Homemade Animal Crackers (with oats)
These homemade animal crackers are buttery, lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and perfectly crisp, with oat flour adding whole grain goodness. Inspired by the iconic snack many of us grew up with, this healthy animal crackers recipe uses simple ingredients and less sugar while keeping all the fun.
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Making animal crackers from scratch is not the fastest route to snack time. It is, however, one of the better ways to spend a Tuesday afternoon with a two-year-old.
That's very much a Jess kind of idea. Her co-founder Nita would like you to know she was supportive, if skeptical.
As a diehard DIYer Jess once painted her own car bumper. While that idea didn't turn out quite as well as expected, she's had much more success in the kitchen with recipes like lunchbox pizza buns, sourdough seed bread, and snacks like Aussie Bites, and energy oatmeal balls.
Nita, on the other hand, buys her sourdough from a bakery she trusts implicitly.
So yes, this recipe was Jess' idea. And after having made a fun afternoon out of it with her kids, Nita has come around.
Whether you're a "hey, I could make that myself" type of person or just want a toddler snack recipe your kids will be excited about, these homemade animal crackers are worth the afternoon.
What makes these homemade animal crackers dietitian-approved?
💫 Homemade version of iconic cookies we've all grown up with
✅ Simple and everyday ingredients you have at home
🌾 Fibre thanks to the oats, which are a healthy grain option
👍🏾 Lower in sugar compared to other cookies, sweetened with maple syrup
🙌 Can be used as a vehicle to help your child accept other foods like pumpkin pie dip
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- What makes these homemade animal crackers dietitian-approved?
- Key ingredients
- Maple syrup
- Allergen information and substitutes
- How to make these homemade animal crackers
- Serving suggestions for each age & stage
- Homemade animal crackers frequently asked questions:
- Play + books that match this recipe
- More toddler oat recipes
- Homemade Animal Crackers (with oats)
Key ingredients
Butter
Absolutely necessary for that buttery texture and mouthfeel. However, if your toddler has cow's milk protein allergy you can sub this for a dairy free alternative.
Oats
The dough of these homemade animal crackers uses a blend, including oat flour. Oat flour adds a boost of whole grain goodness (including fibre!) and helps give these animal crackers their light, crisp texture with just the right bite.
You can usually find oat flour in the baking aisle of most grocery stores, but it's also very easy to make at home. Simply blend rolled oats or quick oats (not steel-cut oats) until they resemble a fine flour with a slight grainy texture. We often prefer making our own since it only takes a couple of minutes.
As a general guide, 1 cup of whole oats makes about ¾ cup of oat flour. For this recipe, you'll need to blend roughly 2 ⅔ cups of oats to make 2 cups of oat flour. Now that you're a pro at making oat flour, you'll have to make a batch of our peanut butter jam bars too.
Maple syrup
To sweeten these crackers, we're using maple syrup. We love using maple syrup from time to time, just like in our healthy carrot zucchini muffins everyone adores.
Allergen information and substitutes
This recipe for homemade animal crackers does contain a few top priority allergens as identified by Health Canada including eggs, wheat, and dairy.
While we haven't tested it, you are welcome to replace these ingredients with other alternatives that you find work for your family. Instead of an egg, you can trial a flax egg or egg replacement. To replace the wheat, you can use a wheat free flour blend, though, you may want to expect more of a crumbly dough. And finally, instead of butter made from cow's milk, use a dairy free alternative which is fairly easy to find.
At Happy Healthy Eaters, we share the most current allergen guidance inside our Start Solids Confidently video lessons.
How to make these homemade animal crackers
The full recipe is below and we strongly encourage you to watch the video to understand how to make the layers (there's flipping involved!), but here are a few key steps to visualize the process.
- Prepare the dough by mixing the ingredients together with a hand blender. It will look a little crumbly,
2. Shape the dough into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the dough to a clean and floured surface. You can roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment to prevent sticking.
4. Roll out the dough very thinly to between ⅛th and ¼ inch and then start to use your cookie cutters. Reuse the leftover dough and repeat step 3.
5. Place cut out crackers on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the crackers at the two temperatures shared in recipe notes.
