
(Mother's original Circus Animal Cookies with my Jumbo version)
A couple of years ago, I purchased some tiny animal cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma, and made some homemade animal crackers/cookies, plain and iced. It was a lot of fun, and the iced version tasted just like their original counterpart, Mother's Circus Animal Cookies.
So... the other day as I was searching through my cookie cutters for something fun to make, my large elephant cutter ended up in view and the light bulb went on...I can make some jumbo size animal cookies!
I used the same cookie recipe as before, and chose four animals: A lion, an elephant, a bear and a giraffe.
Just as before, the elephant is my favorite! I would call him Jumbo,
but as you can see, they are all jumbo! They are also BIG on flavor!
Do yourself a favor and also check out Bridget's gorgeous frosted (jumbo) animal cookies at Bake at 350! You'll be happy you did!
Do yourself a favor and also check out Bridget's gorgeous frosted (jumbo) animal cookies at Bake at 350! You'll be happy you did!
(modified for JUMBO cookies)
Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. mace
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cup sugar
2 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
16 oz. buttercream icing
pink food coloring
nonpareils (rainbow)
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F.
Over a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and mace. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
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 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Roll out the dough to almost 1/2-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and move them to parchment-lined baking sheets with a firm, metal spatula. (I used stoneware baking sheets, so didn't need to line them.)
Bake the cookies until very light golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks to cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Icing:
Place the buttercream icing in a microwave-safe bowl from 15-30 seconds(until pourable). If it becomes too thin, add some powdered sugar. Divide icing into 2 bowls. Tint half of it pink and keep the other half white. With the cookies on a wire rack, place the rack over a baking sheet(or over wax paper). Use a spoon to cover each cookie with the icing. Sprinkle with the nonpareils.
Makes about 15 jumbo animal cookies.
Have Fun!
Linked to:
Inspiration Friday
I'm Lovin' it Fridays
Weekend Wrap Up Party
Sweets for a Saturday
These Chicks Cooked
Oh my gosh I love this idea! Those make me so nostalgic and take me back to my childhood :)
ReplyDeleteYES! I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I'm going to make some for the grand-kids, jumbo sized too. Why not...if they taste as good as they look bigger has to be better right?
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute! I love the big size and the little size next to it is just adorable. I need to get my hands on some of these cutters..
ReplyDeleteOOOOOOhhhhhh, I just love the little ones and I can't imagine how fabulous the huge ones would be! I saw these are Pinterest and had to come over and see them! Love them - they are my kids fav too and I have to try these - yum yum yum!
ReplyDeleteThey are so cute. Love the contrast in sizes showing mummy animals vs baby animals.
ReplyDeleteI love these sprinkle when I was a kid (they call them hundreds and thousands here). I love the fact that they are jumbo too-mostly because to a kid they'd look even bigger and therefore more exciting! :o
ReplyDeleteI love these..they are so cute! I have always loved the tiny ones too. :D
ReplyDeleteHow pretty and adorable!
ReplyDeleteSue I just love these! I have this recipe too but have never been motivated to make them (until now!). Just adorable.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how much I adore these!? So cheerful!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! I love the elephant too!
ReplyDeleteAnother bookmark into my 'nephews' folder, even though only one can eat them at this juncture! I love your blog so much, it's just such a happy, creative and delicious place! These cookies are the kind I begged for as a kid, and will still beg for as an adult. although now I can make them myself, and buy them if I want lol :) Drooling over the chocolate covered chessecake bars below, too!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing better than Mother's animal cookies would be your jumbo ones. I'm sure they taste better too. I'll take two.
ReplyDeleteYou are so creative!!! How do you do it all?
my daughther would be over the moon for these! Pinned, how great! Thanks for your comments and blog support!
ReplyDeleteYou really need to start a cookie business!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful! I can't wait to make them for my daughter and husband - they LOVE those cookies.
ReplyDeleteMy linky party, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, is still open until later tonight. I'd love for you to join!
even though i am a baker, i can be seen buying the mother's animal cookies occasionally....but NOW i can make them! yeah! i am so excited to see this recipe and can't wait to get my hands on a jumbo cookie cutter. thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm totally going to try these!!! My kids are going to be so excited. (And by kids -- I mean ME. I LOVE those cookies, and you can't get them here!)
