Circus Animal Cookies With Icing Food

CIRCUS ANIMAL COOKIE

Steps:

• Place butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer or use a medium bowl and electric hand-mixer. Beat butter for 30-60 seconds until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat again just until creamy and well-combined. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat again just until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt all at once and beat on low speed just until dough starts to come together, 1-2 minutes. It's okay if there is some unincorporated flour. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and finish mixing dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
• Turn dough out onto a large square of plastic wrap or waxed paper and use the sides of the wrap or paper to pull the dough together into a ball. Flatten into a disk that is about 1-inch in thickness. Wrap well and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• When ready to bake cookies, remove dough from fridge and let stand for a few minutes at room temperature to make it easier to roll. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Using two pieces of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle or oval that is about 1/4-inch thick. Using the small cookie cutters, cut the dough into animal shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes °F.
• To decorate: Line two baking sheets with wax or parchment paper. Melt white candy melts according to package directions. Dip half of the cookies into the white candy melts, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Place on the waxed or parchment paper. Immediately after dipping, sprinkle with a pinch of the rainbow nonpareils. Repeat with pink candy melts and remaining cookies. Allow cookies to harden completely before removing from the paper. Store in an airtight container for several weeks in a cool, dry container. (Cookies can be refrigerated or frozen, if needed, but are fairly shelf stable.)

ANIMAL CRACKERS

Steps:

• For the dough: Add the granulated sugar and butter to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla and egg and beat again, scraping the sides of the bowl halfway through. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the mixer until the dough comes together. Flatten the dough into a disc and put it in a plastic bag. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut out as many cookies as you can in a variety of animal shapes. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and bake until they're just barely done, 8 to 10 minutes; you want them to be set, but not brown. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
• For the frosting: Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl, add the food coloring and 1/4 cup cold water and stir to combine
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack set over a baking sheet and drizzle the frosting over them. Let the frosting dry before serving the cookies, about 2 hours.

MINI ANIMAL CRACKER COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. If the dough seems too soft, you can add 1 Tablespoon more flour until it is a better consistency for rolling.
• Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment paper or a lightly floured silicone baking mat (I prefer the nonstick silicone mat) to about 1/4-inch thickness. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
• Stack the pieces, with parchment paper between the two, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper.
• Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and cut into shapes with animal cookie cutters (I love these, these, and these). Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd dough piece.
• Arrange cookies on baking sheets 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. I like to decorate cookies directly on baking sheets so I can stick the entire baking sheet in the refrigerator to help set the icing. So place the cooled cookies back on baking sheets.
• Prepare royal icing or easy cookie icing. Dip the cooled cookies into the icing.
• Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

CIRCUS ANIMAL COOKIES RECIPE

Steps:

• In your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until fluffy.
• Add in the flour and baking powder and mix until combined. If the mixture is a tad crumbly, combine with hands until a ball forms.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll out. {I went to the movies and ran errands with my son and thawed it slightly when we returned.}
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Flour your work surface, rolling pin and top of dough (cookie cutters included).
• Grab half of the dough and roll out to an 1/8 inch or as thin as you like.
• Cut your cookies out and place on cookie sheets. Continue process until your sheet is filled.
• Once completed stick the sheet in the fridge while you warm up the oven to 300 degrees.
• Once your oven is heated bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned, being careful not to burn.
• Let cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack. Continue process, in several batches, until all the dough is used.
• After your cookies have cooled completely, separate your frosting into 2 microwave safe containers.
• Dye one with a little red frosting coloring to make the pink and leave the other white.
• Working quickly, microwave one color for 5 seconds until the consistency is runny.
• Dunk your cookies into the frosting with a fork, letting the excess run off and place on your cooling rack, sprinkling with your rainbow nonpareils.
• Alternate between colors, I suggest using up all of the pink before moving on to the white (or vice versa).
• Let frosting harden a tad and I allow cookies to chill in the freezer for a little while also.
• Now consume. Have a circus of a good time with them (minus the scary clowns and strangers).

GLUTEN FREE CIRCUS ANIMAL COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the powdered sugar until smooth. Add the yogurt, prepared egg replacer, and vanilla and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until cookie dough forms.
• Use your hands to shape the dough into one large round. Place between two sheets of parchment paper and roll with a rolling pin until dough is about ¼ inch thick. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes, then place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Combine the scraps and re-roll to cut additional shapes. Chill in refrigerator for another 20 minutes.
• Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before decorating.

CIRCUS ANIMAL COOKIES WITH ICING

Steps:

• Place butter in a large bowl and cream using an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar and mix until incorporated. Add each egg individually to the creamed butter, scraping the sides of the bowl if needed. Add vanilla extract and mix for 3 more minutes.
• Sift flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar together in a bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed. Cover and chill the dough until it is workable, 2 to 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll dough out onto a work surface and cut using small animal-shaped cookie cutters. Place cookies on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven on the middle rack until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool completely before icing, about 45 minutes.
• Mix 2 cups confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Divide icing and add pink food coloring to 1 half. Dip cookies in icing and decorate with sprinkles quickly before icing dries. Place cookies on a rack to let icing dry to a shiny finish.

CIRCUS ANIMAL SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Beat butter in a large bowl with a stand or hand mixer until nice and fluffy, continue to beat (lowering speed) and add in sugars.
• Stop mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, 1 at a time, followed by vanilla and almond extract, then oil. Add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
• Add flour 1 cup at a time until soft dough forms. Add in sprinkles and mix just until sprinkles have dispersed throughout dough. Do not overmix.
• Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or drop onto baking sheets using a cookie scoop) and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 12 minutes.
• Cool 1 minute on pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.