Homemade Frosted Animal Crackers

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Making the inner child in all of us extra happy today with these homemade Frosted Animal Crackers! A crispy shortbread-style cookie that’s perfectly sweet with extra vanilla. Then, after baking, each animal cracker is coated with pastel candy melts and finished with the cutest rainbow sprinkles! Every bite takes you right back to being a kid. The best part? These sweet snacks are made with minimal ingredients, are actually SUPER easy to make, and taste better than the ones you buy. There’s just SO much to love about these sweet Animal Cracker Cookies. Perfect for weekend baking, as a back-to-school treat, or just whenever you’re craving a bite (or two!) of nostalgia.

About The Recipe

I think everyone has fond memories of animal crackers from childhood.

They are definitely one of our absolute favorites! It’s something we almost always had as a sweet snack in school lunch boxes or during the summer.

And since you all seem to LOVE nostalgic treats so much, we thought there was no better nostalgic treat than animal crackers!

And let’s be honest, as good as the OG animal crackers, there is nothing better (or cuter) than the frosted variety.

Honestly, we had so much recipe testing for these cookies! My mom and I bought the unfrosted and the frosted versions to really compare ours vs the store-bought.

We wanted to, not only get the flavor right, but the texture as well! I seriously haven’t eaten this many animal crackers since I was a kid (but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it!).

It took quite a few attempts to finally get these sweet little cookies just right.

The cookies themselves are extra crispy, perfectly sweet, and loaded with vanilla!

Though, the goodness doesn’t just stop there. Each cookie is frosted with sweet vanilla candy melts that really lend to that classic flavor you know and love from the store-bought versions.

Oh! And I can’t forget about the little rainbow sprinkles.

It really finishes these cookies, giving them their classic look, as well as providing a little extra crunch in every bite. SO. GOOD.

Reasons You Will Love These Frosted Animal Crackers

• Easy to make and uses minimal ingredients.
• Tastes even better than the store-bought verisons!
• Extra sweet and vanilla-y.
• Perfect for back-to-school/after-school or weekend treat.
• Ready in just about an hour.

Equipment Needed

• Mixing Bowls
• Hand Mixer
• Sheet Pans
• Rolling Pin
• Animal Cookie Cutters
• Rubber Spatula

Ingredients

(Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post)

For The Cookies:

• Unsalted Butter – For this recipe, we chose to use unsalted butter to help control the amount of salt in this recipe! If all you have is salted butter, feel free to use it, just omit the salt in the recipe.
• Granulated Sugar – This gives the cookies the perfect amount of sweetness, while ensuring each bite is perfectly crisp.
• Egg White – While recipe testing, we found that using an egg yolk in this recipe lended a bit of a weird/unpleasant flavor. Though, using the egg white alone lends no flavor and also makes these cookies crispier!
• Vanilla Extract – Lots of vanilla gives these cookies their perfect flavor.
• All-Purpose Flour – Nothing fancy needed for these sweet cookies! Regular unbleached all-purpose flour gives these cookies the perfect texture and structure.
• Salt – We add just enough salt to cut some of the sweetness, while enhancing the vanilla flavor.
• Baking Powder – Just a pinch gives the cookies the perfect structure!

For The Coating:

• Candy Melts – You can really use any color candy melt for this recipe, but to keep it classic, we chose to use white and pink!
• Rainbow Sprinkles – These add so much cuteness to these cookies.

How To Make Frosted Animal Crackers

Step 1: Make the cookie dough

In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Beat in egg white and vanilla.

Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix on low just until combined. Form into a ball.

Step 2: Roll out and cut

Turn out onto a piece of parchment paper and place another piece of parchment on top. Roll to 3/16 inch thickness.

Cut out cookies and remove excess dough. Gently lift cookies and place on prepared pans. Gather scraps and re-roll until all dough is used.

Step 3: Bake

Bake for 17 minutes, until just starting to color around edges. Allow to cool on pan.

Step 4: Melt and dip

Place candy melts in separate microwave proof bowls. Follow instructions on package for melting.

Dip the cooled cookies in the melted candy.

Set on lined sheet pan. Top with sprinkles.

How To Store

Once the coating is set, you can store these animal crackers in a airtight or zip-top bag and left at room temperature for 3-5 days. You can also freeze these cookies for up to 3 months!

Substituions

• To make this recipe vegan, you can use your favorite vegan butter, aquafaba (about 1oz) for the egg white, as well as vegan candy melts and vegan sprinkles!
• You can use any color candy melt that you desire. Pink and white is traditional, but feel free to have fun with colors!

Looking for more recipes like this? Here are a few you may like: Oatmeal Cream Pies, Cosmic Brownies, Chocolate Pop Tarts, Nutter Butters, Homemade Twinkies, Copycat Lofthouse Cookies

Expert Tips

• Make sure your butter and egg white are room temperature for this recipe.
• Be careful to not over-work the cookie dough!
• Use the warmth from your hands to form the cookie dough into a ball.
• When cutting out the cookies, you can cut them into any shapes that you desire! Just remember that bake times may need to be adjusted if the cookie cutter is smaller or larger than the ones we used.
• The cookies will be done baking when they are just beginning to color around the edges! Be careful to not over-bake them.
• Let these cool completely before coating with the candy melts.
• These cookies are fragile! Be careful when handling them.
• If the candy melts begin to thicken/harden, you will need to remelt it! If it gets too cool, it may break the cookies when you’re dipping them.
• Use a fork to pick the cookies up out of the candy melts. Gently tap the fork against the side of the bowl to to tap away excess melted candy.
• Add the sprinkles onto the coated cookies before the the coating sets!

When you make this Homemade Frosted Animal Crackers, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

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