Move over cake pops because cookie pops have entered the chat! We teamed up with artistic baking extraordinaire, SweetAmbs, to create Animal Cookie Pops! One of the best parts about this recipe is that the ingredients are simple and kids will have a field day while helping with making them.
HOW TO MAKE ANIMAL CAKE POPS
ANIMAL COOKIE POPS TEMPLATE
SUPPLIES
- Chilled sheet of sugar cookie dough
- 1 batch buttercream frosting
- Animal face templates (the downloadable template above)
- Craft knife to cut cookies
- Oven-safe cookie sticks
- Baking sheet lined with a perforated baking mat or parchment paper
- Parchment paper cut into 4” squares
- Round decorating tips 2, 3, and 8 or 10
- Petal decorating tip 101
- 7 Decorating bags with couplers
- Bag ties or rubber bands
- Brush
- Small dish of water
- 7 containers for mixing frosting colors.
INGREDIENTS FOR SUGAR COOKIE
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
INGREDIENTS FOR BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Pink, orange, brown, yellow, and black gel food coloring
PREPARATION FOR SUGAR COOKIE
- Cream the softened butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl.
- Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix on low speed until the dough starts to pull away from the sides, stopping once to scrape the bowl.
- Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it to about 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate the sheet for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Cut the cookies using the templates and place them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Cut small rectangle shapes (small enough to fit on the animal faces) from the leftover cookie dough. Brush the animal cookie with water and press a cookie stick into the dough. Brush the rectangle of dough with water and place it onto the animal face, covering the stick.
- Bake the cookies (stick side facing up) at 350˚F for 9 to 10 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown.
PREPARATION FOR BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- Beat the softened butter on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk and mix on low speed until combined.
- Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl.
- Beat the frosting on high speed until it is light and fluffy.
HOW TO DECORATE ANIMAL CAKE POPS
DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS
- Split the buttercream frosting evenly into 7 containers. Color the frosting light pink, orange, yellow, light brown, black, and gray. Leave one container of frosting white.
- Fit 7 decorating bags with couplers and fill the bags as follows:
- Fit a bag with a tip 8 or 10 and fill it with light pink frosting .
- Fit a bag with a tip 3 and fill it with light brown frosting .
- Fit a bag with a tip 2 and fill it with black frosting .
- Fit a bag with a tip 8 or 10 and fill it with white frosting.
- Fit a bag with a tip 8 or 10 and fill it with yellow frosting.
- Fit a bag with a petal tip 101 and fill it with orange frosting .
- Fit a bag with a tip 3 and fill it with gray frosting.
- Secure the top of the bags with a bag tie or rubber band to prevent the frosting from spilling out as you decorate.
BUNNY
- Ice the bunny cookie with pink frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Ice the inner ears with light brown frosting.
- Pipe a face with black frosting.
COW
- Ice the top half of the face with white frosting and the lower half with pink frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Pipe spots with black frosting and repeat steps 2 & 3.
- Switch the tip on the pink frosting from an 8 (or 10) to a 3. Ice the inner ears with pink frosting.
- Pipe the face with black and light brown frosting.
LION
- Ice an oval in the middle of the cookie with yellow frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Pipe mane around the yellow oval with orange frosting. Hold the tip so that the narrow end is facing out. Move the tip up and down as you pipe to create a ruffled effect.
- