Homemade Animal Crackers
By 
What’s a circus without animals? Create your own sweet cinnamon creatures with this cracker recipe.
You’ll Need
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp table salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ cup softened butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Prep and Cook
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Beat for another minute.
- Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and beat until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into two balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to two days.
- Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll it out on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin to 1/8” thickness.
- Preheat an oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dip small animal cookie cutters into flour and cut out the shapes. Continue until all of the dough has been used.
- Bake the cookies until very light golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature.
