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+ servings

Frosted Shortbread Animal Cookies

These frosted, rainbow sprinkled, safari animal cracker cookies made with butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla create delicious, crispy morsels you won’t want to live without! It’s such a fun project to do with the kids or grandkids.
Prep Time1 hour 15 minutes
Active Time25 minutes
Decorating Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Keyword: Animal cracker cookies, Animal crackers, cinnamon shortbread cookies, Frosted Circus Cookies
Yield: 15 4-inch cookies

Equipment

  • 4-inch animal cookie cutters
  • 1 jar classic rainbow sprinkles
  • 1 bottle pink food gel coloring

Materials

  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Pink & White Icing

  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tbsp. milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1-3 drops pink gel food coloring We use “Deep Pink” gel food coloring from Sunny Side Up Bakery, but you can use any pink food coloring you like!

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with powdered sugar until creamy. Add salt, and vanilla and mix well. Finally, blend in flour. Form dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes, or until fairly firm.
  • Roll dough out onto a floured cloth or board, to a thickness of approximately 1/4-inch. Cut out with animal-shaped cookie cutters and place onto the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown. Don’t underbake … you want these cookies crispy. Remove from oven and cool completely.
  • Then, using a spoon or a knife, frost half the cookies with pink icing and the other half with white icing. Immediately, sprinkle with the rainbow sprinkles and gently push them into the frosting.
  • Allow the frosting to harden before storing them or arranging them in your own little jungle scene.

Pink & White Icing

  • Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Slowly add milk until you arrive at a good icing consistency. Stir in vanilla. Separate icing into two separate bowls for coloring.
  • Tint one of the bowls with pink food coloring until you get to the pink you like. We use a “Deep Pink” gel food coloring from Sunny Side Up Bakery, which works great for this!

Notes

Look for some potted fake grasses at your local Home Goods store or your favorite home store. They are perfect for placing your cookies in for a really fun way to serve them:) 🐪🐘🦒🦛🐻🌿