Can you believe that Valentine’s Day is less than a month away? Wasn’t it just Christmas? And New Years? Now Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it! If you’re looking for a sweet treat to whip up in the kitchen I have just the thing for you. These Valentine’s Day piñata cookies are easier to make than you think and your kids will love them! You can fill the middle part with sprinkles or candy to go along with any theme. I happen to think that Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to bake a treat with a sweet surprise inside. Some links in this post contain affiliates, all opinions are my own!

how to make piñata cookies

I’ve shared a piñata cake on the blog before but the last time I made piñata cookies was for Christmas several years ago. At that time I had made giant “gingerbread” men (they were really just sugar cookies) and those had been a lot of fun. I knew I wanted to try making some piñata cookies again and Valentine’s Day seemed like the perfect time! After all, nothing says Valentine’s Day like something sweet, right?

My kiddos and I walked the holiday aisle at the grocery store trying to decide on the perfect sprinkles for the insides of our cookies. In the end we couldn’t just pick one and settled on three to mix together. Note that a little goes a long way; you don’t have to completely fill the piñata cookie cavity up. As long as you’ve covered the bottom they’ll be enough sprinkles or candies to shake your cookie around.

tips for making it easy

My first tip for making piñata cookies is to double your sugar cookie recipe (I shared my favorite recipe in this post). Since you are basically making a three layer cookie you’ll go through a lot more dough. Another tip is that you don’t roll out your dough too thin or over-bake–if the cookies are too hard and crunchy they’ll be harder to eat when they’re stacked! I love sugar cookies, but they’ve got to be really soft.

I’ve seen recipes for piñata cookies before where they bake the cookies first and then cut them out. I’m not sure what the purpose is of that other than maybe to help keep the shape of your cut-out? Here’s a bonus tip for you: once your cookies are on the sheet place in the freezer for a few minutes before baking. You might have to add a minute or two, but your cookies will hold their shape better during the baking process.

how to assemble pinata cookies

Start with your bottom cookie layer and flip it upside down (so that it looks nice from both sides). If you’ve baked your cookies correctly they shouldn’t be brown on the bottom. Using frosting (I like to use thick royal icing) as glue, frost the middle layer on top of the bottom layer. Wait a little while for that icing to harden before you add the sprinkles or candy pieces to your cookie. As I mentioned before, you don’t have to fill the entire space with sprinkles. Just make sure you’ve covered the bottom of the cookie and you’ll have plenty of “piñata prizes” once the cookie is broken open.

Once your cookie is filled, use more frosting to “glue” the top cookie layer in place. It’s best if you wait for all the layers to harden before decorating your cookie. Otherwise the layers can shift which makes it more difficult to decorate. I add a little bit of extract to mine to improve the flavor (admittedly, royal icing is not the most delicious). Usually I stick with vanilla or almond but this time around I used some strawberry and cherry. Also, a little goes a long way so you don’t have to spread on royal icing very thick.

When I’m decorating cookies I like to use royal icing (slightly thinner than normal). It creates a nice, smooth consistency and then hardens so you don’t have to worry about the surface of your cookie getting smudged. You know, until one of your little hooligans devours it.

Have you ever made pinata cookies? What do you like to bake for Valentine’s Day?