Cinco de Mayo Pinata Cookies

Cinco de Mayo... English translation...the 5th of May! This is an annual celebration in the USA and Mexico. If you check it out on Wikipedia you'll find that the date is observed in the US as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War. In the Mexican state of Puebla, it commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

I love these cookies, they're so bright and cheerful and if that wasn't enough there's a hidden surprise. If you can bear to smash into your little burro then you'll find a secret cache of M&Ms!

These cookies require a little effort to make but I think it was worth it, although I won't be whipping them up on a regular basis. The process started with the making of an unusual dough, it had a cup of vegetable oil in and was incredibly soft, yet not sticky. This was then divided into six with copious amounts of food colouring being added to give the characteristic pinata colours.

Once coloured the dough was layered up, one colour on top of the other in a tupperware box before being frozen overnight. To bake, slices of the dough were cut off the frozen block and baked for 12-14 minutes and then immediately upon coming out of the oven the burros were cut out of the slabs. For every two regular donkies, one was cut to make the secret hiding place. I did this with a small circle cutter and sadly his legs and ears also had to be removed! The three parts were then stuck together with a little royal icing with the M&Ms hidden inside first.

Once cut the pinata cookies were a little fragile and there were a couple of limbs lost along the way, leading to a few wonky donkeys...sorry I couldn't resist!

If you want to make your own pinata cookies then the original recipe came from the She Knows website and has full instructions. However, I'd be interested to know if anyone tries this with regular cookie dough and whether this would work just as well? I guess the concept could also be used in all sorts of other cookie creations.

Many people believe that pinatas originated in Mexico, although it has been suggested that the idea of breaking a container filled with treats came from Europe, in particular Spain in the 14th Century where they were used for the celebration of Lent. However, whilst this may be correct, apparently the true origins are Chinese with the Chinese version being in the shape of a cox or ox and being used for the New Year.