These Cinnamon Animal Crackers are a wonderful homemade treat. They’re a slightly sweet cookie with a fun shape! You would have never guessed how easy they are to make too.
Back to school season is here and I wanted to share some lunch box friendly treats including these Cinnamon Animal Crackers. Homemade animal crackers aren’t complicated at all! A big batch can be made in a few minutes and they’re great for snacking on or packing in lunches.
Need more back to school snack ideas? Be sure to also check out these Homemade Vanilla Wafers and Amish Monster Cookies. They are two our favorite treats.
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❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- Easy: These cookies are a simple recipe that uses pantry staple ingredients.
- Homemade: These are way better than any of the bland store bought cookies at the grocery store.
- Snack or lunches: These are the perfect snack or treat to pack in a lunch.
🥣 Ingredients needed
The complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the printable recipe card further below in the post.
For these animal crackers, you will need:
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter for this recipe. By using unsalted butter, you control the amount of salt going into the cookie dough. The salt content can vary brand to brand in salted butter and salted butter also has a higher water content than unsalted butter.
- Sugar
- Honey: I used a combination of honey and sugar to sweeten these animal crackers.
- Egg
- Vanilla
- All purpose flour and whole wheat flour
- Cinnamon
- Baking powder
- Salt
🧂 Variations
Want a sweeter animal cracker? Add a two teaspoons of extra honey into the dough.
🔪 Equipment needed
You will need animal cracker cookie cutters, a hand or stand mixer, large mixing bowl, a rolling pin, baking sheets, and parchment paper.
⏲️ Recipe instructions (step by step guide)
Begin by preheating your oven to 350℉ and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper).
Cream together your butter, vanilla extract, honey, and sugar (image 1).
Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure everything is mixed in (image 2). Do not over mix the dough.
On a floured surface, roll your dough out with a rolling pin. I recommend making the dough about ¼ inch thick. Use your animal cracker cookie cutters to create the cut outs. Add them to the parchment paper with room for them to spread just a little (image 3). I used three baking sheets with about 50 cookies total.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- The amount of animal crackers you’ll yield depends on the size of your cookie cutters. The animal shaped ones can vary brand to brand.
- I recommend using parchment paper for the best results.
🥡 How to store leftovers
Store any leftover animal crackers in an airtight container at room temperature. They will be good for up to four days after making.
Other recipes you may like:
If you tried these Cinnamon Animal Crackers or any other recipe on my site, please leave a ⭐ rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I would love to hear from you and I’m always happy to try to answer any questions you may have!
Cinnamon Animal Crackers
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon you can add all the way up to 2 ½ teaspoons if you really like cinnamon.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350℉ and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper).
- Cream together your butter, vanilla extract, honey, and sugar.8 tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Scrape the sides of your mixing bowl to ensure everything is mixed in. Do not over mix the dough.1 large egg, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- On a floured surface, roll your dough out with a rolling pin. I recommend making the dough about ¼ inch thick.
- Use your animal cracker cookie cutters to create the cut outs. Add them to the parchment paper with room for them to spread just a little. I used three baking sheets with about 50 cookies total.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden.
Ramona says
This is such a fun looking recipe and perfect for kids! we also love cinnamon so this will be fun to try out. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Audrey Wood says
Thank you so much, Ramona!
Leslie says
I cannot tell you how much I love this recipe! So perfect for kids and fun too! Thank you!
Kim says
My kiddos absolutely loved these!