Healthier Animal Crackers – Only 4 Ingredients

A Misnamed Cookie That’s Better for Your Kids

Oh my goodness, these animal crackers! You would not even know that these are healthier animal crackers. They are so crisp and delicious, and – best of all – they contain zero processed sugar.

Sweetened with maple syrup, these healthier animal crackers are so easy to make with just 4 ingredients (3 if you use salted butter). And it’s a good thing too, since your kids will be asking you to make them over and over 😁

But before we go any further, can we just take a moment to acknowledge the fact that animal “cracker” is a bit of a misnomer? I know that I cannot be the only parent who categorizes animal crackers in the “cookie” section of my brain, right?

So why are they called animal crackers? And aren’t they sometimes called animal cookies?

Well, according to this article on PhilsFocus.com, the difference between an animal cracker and an animal cookie boils down to the crackers having a lower sugar and fat content and a more crisp and crunchy texture – plus a few technicalities on how an industrial animal cracker is cut compared with an animal cookie.

With this in mind, I would say this recipe for healthier animal crackers is really more of a recipe for healthier animal cookies. But that term isn’t as popular in search engines, so let’s just stick with the misnomer of animal crackers and assume that we all know it’s really a cookie 🙂

Now, having briefly discussed the differences in an animal cracker versus an animal cookie, I must also transparently tell you that this refined sugar free cookie recipe is not healthier because it is low in calories, fat or sugar.

This recipe is not lower in those nutrition facts than the store-bought animal cookies and may even be slightly higher since store-bought versions are devoid of much fat or moisture to help keep them preserved to sit on a shelf for long periods of time (think about that for a minute).

What makes these homemade animal crackers healthy is the fact that they are completely unprocessed, free from preservatives and also more filling because of higher fat content. That means tummies get filled up with these naturally sweetened cookies much quicker than the animal crackers or cookies from the store which are pretty much just carbs.

This also means that, left to themselves, kids would eat less of the richer homemade animal crackers than the empty calorie store-bought animal crackers before setting them aside with an overly full stomach.

You should not leave your kids to themselves with an entire batch or bag of any cookies, by the way 😉

But the point here is, the higher amounts of (natural and unprocessed) fat and (natural unrefined) sugar in homemade animal crackers over store-bought is partially or entirely mitigated by the fact that kids don’t need to eat as many in a sitting to be satisfied.

So just so we are clear, if you are looking for a low fat or low sugar treat, this is not the recipe for you. However, if you are looking for a whole food replacement to store-bought junk food that is a natural, unprocessed and more satisfying snack for your kids that can be eaten in moderation, you are in exactly the right place 😃

What These Animal Crackers are Good for

Personally, I would much rather my kids eat these homemade animal crackers over the store-bought version. But with any kind of animal cracker (which is actually a cookie), I also don’t want my kids snacking on them all the time in the name of health and balanced nutrition.

So here’s when I think these maple syrup animal crackers are perfect:

Dessert: Because homemade animal crackers are more buttery than store-bought, they are a richer type of cookie that makes a delicious dessert. You could even serve these with some homemade, honey-sweetened vanilla or chocolate whipped cream to dip them in.

Occasional Special Snack: Although I probably would not give these to my kids as a frequent snack, I would pair them with some protein – like peanut butter – for a fun snack on occasion.

Tea Parties: My girls love to have tea parties during which we, of course, must have something delectable to eat with our tea. And these animal cookies are the perfect tea party cookie.

Movie or Game Nights: These would be a much healthier alternative to junk food on family movie nights or game nights.

And here’s my favorite time that these are great to make:

When You Don’t Want to Mess With Fancy Ingredients: The great thing about these easy homemade animal crackers is that they require only 4 staple ingredients you always have on hand, and they are so easy to make. All you have to do is literally pull out 4 things and put them together in a very simple way. No fuss in this recipe!

Ingredients

• Butter: Butter creates a moist base for these cookies that allows them to be rolled and cut easily without cracking. It is also responsible for much of the flavor in these simple cookies. Use Irish grass-fed butter for best nutrition or organic as a second best choice. Make sure you use unsalted butter if you plan to add your own salt.

• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the all-natural sweetener in this refined sugar free cookie recipe. While it is high in natural sugars, it is still lower on the glycemic index than white sugar and it contains some health benefits that are completely lacking in processed sugar. Make sure you use Grade A maple syrup. I recently like to use dark maple syrup for deeper flavor and possible added health benefits.

• Flour: Whatever all-purpose flour you normally should work fine for this recipe. I use unbleached organic flour from Costco.

• Salt: Just a pinch of salt enhances the flavor of these animal cookies. Note, however, that if your butter is salted, you should not use salt.

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit and pull out two baking sheets.

Step 2

Add softened butter and maple syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle or spatula attachment on your mixer, mix on medium speed until fully creamed together.

Step 3

Add salt and 1/3 of the flour to the bowl. Mix on low and then medium speed just until combined. Add another third of the flour and mix again. Add the rest of the flour and mix until fully combined.

Step 4

Lay a large piece of parchment paper on a flat surface. Do not add flour or you may dry out your dough.

Step 5

Grab half of the cookie dough and place it on your parchment paper. Flatten dough with your hands as much as possible first, then use the rolling pin to even out the surface. This will help to prevent stretching the dough and creating cracks.

Roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

*See note.

Step 6

Using your cookie cutters of choice, cut out your cookies and transfer them to your baking sheets. They should come off of the parchment paper easily, but if they do not, stick a stainless steel dough scraper or spatula in the freezer for a couple of minutes, and then use it to gently scrape the cookies off of the parchment paper.

