Homemade Mini Animal Cookies

These adorable pink and white frosted mini animal cookies are part of our recipe series: Better Than Store-Bought! They're made with just 11 ingredients and the pink frosting is naturally colored with strawberries. Even better, the dough is easy to make and they can be cut into any shape, but circus animals are extra cute! Kids and adults alike will love these.

Frosted animal cookies are such a nostalgic childhood snack for me and my husband. We both preferred them to regular animal crackers (although those are delicious, too!) and we were so excited to test a homemade version!

They turned out absolutely perfect. The cookie base is similar to a sugar cookie, but we cut down a bit on added sugar by using half maple syrup or honey. They're crisp and not too sweet, and the dough couldn't be easier to make.

Once they're cut into shapes and baked, we dip them in pink and white icing before topping with sprinkles. The pink icing is naturally colored by crushing up freeze dried strawberries, which has the added bonus of punchy strawberry flavor that makes these extra delicious!

If you love making your own snacks from scratch, try our homemade Cheez-Its, Goldfish, or Fruit Snacks next.

What You'll Need to Make This Recipe

• Mini animal cookie cutters: These are the ones we use! The set comes with an elephant, giraffe, camel, zebra and hippo.
• Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking powder and salt. You can also use white whole wheat flour. We have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but it should work fine.
• Sugar: We use a combination of brown sugar and maple syrup. You can also use coconut sugar and honey.
• Butter: I have not tested it, but you should be able to substitute butter with room temperature (solid) coconut oil.
• Egg and vanilla extract
• For the icing: Powdered sugar, milk (nondairy or regular) and freeze-dried strawberries. Alternatively, you can use food coloring. (We like this natural brand!)
• Sprinkles: You can use rainbow nonpareils (that's what we used) or any other sprinkles of choice.

How to Make This Recipe

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the maple syrup, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until a soft dough forms. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Use small animal cookie cutters to cut out shapes and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Re-roll the leftover dough and continue cutting shapes until you're out of dough.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the cookies are just set and slightly golden on the edges. The bottoms should be golden brown. If they are underbaked, they will be too soft once you coat them in icing. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk. Divide between two bowls. Add the finely ground freeze-dried strawberries to one of the bowls and whisk until smooth. Add more milk as needed for consistency.

Using a fork, dip each cookie in the icing and let excess icing drip off before placing on parchment paper. Top with a few sprinkles, then let the cookies set until the icing is solid.

Storage

Keep these stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-6 days. You can also freeze them for long term storage (up to 6 months).

Lexi and Beth's Best Recipe Tips

• Don't underbake the cookies: If you aren't planning to add icing, it's totally fine if they are slightly underbaked. But once you dip them in icing, they will soften slightly, so it's important that they are crisp and light golden brown.
• It may take a while for the icing to fully set. We found that the top set pretty quickly (within an hour), but the bottom side took up to 8 hours before it was fully set. You can still eat them – they will just be a little messier! If your kitchen is hot and/or humid, consider placing a fan near the cookies while they set. You can also wait until the tops are completely set, then flip the cookies to let the bottoms set.
• Experiment with different freeze dried fruits for extra flavor! Strawberries add great color and flavor to the icing. You can also use freeze dried raspberries for a more vibrant pink, blueberries for a blueish purple or mango or pineapple for yellow.

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