they look so cute?

Decorated piñata cookies do take a bit of time to make but seeing the smiles on my friend's faces made it all worthwhile. They were the perfect Summertime Recipe but they'd be great any time of year.

Sunshine Piñata Cookies

Ingredients

sugar cookie dough - butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, almond extract, flour, baking powder, and salt

yellow food coloring

mini candies to fit inside the cookies - I used mini M&M's.

yellow candy melts or yellow royal icing - You will use this to glue the two cookie pieces together.

½-inch candy eyes - These are larger than the candy eyes you find at most craft or grocery stores. I ordered mine from Amazon. See the link below.

black food coloring marker

Supplies

cake pops pan (metal half-sphere pan) - I used a Telebrands Bake Pop pan. It makes larger cake pops. If you use a different size pan, you may need to adjust the size of your cookies.
rolling pin
flour for dusting the work surface
optional, non-stick silicone mat
2 ½ inch round cookie cutter
3 ¼ - 3 ½ inch sunshine cookie cutter

The sugar cookie recipe below is adapted from LiloLoa.

You can find items needed to make this recipe at Amazon.com. I earn a small commission when you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this blog at no extra cost to you.

Ateco Plain Edge Round Cutt...Shop on Amazon Fox Run Sun Cookie CutterShop on Amazon White And Black ½-Inch Ca...Shop on Amazon  Telebrands Bake PopShop on Amazon

Instructions

Bake half-sphere cookies.

Lightly dust your work surface or a non-stick mat with flour.

Roll the cookie dough out to between a 1/16 inch and ⅛th inch thickness, cut 17 or 18 circles using a round cutter, and drape circles of dough over each mound on your pan and smooth with your fingers. Freeze pan for 15 minutes then bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.

The cookies will spread slightly while baking so you want to give them a bit of room to spread. You don't want the dough forming a lip at the base of the cookie. I used a 2 ½-inch cutter for this, but your cake ball pan may be smaller, so adjust the size of your dough circles to fit.

Bake sunshine cut-out cookies.

Roll out the remaining dough and cut out 17-18 sunshine shapes. Set them on parchment-lined baking sheets, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake for 10-14 minutes until the tops look dry.

Cool cookies completely.

Fill with candy.

Fill each half-sphere cookie with candy, pipe on some yellow royal icing or melted candy coating around the top edge of the cookie, set a sun-shaped cookie over top, turn the cookies right side up, and allow to dry completely.

Add the smiley faces.

Attach two candy eyes using icing or candy melts, then draw on smiles using black food coloring markers.

You can tell by looking at these pictures that I made these on a gloomy day. If you want, you can bake the cookies and freeze them, un-decorated, until you want to serve them. Then remove from the freezer and allow them to thaw for about an hour, then fill and decorate.

The cookies will be ready to go when you want to share them with friends and family.

Storage

Store your cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. 

You can also freeze the unfilled cookies for up to three months. Let them thaw completely and then decorate them with smiley faces, fill them with candy, and "glue" them together.

Related Recipes

If you are looking for other smiley face or sunshine treats, be sure to check these out.

Smiley Face Pretzels

Smiley Face Chocolate Chip Cookies

Smiley Face Snowman Pretzels

Recipe

Print

Sunshine Cookies

Prep Time

1 hr 15 mins

Cook Time

21 mins

Total Time

1 hr 6 mins

 

Bright yellow smiley face sunshine shaped cookies filled with candy.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pinata cookies, summer desserts, sun shaped cookies

Servings: 17

Calories: 140 kcal

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour plus more if needed
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup butter softened slightly
• ¾ cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¾ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• yellow food coloring
• 1 cup mini candies like mini M&M's or Jelly Bellies
• 2 tablespoons yellow royal icing or melted candy coating

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in egg, vanilla, almond extract, and yellow food coloring.
2. Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. If the dough is sticky, add a small amount of flour.
3. Lightly dust your work surface or non-stick mat with flour.

4. Roll the cookie dough out to between a 1/16 inch and ⅛th inch thickness, cut 17 or 18 circles using a 2 ½ inch round cookie cutter, and drape circles of dough over each mound on your pan and smooth with your fingers. Freeze pan for 15 minutes.

5. Heat oven to 325 degree oven.
6. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes.

7. Roll out the remaining dough and cut out 17-18 sunshine shapes using a 3 ¼ - 3 ½ inch sunshine cookie cutter

8. Set them on parchment-lined baking sheets, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake for 10-14 minutes until the tops look dry.

9. Cool cookies completely.
10. Fill each half sphere cookie with candy, pipe on some yellow royal icing or melted candy coating around the top edge of the cookie, set a sun shaped cookie over top, turn the cookies right side up and allow to dry completely.
11. Attach two candy eyes using icing or candy melts, then draw on smiles using black food coloring markers.

Recipe Notes

I used a Telebrands Bake Pop pan. It makes larger cake pops. If you use a different size pan, you may need to adjust the size of your cookies.

Store your cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. 

The calories listed are for 18 cookies. The candy calories are not included. 

• Author
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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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