Sourdough Animal Crackers
Make homemade Sourdough Animal Crackers with this easy and nostalgic recipe! The dough is lightly sweetened with honey, easy to roll out, and can be frosted.
Yield or Serving: 110 Crackers
Equipment
- 1 Stand Mixer, or electric hand mixer
- Animal Cracker Cookie Cut-Outs, or other cookie shapes
- 1 Large Baking Sheet, lined with parchment ppaper
Ingredients
- 350 g All-purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- 142 g Unsalted Butter, 10 TBS, softened
- 50 g Light Brown Sugar, ¼ cup
- 40 g Honey, 2 TBS
- 1 Egg
- 100 g Sourdough Discard, or active sourdough starter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Frosting (optional)
- 100 g Powdered Sugar
- 2 TBS Whole Milk
- 1 TBS Freeze-dried Strawberries, ground, optional, or red food coloring
- Nonpareil Sprinkles
Instructions
- Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.350 g All-purpose Flour, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Cinnamon, ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or an electric hand mixer), cream the softened butter, honey, and brown sugar together until the butter is pale yellow and fluffy with no large grainules of sugar left, 3-5 minutes.Mix in the egg, sourdough discard, and vanilla.142 g Unsalted Butter, 50 g Light Brown Sugar, 40 g Honey, 1 Egg, 100 g Sourdough Discard, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix just until the dough comes together into a cohesive mass.
- Dump the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, form into a round disc, cover with the plastic wrap and smush the dough into the edges of the wrap to form a round disc.Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF (163ºC) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.Divide the chilled dough in half (at this point you can freeze the other half of dough or work in batches). Let the dough rest at room temperature for five minutes to soften.Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a thin slab less than ⅛" thick between two pieces of parchment paper. Flour lightly to prevent sticking if needed.Cut out the sourdough animal crackers with lightly floured cookie cutters and re-roll the scraps.
- Place the sourdough animal crackers close together on the sheet pan and bake in batches. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown.Cool completely on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes.
- To make frosted sourdough animal cookies, mix the powdered sugar and whole milk in a small bowl together with a spoon into a thick frosting (adjust sugar and milk as necessary).Divide the frosting in half and add ground and sifted freeze-dried strawberries to half (or a drop of red food coloring) to make a pink frosting.Spoon the frosting in a thin layer over some of the cookies and top with sprinkles.100 g Powdered Sugar, 2 TBS Whole Milk, 1 TBS Freeze-dried Strawberries, Nonpareil Sprinkles
Notes
- Follow my guide above for more detailed instructions, tips, photos, and storage options to make these easy sourdough animal crackers.
- Store unfrosted crackers in an airtight container for up to a week. Store frosted cookies in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
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