Circus Animal Cookies for Party Time

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!

Tips for Making Delicious Cookies

Are you looking to make the tastiest cookies ever? I’ve got some tips for you. Here’s what I always make sure to pay attention to. If you don’t need tips for cookie baking, you can just scroll on down.

Use Quality Ingredients

Use high-quality, fresh ingredients for the best cookie flavor and texture. You’ll for sure want to get fresh eggs, good quality butter, and pure vanilla extract (instead of imitation).

Measure Precisely

Flour is often the main dry ingredient in cookies. Measure using the scoop-and-level method, as adding too much flour can result in dry baked goods.

Bring Cold Ingredients to Room Temp

Bring ingredients like butter, eggs, and milk to room temperature before mixing. They will incorporate better, resulting in smoother batter and soft cookies. They don’t need to be warm; slightly cool to room temp is fine.

Avoid Overmixing

Mix the batter just until ingredients are combined, or the dry disappears into the wet. Overmixing can result in tough cookies.

Chill the Dough

Chilling the cookie dough in the fridge for the specified time (or even overnight) before baking allows the flavors to meld and the fats to solidify. This results in cookies with better flavor and texture. It also prevents them from spreading too much during baking.

Look for Golden Edges

Unless the recipe says otherwise, the edges of the cookies should turn a golden brown while the center remains slightly soft. This balance ensures a chewy texture without overbaking.

Cool Before Transferring

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This helps them set and avoids them becoming too fragile and crumbling apart.

Remember, practicing and experimenting will help you perfect your cookie baking skills over time. Have fun and enjoy the process of creating delicious baked goods! 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:

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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:

Almond Flour Shortbread • Apple Pie • Apricot Dark Chocolate • Bacon Chocolate Chip • Brownie Chocolate Chip • Buckeye • Butterscotch Chocolate Chip • Butterscotch Popcorn • Caramel Apple • Chocolate Chip (Air Fryer) • Chocolate Chip Pudding • Chocolate Chip Sandwich • Chocolate Marshmallow • Chocolate Mint Sandwich • Chocolate Thumbprint • Christmas Linzer • Cotton Candy • Easter M&M • Funfetti • Ginger Molasses • Halloween M&M • Heath Bar • Lemon Blueberry Thumbprint • Lemon Cream Cheese • Lemon Shortbread • Nutella Stuffed • Oatmeal Chocolate Chip • Paleo Shortbread • Peppermint Frosted • Peppermint Pudding • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip • Pumpkin Linzer • Pumpkin Sugar • Red Velvet Thumbprint • Reese’s Pieces • Ritz S’mores • Rolo • Santa Cookies • Shortbread Tea • Snickers • Vanilla • White Chocolate Cranberry • White Chocolate Snickerdoodles