If you love circus animal cookies, you’re going to love this recipe! It features a chewy sugar cookie, sweet strawberry frosting, and crumbled circus crackers on top.
For those of us who have grown up in the midwest, you might be familiar with a little brand I like to call Archway Cookies. If you watched the Bozo Show, they always gave away those dang delicious cookies as free prizes.
I always wanted to be one of the kids that got to play the Grand Prize Game, where you threw ping pong balls into buckets that were sequentially further and further away.
You could not only win cookies, but you could possibly win a bike. Do you know what that does to a child? Mind blown.
Plus I always saw the potential in everything. If they can do it – why can’t I?
All I need to do is throw balls into buckets and I can win two wheeled transportation? Sign me up. My brothers and I practiced for HOURS so that when we finally made it on the show, we’d ace the game.
Alas, as expected, we never made it to the show (filmed in Chicago) so we never got to display our ball and bucket skills for Bozo and his motley crew of clowns. We never won bikes.
But we would have.
But after ALL of that, I still remember the cookies. Besides the bike, that’s the only other prize I remember. They had a lot of types, but one of the most popular was the Mother’s frosted animal cookies.
Those little animal cracker biscuits covered with frosting and sprinkles. You know what I’m talking about!
To celebrate National Cookie Day (today, December 4th), I’ve decided to share with you a unique cookie recipe brought to you by childhood memories and a former clown friend named Bozo: circus animal cookies!
These circus cookies feature a chewy, soft sugar cookie base, sweet strawberry frosting, and crunchy crumbled circus animal biscuits on top.
They’re VERY easy to make and will be gone as soon as you set them on the table. They melt in your mouth!
Here’s what you’re going to need for these circus animal cookies.
Cookies
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 – 1 1/2 cup circus animal cookies
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 pink or red food coloring (or desired amount)
Tips and Thoughts for This Recipe
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.
These cookies will last on the counter in an airtight container for five days and about a week and a half in the fridge.
You can also freeze them in an airtight container for a few months. When you bring them out of the freezer, let them rise to room temperature naturally as opposed to microwaving.
This recipe is great for cookie exchanges! Get the printable baking directions below:
Circus Animal Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg(s)
- 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
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- [mv_schema_meta name="Preheat the Oven"]Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Cream the Butter and Sugar"]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.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Add the Egg and Sour Cream"]Add the egg and sour cream to the bowl. Continue mixing on a medium-high speed until the egg is fully beaten.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Add the Vanilla"]Once the egg and sour cream are fully incorporated into the cookie creamed sugar, stir in the vanilla extract.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Mix in the Dry Ingredients"]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.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Chill the Dough"]Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow your cookie dough to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Add Dough to Baking Sheets"]Divide the cookie dough into 16 evenly sized balls. Place on two baking sheets.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Bake the Cookies"]Bake for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes. Transfer to wire racks.
Make the Frosting
- [mv_schema_meta name="Beat the Butter"]In a bowl, beat your softened butter until soft and creamy.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Add Remaining Ingredients and Mix"]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.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Frost the Cookies"]Spread the icing over the top of the cookies using an offset spatula.
- [mv_schema_meta name="Sprinkle on Circus Crackers"]Crumble the circus animal crackers and sprinkle them over the top of the frosting on the cookies. Let set before serving.
Nutrition
If you enjoyed this cookie recipe, let me know in the comments. I’d also love for you to check out these others cause we’ve got a lot of delicious ideas:
Chocolate Chip Pudding • Chocolate Chip Sandwich • Chocolate Marshmallow • Chocolate Thumbprint • Cotton Candy • Funfetti • Ginger Molasses • Heath Bar • Lemon Blueberry Thumbprint • Lemon Cream Cheese • Nutella Stuffed • Reese’s Pieces • Ritz S’mores • Rolo • Santa Cookies • Shortbread Tea • Snickers • Vanilla