Homemade Animal Crackers
Homemade animal crackers are a healthy and delicious way to enjoy your favorite treats all week. I’ll be honest, they don’t last a week in my house, but maybe you’ll be able to resist them. My teenage son absolutely loves these cookies.
The ingredients in these animal crackers are wholesome and will really feed your body, while still tasting amazing. I use only healthy ingredients in my cookies and the main one here is fresh milled flour. If you don’t have a mill or access to fresh milled flour, all purpose flour can be used. Just know that you won’t be getting the same nutrients and your cookies won’t have the exact same flavor profile as these. But don’t worry, they’ll be delicious either way.
Why Make Your Own Animal Crackers?
It’s ridiculously easy to buy great tasting animal crackers at the store. In fact, for years, I would buy the little box for my kids when we would go shopping. We called them our “shopping cookies.” It was a fun treat and something special we did together.
Fast forward a few years and I’ve learned just how terrible store bought flour really is for us. Needless to say, I avoid modern flour products as much as possible.
With making your own animal crackers, you suddenly have the ability to control the amount of sugar your family consumes and you can make a custom flavor profile that suits your family’s tastes.
When I originally made a recipe I found online, I thought the cookies were good, but they were bland. My family likes flavor! The recipe I tried had only half a teaspoon of cinnamon. That’s it! That was the only spice in the whole thing. That was never going to do for us. So I tried adding a few of our favorite cookie spices and I came up with what you see here.
Flavors
For this recipe, I use a variety of spices to add flavor to the cookies. I like to use nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. There is no refined sugar in the recipe, but honey adds the necessary sweetness and a great flavor.
I don’t know about you, but I love to use honey as a sweetener whenever I can. It’s perfect for use with fresh milled flour because it adds moisture and the wheat likes to soak it up.
I encourage you to experiment with your own flavors. Some people absolutely love cookies with a more savory flavor profile, so you could always try other seasonings. Maple syrup could be used in place of the honey to add a hint of maple.
Nature has provided an abundance of flavors for us! Try them out and you might love these cookies even more.
Cookie Cutters
When thinking about the cookie cutters and presses you’ll need, there are a few options. The first, is to order them on Amazon. They are really inexpensive and come with a variety of cutters. These are what I use.
The second option is to order from someone on Etsy or another independent creator. This is a great way to support small businesses, but will likely be a touch pricier.
Finally, if you own a 3D printer, there are a lot of files out there you can use to print your own cookie cutters. Many shapes and sizes are available. Just be sure to use food grade materials when printing.
Frosted Animal Crackers
These cookies would also make a great frosted cookie. My goal is to cut down on the sugar my family eats, so I don’t frost them, but it would be rather easy to drizzle on some icing or even dip them for full coverage.
To make them like the pink and white frosted animal crackers you’ve seen, fully dip the cookies and add sprinkles before the coating dries. Little ones will gobble these up with much enthusiasm.
Using Fresh Milled Flour
If you’ve never used fresh milled flour before, I highly recommend it. Wheat is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and fresh milled flour retains those amazing nutrients. This recipe uses fresh flour, but if you only have store bought flour, it will work as well.
Fresh milled flour tends to need a little longer to absorb the moisture in the recipe (honey, in this case), so it does need to sit for a bit. The final product will have a slightly grainy texture, but don’t give up on it. Before long, you’ll be used to the texture and the added health benefits will make every bit of self-milling effort worth it.
Animal Cracker Recipe
24
servings10
minutes7
minutesIngredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (add more if store bought)
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups fresh milled soft white wheat
- Equipment
Directions
- Combine the butter and honey. Cream them together until smooth (1-2 minutes in a stand mixer).
- Add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and salt. Mix well.
- Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until a stiff dough forms.
- Cover and chill the dough for at least and hour.
- Allow the dough to soften slightly before rolling out. This will make it workable.
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 1/8″ thick. Using the cookie cutters, cut the shapes and stamp them with the animal design.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes. Cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- All purpose flour can be used instead of fresh milled
- Try using maple syrup or brown rice syrup instead of honey for a different flavor profile
As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small commission if you purchase an item from my links on this page. There is no additional cost to you.
