Description

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.

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the cookies:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar or coconut sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mini animal cookie cutters

For the icing:

1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk (regular or nondairy)
1-2 tablespoons finely ground & sifted freeze-dried strawberries*
Optional: Rainbow nonpareil sprinkles

Instructions

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 1/4 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.

Notes

*We added about 1 ounce of freeze-dried strawberries to a small food processor and pulsed them until they formed a fine dust. Then, we sift the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and discard the seeds and any larger pieces.

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).

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Refrigerator time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Category: Snacks
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Serving Size: 5 cookies
Calories: 108
Sugar: 10.9 g
Sodium: 22.1 mg
Fat: 2.7 g
Carbohydrates: 19.7 g
Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 1.6 g