Sunshine Piñata Cookies Add Fun To Any Day

Turn any day into a sunny day when you gather friends together to share the Funshine and you serve these bright and cheerful Sunshine Piñata Cookies filled with M&M's® and Skittles®. This post is sponsored by CollectiveBias and MARS®. #ShareFunshine #CollectiveBias

The sun hasn't blessed us with it's presence much this summer, so when it's out, my friends and I have taken full advantage of it. A group of us gathered together this week to spend an afternoon riding our bikes and scooters, playing with my dog, and enjoying some summertime treats.

All the party guests had been feeling a bit of cabin fever having spent so much time indoors this summer. It was time to break free and enjoy some funshine.

If you are feeling cooped up and are in need of some summer fun, I'll show you how to create a really festive party that you can throw together as soon as the sun peeks out from behind the clouds.

To pull together a party like this you just need to do some creative shopping and a bit of baking.

Setting your table with cheerful Sunshine Piñata Cookies and colorful M&M's® and Skittles® along with some polka dot partyware will help to bring the sunshine inside your kitchen.

Aside from having to bake some cookies, everything else you see on this table is store bought. I filled a bright pink serving bowl with ice and nestled in some SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars and M&M's® Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches to keep them cold during the party.

To add a touch of whimsy to the table I purchased a kid's bike basket, filled the bottom with a few kitchen towels then sprinkled on some Life Savers® Hard Candy and a few packages of Juicy Fruit Starburst® Cherry Gum and Starburst® Original.

I filled clear plastic containers with the M&M's® and Skittles® that were left after filling my piñata cookies.

I found the bright pink bowl and bike basket along with the polka dot paper plates and napkins and all the treats at Walmart. The partyware matched perfectly with some plates and decorations I had on hand.

Before the guests arrived, the table was set with all the treats. I had a Dr Pepper® Cherry 2-Liter in the refrigerator staying nice and cold and I kept the ice cream in the freezer until we got back to the house.

All the party guests got small goody bags filled with Juicy Fruit Starburst® Cherry Gum, Life Savers® Hard Candy to bring with them on our outing.

I printed a sunny sticker to add to some small bags and filled them with a stick of gum and a few candies.

The beauty of this party was that it really wasn't much more than a gathering of friends doing everyday things, but we all had a great time together. I think you can see the happiness in the faces of my party guests.

You don't need an over the top event to bring joy to your friends and family.

Even simple things like giving a dog a treat, can bring out the smiley face in us all.

When I asked who wanted to give my dog, Truffle, a Pedigree Dentastix®, the kids almost knocked me down with their enthusiasm.

Truffle was pretty happy too.

Not only can you host your own Funshine party this summer, but MARS® is hosting a Share the Funshine Contest where you can win great prizes for sharing how you bring a little fun into your life. Be sure to check it out.
Share a Little Funshine Sweepstakes

They are giving prizes away daily. Also you can Download the Blippar app from your Apple or Android store to scan your package and receive exclusive content. They have lots of money saving coupons, fun recipes and more to see.

When I asked everyone what they liked most about the day, they all had different answers.

My favorite part was bringing joy to my friends and baking, of course.

I have found that candy filled cookies always make people smile. Want to make some?

Sunshine Piñata Cookies

You'll Need:

1 batch sugar cookie dough (recipe below)*
cake pops pan (metal half sphere pan)
rolling pin
flour for dusting work surface
optional, non-stick silicone mat
2 ½ inch round cookie cutter
3 ¼ - 3 ½ inch sunshine cookie cutter
M&M's® and Skittles® (about a cup or so)
2 tablespoons yellow royal icing or melted candy coating (candy melts)
34-36 large ½ inch candy eyes
black food coloring marker

*Sugar Cookie recipe adapted from LiloLoa.

Print

Sunshine Piñata Cookies Add Fun To Any Day

Prep Time

45 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

Author: Beth Jackson 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 candy
• 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 round 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. Set them on parchment lined baking sheets, refrigerate for 15 minutes, then bake for 10-14 minutes until the tops look dry.
8. Cool cookies completely.
9. 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.
10. Attach two candy eyes using icing or candy melts, then draw on smiles using black food coloring markers.

Here are some more detailed instructions.

Lightly dust your work surface or 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 or your dough circles to fit.

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 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.

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.

When the party guests eat the cookies, they can break them open to reveal the candy hiding inside.

What's not to love about that?

Want to see some more amazing ways to Share the Funshine including recipes and crafts, be sure to check out MARS® MyConfectioneryCorner.com. You can enter to win WIN a $100 Walmart e-gift card and find money saving coupons there too.

I was compensated by CollectiveBias and it's advertiser to share this fun party idea with you today but all the opinions expressed here are my own. We really had a wonderful day and I look forward to doing it again soon.

I hope it's been sunny where you live this summer, but if it hasn't, how have you brought sunshine into your days?

You can find items needed to make this project at Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)
    

Embrace the beautiful weather that we are having and make some of these gorgeous and scrumptious Summer Fun Recipes.

Here are a few more happy ideas from Hungry Happenings.

Sunshine Cookie Pops, Sunshine Sweet Rolls,
Snack Cake Smiley Face Pops, Smiley Face Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Author
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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson 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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