Circus Animal Cookies

These circus cookies feature a chewy sugar cookie base, sweet strawberry frosting, and crunchy crumbled circus animal crackers on top!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword birthday, party

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 13

Chill Time 30

Total Time 1 3

Servings people

Calories 472kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Cookies

1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg(s) large
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 - 1 1/2 cup circus animal cookies
1 1/2 cups strawberry frosting

Frosting

1/3 cup unsalted butter room temp
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon strawberry extract
2-3 drops food coloring pink or red - you can use more drops too!

Instructions

Make the Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer to cream the butter sugar together for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.
Add the egg and sour cream to the bowl. Continue mixing on a medium-high speed until the egg is fully beaten.
Once the egg and sour cream are fully incorporated into the cookie creamed sugar, stir in the vanilla extract.
Reduce your mixing speed to low and add in the baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Mix the cookie dough until the dry ingredients are just combined into the wet ingredients.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow your cookie dough to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Divide the cookie dough into 16 evenly sized balls. Place on two baking sheets.
Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes. Transfer to wire racks.

Make the Frosting

In a bowl, beat your softened butter until soft and creamy.
Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar, food coloring extract, milk, and then the rest of the powdered sugar. Beat for a couple of minutes until smooth and creamy.
Spread the icing over the top of the cookies using an offset spatula.
Crumble the circus animal crackers and sprinkle them over the top of the frosting on the cookies. Let set before serving.

Notes

I like the sweetness that the strawberry frosting brings to the table; however, you can also use vanilla frosting with a drop of red coloring. You use store bought frosting to help cut down on prep time.

You can easily make these cookies gluten free by swapping out the flour for 1 3/4 cups of your favorite gluten free flour.

Nutrition