Over the years I’ve tried lots of Christmas cookie recipes with the children and our all time favourite has to be this Christmas cookie recipe for Pinata Gingerbread treats.
We simply love the taste and smell of gingerbread at Christmas but these cookies hold a hidden sweetie surprise too which never fails to delight the children. The perfect festive treat.
Ingredients For Christmas Cookie Recipes – Pinata Gingerbread Cookies
(Makes 6 depending on the size of your cutters.)
- 1 portion of gingerbread dough (You can find the delicious gingerbread recipe in my Gingerbread Tree post.)
- Small sweets such as Smarties or Jelly Tots
- 200g of your favourite chocolate
- A selection of cake decorating toppings such as sprinkles, hundreds and thousands, silver balls etc.
- Festive cookie cutters. (I used a present and stocking shape as they suited the concept of being filled.)
- Greaseproof paper
How To Make Piñata Gingerbread Cookies
- Pre-heat the oven 160C
- Follow the delicious gingerbread recipe to make your gingerbread dough.
- Roll out onto a lightly floured board about 1/2 cm thick.
- For each Hidden Surprise Gingerbread Cookie cut out three of you chosen shape.
- Remove the middle of one shape with a knife and place all 3 on a lined baking tray.
- Pop them in the pre-heated oven and bake for 10-15 until golden brown.
- When cool, break your chocolate into a bowl and melt in the microwave or in a bowl over warm water.
- Use the chocolate to cement your cut out layer onto a base layer.
- Wait for the chocolate to set a little and fill the cavity with your chosen sweets.
- Put your chocolate cement around the edges and pop on your lid.
- When set dip your biscuit parcel into melted chocolate so it is completely covered and stick on decorations of your choice. This is a messy business and depending on the size of your biscuit parcels you may find it easier to do this in stages. We did the sides first, then the back, then the front, leaving just a couple of minutes between each stage to allow the chocolate to set.
These Pinata Gingerbreads do require a bit more time and effort than standard gingerbread Christmas cookie recipes but we had such finger licking good fun making them, that we think they are worth the extra effort.
The children love getting super sticky with the melted chocolate and adore handing out their handmade ‘presents’ to friends and family.
Looking for more Christmas recipes for kids? You might enjoy our Cute Reindeer Cupcakes or Easy Chocolate Truffles.
More Fun Christmas Crafts To Try:
