Fun little trivia for you – did you know that April 18th is known as the birthday of animal crackers? Me either! So, in honor of National Animal Cracker Day, I decided to try my hand at recreating this childhood favorite at home.
Don’t tell anyone else, but these fun little animal crackers are basically miniature sugar cookies! I didn’t have all of the traditional animal cracker shapes in my cookie cutter collection, so I decided to make mine festive with some fun springtime shapes.
To make the dough, start by creaming together butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar with a mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until cohesive; be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients – flour, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.
When ready, the dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl and not be overly sticky. If the dough is too sticky, add a tiny bit more flour. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disc, and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Chilling the dough makes it easier to work with and to cut out the animal crackers.
After chilling, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. For less mess, try rolling out the dough between a sheet of parchment paper (on bottom) and plastic wrap (on top). If needed, very lightly flour the parchment before beginning. Use miniature cookie cutters to cut out the animal cracker shapes and place each on a parchment lined baking sheet. To help keep the dough from spreading while baking, chill the animal crackers in the freezer for about 5 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. For a crispier cracker, bake a minute or two longer, but keep a careful watch on them. Let them cool completely before decorating.
For the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and water. Holding the animal cracker with two fingers, simply dip each animal cracker into the glaze. Hold over the bowl for a few seconds to allow any excess glaze drip off of the cracker or gently scrape the excess glaze away. If desired, add sprinkles shortly after dipping as the glaze sets fairly quick.
These little animal crackers were such a fun bite-sized treat to make! I hope you enjoy them!
Anna
Homemade Animal Crackers
The perfect bite-sized treat to take you right back to your childhood!
Source: Anna Reid - The Little Blue Mixer
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 16 min
Total Time: 1 hr 16 min
Serves:
Ingredients
- Dough Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 3⁄4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- Glaze Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon water
- sprinkles
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until cohesive, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and not be overly sticky.
- Divide the dough in half, flatten each portion into a disc, wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. For less mess, try rolling out the dough between a sheet of parchment paper (on bottom) and plastic wrap (on top). If needed, very lightly flour the parchment before beginning.
- Use small cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. To help keep the dough from spreading while baking, chill the animal crackers in the freezer for about 5 minutes before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Let cool completely before decorating.
- For the glaze - in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and water.
- Dip each animal cracker into the glaze. Hold over the bowl for a few seconds to allow any excess glaze drip off of the cracker or gently scrape the excess glaze away. If desired, add sprinkles soon as the glaze sets fairly quick.
- Enjoy!
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