Homemade Animal Crackers with Gluten Free Option

I am not sure whether to call these animal crackers or animal cookies, but either way they are just plain good. Better than any animal crackers I had growing up, that’s for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I loved those cute little boxes with images of the zoo on the front. There is just an unexplainable joy that I get out of giving my children nostalgic snacks the I grew up eating that I figured out how to make myself. My husband loves these animal crackers, too! So much so that I have to make a designated batch for him when I make these because he will literally eat them all.

A great thing about these crackers is that they can also be made gluten free. Simply use 100% of oat flour. I like to combine both all-purpose and oat flour for nutrition, flavor and texture. You can definitely use only all-purpose, only oat flour or even combine with wheat flour.

How to Make Homemade Animal Crackers

What makes these crackers super easy is that it is all made in the food processor. Simply add in all of your dry ingredients and then cut in your butter. Then add in your milk, honey, vanilla and molasses. It will all come together into a ball. Then you will just wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes. You just want to allow it to firm up a bit. This step isn’t always necessary, but it can make it easier to roll out.

Animal Cutters

Now, of course, you do not have to use animal cookie cutters. You can cut these out into any shape that you like. When I make these for my husband, I know that he isn’t going to look at every animal like my children will before he eats them so I typically just cut them into squares and he loves them all the same. If you do want to make these super cute. you can get these cutters here.

Working with these cutters is very simple. Once you have your dough rolled out, place your cutter where you want to cut and push on the outsides to get the outline. Then push down on the spring until you feel resistant. Not too hard. Finally, lift the cutter while pushing the spring to release the shape.

If you find that the dough is sticking to your cutters and not releasing easily, just dust your cutters and dough with a little flour and it should work great.

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Now it’s time to bake. You can play around with the baking time depending on if you prefer yours a bit more on the crunchy side or more chewy. My children prefer them crunchy so I typically bake these for 10-12 minutes. My husband on the other hand prefers his chewy so 8 minutes is good for his. The baking time can also change depending on how thick or thin your dough is. I often go for about an 1/8″ thick, but sometimes I make them thicker. It’s all up to you. After a few batches you will find what you or whoever you are making these for prefers.