Homemade Animal Crackers: The Best Toddler Snack for 12 months & Up
Okay guys, you and your little one’s will be obsessed with these! We love them so much and the cute little animal shapes gets the kids so excited. It’s so fun and rewarding to make, and so worth it when you see the smile on your kids face. Unlike store-bought versions that often contain preservatives, artificial flavors, and excessive sugar, these homemade crackers are made with clean, simple ingredients like flour, oats, butter, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. Not only do they taste amazing, but they also provide a healthier alternative with natural sweetness and wholesome goodness.
Why These Homemade Animal Crackers Are a Great Choice:
- No refined sugar: Honey provides a natural, mild sweetness without the need for processed sugars.
- Wholesome grains: Flour and oats offer fiber and essential nutrients.
- Kid-friendly: The fun shapes make them an exciting snack for toddlers, older kids and even adults.
- Convenient for On The Go: These hold up really well. They are excellent for kid’s lunchboxes, travel snacks, picnic or playdate.
- Easy to store: Keep them in an airtight container for up to a week for a handy, homemade snack anytime.
Tips For Success:
-Make sure you have a few sheets of parchment paper, you will need to work with it for this recipe.
-When adding the butter to food processor, it has to be cold butter and cut it into pieces.
-If your dough is too dry you can add another tsp of water, if it is too wet you can add a little more flour.
Alternative Shapes:
If you don’t have animal-shaped cookie cutters, don’t worry! You can use any small cookie cutter shapes, such as stars, hearts, or flowers, to make these crackers just as fun and exciting. Even a simple round cutter or the rim of a small glass works perfectly for a more classic cracker look. The key is to keep the shapes small enough so they bake evenly and have that signature crispness. No matter the shape, these crackers will still be delicious and enjoyable for the whole family!
Ingredients & Substitutions:
All-Purpose Flour- This flour gives the best consistency. You can replace with gluten-free flour, spelt flour or whole wheat flour. With whole wheat flour or spelt, mixture might be a little drier. If too dry add 1 tbsp more of water.
Oats- The oats provide a slight chewiness and boost fiber content. If you prefer to omit the oats you can replace with flour, but I don’t have the exact measurements since I haven’t tried it myself. I recommend slowly adding to a food processor until you get the right consistency.
Butter- Both unsalted and salted butter will work in this recipe. For dairy-free option you can use a dairy-free butter or coconut oil.
Honey- The honey can be substituted with maple syrup or sweetener of choice.
What You Need:
If you enjoyed this recipe, here are a few more toddler snacks you should check out:
Homemade Animal Crackers
Ingredients
Directions
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Add everything to a food processor the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, cold butter, honey, water and blitz for a minute till you get somewhat of a shaggy dough that comes together easily If your dough is too dry you can add another tsp of water, if it is too wet you can add a little more flour
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Add the dough to a parchment paper sheet and combine it together with your hands forming a square shape. Continue to cover it with the parchment paper folding all of it's edges and storing in the fridge for 20 minutes
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While dough is chilling preheat oven to 350F
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When ready add a little flour to parchment paper surface. Place the dough on top with another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch thick.
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Start cutting out your shapes and put them on a baking tray with parchment paper. Gather all the extra dough and continue to roll out and cut more shapes until you are done with all of your dough. You should get about 2 baking trays of animal crackers
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Bake for 7-8 minutes until golden
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Let cool for 15 minutes & enjoy!
Note
Storage instructions- store in airtight container for up to 1 week. You can freeze some cookies for up to 1 month and thaw before eating.
This came out so cute and delicious! My kid was so happy