Homemade Animal Cookies

These delicious Homemade Animal Cookies are a fun baking project to make with the kiddos! They're crisp and buttery and better than store-bought! So treat the kids and bake a batch!

Prep Time2 30

Cook Time10

Total Time2 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cookies, cutout cookies

Servings: cookies

Calories: 57kcal

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Ingredients

Animal Cookie Dough

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface and dough
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Royal Icing

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp. meringue powder
9-10 Tbsp. water, room temperature
gel food coloring, for decorating
nonpareils, for decorating

Instructions

Animal Cookie Dough

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat butter and sugar on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat on high until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. If dough seems too sticky add one tablespoon of flour.
Divide the dough into two equal portions and working with one at a time, you'll place each dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness, then repeat with the second dough. Lightly flour the top of one of the rolled out doughs and place a piece of parchment paper on top and then place the second rolled out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to two hours.
When the dough is done chilling preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Remove the top dough from the refrigerator and cut into shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. You'll re-roll the remaining pieces and repeat with the second dough. Place the cutouts on your tray 1-2 inches apart and bake for 9-10 minutes or until just lightly browned around the edges. Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes then remove to wire rack to let completely cool before decorating.

Royal icing

Add confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and water to a large bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat ingredients together on high for 1 1/2-2 minutes. If icing appears too thick beat in more water one tablespoon at a time.
Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the royal icing and top with nonpareils. You can enjoy the cookies immediately or leave them uncovered on the counter until they're set.

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