Piñata Cookies

With Cinco de Mayo coming up in just a few days, it's no surprise that your friends might be making plans for a fun night out of dinner and drinks to celebrate this Americanized Mexican holiday.

Anyway, I was browsing Pinterest the other day and came across this recipe for these fun little Piñata cookies in honor of Cinco de Mayo!  I can't say that I haven't had my share of fun as a kid, swinging at a giant piñata and watching candy fall to the ground, followed by a mad dash against my friends to get the best treats.  But I never thought of breaking open a cookie and finding a surprise like this!

The recipe does require alot of work, but doesn't look too hard at all.  But given that I don't have a donkey shaped cookie cutter and the fact that I don't like sugar cookies or M&M's, I won't actually be making these.  But I thought it'd be a fun recipe to share, in case you'd prefer a more laid back way to celebrate the holiday.  And if you're just not a baker, I'm sure you'll at least enjoy looking at the fun pictures :)  Enjoy!

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Orange Creamsicle Cookies

This week I spent my Saturday night in baking cookies.  Just needed a mellow night to wind down from a long week.  I'd been wanting to try this recipe for Orange Creamsicle Cookies for a while, and its definitely one I'll be making more often.  They were so yummy!  This was my first time baking completely from scratch, so I'm happy to say it was a success! Next time I want to double the recipe and make the cookies bigger.  Big cookies are just more fun!

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange zest (zest of 2 oranges)

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around edges.  Cookies will be plump.  Cool for several minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.