6. You'll know the cookies are done when they just start to turn golden on the bottom.
Serving suggestions for each age & stage
6-12 months: Even though these animal crackers are relatively low-sugar, they do have a little bit of added sugar from the maple syrup.That's why we recommend holding off offering them to babies under twelve months.
Instead try some of these fun snack recipes that are free of added sugar and better suited for babies like chocolate prune cookies or our homemade gingerbread teething biscuits.
For more on all things babies and sugar (including the nuance) head over to our comprehensive post.
12 months +: Feel free to serve these animal crackers when your toddler is capable of handling the texture - this will vary from baby to baby. You can serve the crackers alongside a dip like pumpkin pie pudding or even pair it with a thin smear of peanut butter and a side of fruit.
And, if play dates are your calling in motherhood-prep up a fun snack board that includes toddler friendly items to pair with these animal crackers. The toddlers (and parents) are going to love it! You can even prep a batch of toddler oatmeal balls or these coconut banana muffins to complement the snack board.
For the rest of the family: Follow the recipe and enjoy exactly as is!
Homemade animal crackers frequently asked questions:
Once baked, you can store these animal crackers in an airtight container for five to seven days. Alternatively, you can also store the crackers in the freezer since this recipe does make a large batch.
Oat flour can be found at most grocery stores in the baking section, but can easily be made at home. You simply blend whole oats (quick or large flake, NOT steel-cut) until they are the texture of a whole wheat flour (it will have a little grit).
In our experience 1 cup of whole oats will yield about ¾ cup of oat flour. With this ratio in mind, you would need to blend about 2 ⅔ cup of whole oats to get the 2 cups of oat flour needed for this recipe..
We haven't tested the recipe using 100% wheat flour, but we suspect it will work just fine!
The recipe we've developed for homemade animal crackers is not gluten free because it calls for a flour blend that includes wheat. Wheat, as you may already know, contains gluten. If you're a gluten free household you'll want to use an alternative flour that you trust!
Absolutely not! We chose animal cookie cutters because they are nostalgic. But, use any cutters you might have at home or want to try.
Turn the oven back down to 225°F, add more time in one to two minute increments. Keep in mind that the crackers will crisp up upon cooling.
Roll out the dough very thinly to between ⅛th and ¼ inch-you might need to use your super hero muscles to get there, but we trust you can do it!
Yes! You can actually use something as simple a pizza cutter to slice triangles, squares or longer rectangles if you find that easier.
First of all, do your best to roll the dough out evenly so that the cookies are all the same thickness. A rolling pin with thickness rings can be really useful! Secondly, if you find your oven tends to bake food faster at the rear, you can rotate the pans halfway through. Additionally, if the edge cookies are done first, you can remove those and continue to bake the remaining cookies at one or two minute intervals.
Play + books that match this recipe
Food play is a powerful first step when introducing something new - it helps children feel safe, curious, and more willing to taste. Even better, reading food-related books to your child can also help them gain more familiarity with new and familiar foods.
We've curated a giant list of our favorite foodie books for you to consider during your next reading session with your child. In the meantime, here are a few play items:
More toddler oat recipes
If you tried these homemade animal crackers recipe or any other recipe on our blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Homemade Animal Crackers (with oats)
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup oat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer and a large bowl, cream together the softened butter, maple syrup. Then beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add in the all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Shape the dough into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove the dough to a clean and floured surface. Roll out the dough very thinly to between ⅛th and ¼ inch. You can also roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment to prevent sticking.
- Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven and turn the oven off.
- Wait 10 minutes.
- Turn the oven back on to 225°F and bake for another 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies just start to turn golden on the bottom.
Video
Notes
- Baking time will vary depending on your oven, size of your cookie cutters, and how thinly the dough was rolled out.
- You can make your own oat flour. In our experience 1 cup of whole oats will yield about ¾ cup of oat flour. With this ratio in mind, you would need to blend about 2 ⅓ cup of whole oats to get the 2 cups of oat flour needed for this recipe.
- If you end up chilling the dough for longer than 30 minutes or overnight, plan to let it rest at room temperature for at least 45 minutes to soften up enough so you can roll it out.
