A circus of sugary fun.
Happy Thursday, friends! I’ll have you know that I fucked up my coffee this morning and it tastes like water. Not a great start on that front.
However, I’m recovering from that snafu by treating you guys to these colorful, joyful, chewy Frosted Animal Cracker Sugar Cookies. What a fun little summer dessert! Bursting with funfetti sprinkles and chopped up animal crackers, these delightful delicacies will be loved by both kids and the kid in all of us.
The cookie is soft, chewy, and sweet, but not so saccharine your molars will stick together.
Cookies are always a nice weekend baking project, especially when you feel frazzled from the workweek and need to space out to the comforting aroma of caramelizing cooking dough. Baking helps me in that I get to work steadily with my hands, and the rhythmic movements can be quite calming.
Not to mention, I get to enjoy a warm cookie at the end. Mmmhmm.
Bake Like an Animal
Our cookie base is a soft, chewy sugar cookie dough. Couldn’t be easier.
Cream butter and sugar until nice and fluffy, then whip in two eggs and some vanilla extract. Add in flour, baking soda, and salt.
Chop up a heap of frosted animal cookies and fold into the dough along with funfetti sprinkles. I recommend either jimmies or discs. Avoid nonpareils, as they’ll die your dough completely like the fragile, beady color bombs they are.
Roll the dough into generously-sized balls (you may get 20-24 cookies from the batch depending on the size of your balls. Tehe). Set onto parchment-line baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking time. I often like to remove the baking sheet from the oven at this point and smack it against the counter to flatten the cookies. Gives you a nice, crinkly texture.
Once the edges are firmed up, pull the pan from the oven and immediately press a halved animal cracker in the center of each cookie. I love this decorative touch, and often use the pink ones since I’m a sucker for pink. Cool the cookies completely on the baking sheet.
And now, time to serve!
Leftovers? Cookies keep great at room temperature for up to 5 days, the fridge for a week, or the freezer for a good long while (3 months). Make sure to seal them up tightly in a ziptop bag or storage container.
Have a cheerful day, ya’ll!
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
More doughy delights:
Movie Night Popcorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Blueberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Coffee Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
frosted animal cracker sugar cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups frosted animal cookies, chopped
- 1/2 cup funfetti sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Whip in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the animal cookies and funfetti. Do not overmix.
- Scoop rounded two tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and roll into a ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches of space between each. Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through baking time. Remove from the oven and, if desired, press a halved animal cracker in the center of each cookie. Cool on the baking sheet.
- Enjoy a few warm (ooooh yeahhh) with a sprinkle of flaky salt, or cool completely, cover in a tupperware or ziptop bag, and store for later.