*See note for additional tips.

Step 7

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes for roughly two-inch size cookies. Cookies are done when the edges are starting to brown and the bottoms are browning around the edges.

*See note.

Step 8

Allow cookies to cool for five minutes before removing from the baking sheets, then cool completely on a plate or cooling wrack. Make sure to give them ample time to cool down before serving or storing.

Cookies can be stored in a sealed container or plastic bag for up to 5 days on the counter or up to two weeks in the fridge.

Substitutions & Tips

• This is a no-chill cookie recipe. This means that if you want to make the dough ahead and store it in the fridge for a day or two, you will need to bring it to room temperature before rolling and cutting the cookies. At the same time, you don’t want your dough getting too warm while you are working with it, so it is best to make sure your kitchen stays below 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

• I highly recommend using this stainless steel rolling pin that comes with thickness guide rings in various sizeso get perfectly even cookies. I used to try to eyeball it with a regular rolling pin with these fall cut-out cookies, but after having uneven cookies that were baking differently in different areas of one cookie, I switched to using the ring guides with much improved outcomes.

• Even though these are called ANIMAL crackers, I will understand if you use cookie cutters that are not animal shapes to make them. In fact, cookie cutters such as shapes, letters and numbers can turn these into educational easy healthy cookies for toddlers. But if you do want to make them into animal shapes to present them as close to the “real” thing as possible, these are the animal cookie cutters I ordered from Amazon and used to make the animal crackers pictured in this post.

• Keep in mind that you may need to adjust your bake time if you make larger or smaller cookies. I made some very small, one-inch cookies and baked one pan for 12 minutes. The second pan was pretty crowded with cookies and I baked it for 14 minutes. If you make regular-large size cut-out cookies instead of animal cracker size, you will need to keep an eye on them while they bake and likely increase the bake time.

• Allow the cookies plenty of time to cool before placing them in a sealed container or plastic bag for storage. It won’t hurt them to sit out a little extra since they are meant to be crispy, but you don’t want to soften them by storing them when they are still warm.

Animal Crackers

You'll never buy processed animal crackers again after making these healthier animal crackers. These crispy cookies made with maple syrup will become one of your kids favorite refined sugar free cookies. And they will become one of your favorites to make since these are simple 4 ingredient healthy cookies. Grab the printable version of the recipe in my free e-book here.

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Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes minutes

Mixing Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 24 minutes minutes

Servings: 46 Cookies

Calories: 60kcal

Equipment

• 1 Stand Mixer
• 1 Rolling pin with thickness guide rings
• 1 Pack Animal Cracker Cookie Cutters or your choice of cookie cutters

Ingredients

• 170 g butter unsalted, softened
• 100 g maple syrup or try this no-chill cut-out cookie recipe made with honey
• 350 g flour
• 1/8 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit and pull out two baking sheets.
• Add softened butter and maple syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle or spatula attachment on your mixer, mix on medium speed until fully creamed together.
• Add salt and 1/3 of the flour to the bowl. Mix on low and then medium speed just until combined. Add another third of the flour and mix again. Add the rest of the flour and mix until fully combined.
• Lay a large piece of parchment paper on a flat surface. Do not add flour or you may dry out your dough.
• Grab half of the cookie dough and place it on your parchment paper. Flatten dough with your hands as much as possible first, then use the rolling pin to even out the surface. This will help to prevent stretching the dough and creating cracks.

  Roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

  *See note.
• Using your cookie cutters of choice, cut out your cookies and transfer them to your baking sheets. They should come off of the parchment paper easily, but if they do not, stick a stainless steel dough scraper or spatula in the freezer for a couple of minutes, and then use it to gently scrape the cookies off of the parchment paper.

  *See note for additional tips.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes for roughly two-inch size cookies. Cookies are done when the edges are starting to brown and the bottoms are browning around the edges.

  *See note.
• Allow cookies to cool for five minutes before removing from the baking sheets, then cool completely on a plate or cooling wrack. Make sure to give them ample time to cool down before serving or storing.

  Cookies can be stored in a sealed container or plastic bag for up to 5 days on the counter or up to two weeks in the fridge.

Notes

• If you use salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe.
• There is no need to chill this cookie dough. If you need to make this ahead and store it in the fridge, you will need to set it out to soften to room temperature again before rolling and cutting it. 
• I highly recommend using a rolling pin like this one that has thickness guide rings to get an even surface when rolling your cookies. 
• It is helpful to keep the temperature of your kitchen below 75 degrees Fahrenheit while rolling and cutting out your cookies. This prevents the butter in the cookie dough from becoming as melty and hard to work with/pick up off of the parchment paper.
  Alternatively, you can keep the portion of dough you are not working with in the fridge, covered, until you need it. Keep in mind that if you leave it in the fridge for too long, it will become hard and need to soften back up.
• Note that the size of cookie cutters you use may change your necessary baking time. I have used medium-sized cookie cutters and small cookie cutters and baked them for 12-14 minutes for the perfect crispness without burning. If you use regular-large size cookie cutters, you may need to bake them longer. If your pan is really crowded that may also increase the bake time.

Nutrition

Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 30mg | Potassium: 14mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 92IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.4mg

NaturallySweetenedKids.com

If you love refined sugar free cookie recipes, make sure to check out these incredible date-sweetened chocolate chip cookies, these addicting date cocoa cookies and these refreshingly non-chocolate jam thumbprint cookies.