Homemade Frosted Animal Crackers

white and pink frosted animal cracker cookies on small white oval plate lined with parchment paper with small flowers and small bowl of rainbow sprinkles, more cookies around plate, with a white cheesecloth, stack of plates, a cake knife, and more flowers around on marble surface.

Homemade Frosted Animal Crackers

Better Than Store-Bought Frosted Animal Crackers! Sweet, crunchy, full of vanilla flavor, and oh-so easy to make. They are the perfect treat to make to enjoy as a nostalgic weekend treat or for some back-to-school baking!

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 45

Cook Time: 17

Total Time: 1 2

Servings:

Calories: 103kcal

Ingredients

Cookies

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
3½ Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon egg white room temperature
⅔ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour*
¼ teaspoon salt
1/16 teaspoon baking powder

Coating

½ bag pink candy melts
½ bag white candy melts
rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

Cookies

Heat oven to 325℉.
Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
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.
Turn out onto a piece of parchment paper.
Place another piece of parchment on top.
Roll to 3/16 inch thickness.
Cut out cookies.
Remove excess dough.
Gently lift cookies and place on prepared pans.
Gather scraps and re-roll until all dough is used.
Bake for 17 minutes, until just starting to color around edges.
Allow to cool on pan.

Coating

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.
Allow to set completely.

Notes

*This recipe was written using an average of the dip and sweep method for measuring flour and the spoon and level method. If you are using a scale, you will need to add 3/4 oz or 22 g to the measurement for each cup of flour.

Substitutions:

To make this recipe vegan, you can use your favorite vegan butter, aquafaba (about 1 oz) 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!

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!

Nutrition