ReplyDeleteAdorable! I'm not a huge fan of iced animal crackers, but they're a nice treat and I love that you can make them yourself like this. :D
ReplyDeleteLove this they are so cute! very creative!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute! My kids would flip if I made these!!!
ReplyDeleteHi there! Just pinned this - I LOVE Animal Cookies and these look just delicious. Found you at Tatertots and Jello!
ReplyDeleteTrish@MomOnTimeout
Very nice! I love storebought animal cookies...these have to be awesome. They're almost too cute to eat though..=)
ReplyDeleteThe cookies look delicious! I agree, almost too cute to eat!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea - you always have so many of those! I haven't visited in a while (I've been traveling!) but I'm excited to catch up on the past couple of weeks! of posts!
ReplyDeleteWhen the munchkins come to visit I totally know which cookies will get picked first;)
ReplyDeleteI love how your cookies look.
ReplyDeleteAdorable! What a fun cookie idea.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue! I just featured these, so cute! http://funfamilycrafts.com/jumbo-animal-cookies/
ReplyDeleteMy kids loved those pink and white cookies when they were little. It would tickle them all to have a jumbo variety. Those are fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThese are so fun! Can't wait to make these with my kids. :-)
ReplyDeleteam totally in love with these and have to make them for my daughters class!
ReplyDeleteLove your site and am sending you a blog award today:
http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/2011/09/makin-me-hungry-with-fall-cookies.html
Oh my gosh...love these! My kids would be so happy if we baked these. The pink is gorgeous:)
ReplyDeleteThese are super, Sue. Just super! I love love love these!
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog on This Chick Cooks and I love your post!
ReplyDeleteI would love it if you would drop by Jane Deere and link up to Fusion Fridays with your favorite or most recent recipes, handmade crafts, diy projects, tips & tricks, and how to's! { open through Wednesday! }
http://janedeereblog.blogspot.com
Oh my goodness these make me smile! My neighbor just brought over a bag of Halloween animal cookies for my little boy...little does he know I have been eating them too!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute! My husband and I always talk about how I was never allowed to eat these when I was a kid. I think it's time now! : )
ReplyDeleteScore! Another wonderful recipe! I used to love those animal cookies so much! This brings back childhood memories :) Love that first pic, with the cool font and presentation!!
ReplyDeleteOooh, these are so gorgeous!I love the pink ones and the sprinkles make them look so even prettier :)
ReplyDeleteI've been planning on doing something very similar for a while now and you just gave me the inspiration to do it! Now to find the cutters...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely LOVE these! I'm going to try my hand at a gluten free version!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of Buttercream icing do you use? Any particular recipe? I want to make these....they are SUPER cute!
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI actually used store-bought buttercream, which I put in the microwave until it was of "pourable" consistency.
May I ask what brand of buttercream you are using please? Not sure if you're meaning the premade frostings from Pillsbury, etc. Thanks :)
DeleteI just came upon these & I can't wait to make some for my Hubbie! Yes he LOVES Animal Cookies! LOL I was wondering about your buttercream & see your comment above about buying store bought. May I ask which brand you are using? Is it the premade icings in the jar like Pillsbury & Betty Crockers? Thanks =) Now to hunt for jumbo animal cookie cutters!
ReplyDeleteJodi, Yep, that is exactly what I used. The pre-made in the tubs. I can't remember exactly which one, but it was proabably whichever one was on sale:) Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI am wondering about the icing. I am a baker and use a special icing for my hand decorated cookies that hardens when it's dry so that I can stack and ship them. I use a buttercream icing for my cakes, but I have never made it "pourable" so not sure how this would work. In the photos provided in your blog, this icing appears to dry. Does it dry harder so that these cookies can be stacked? I don't want to waste my buttercream icing to see if this works so thought I would ask you about the drying procedure.
ReplyDeleteagreed with teresa was also wondering how long they last for as well in a stored container? thank you.
ReplyDelete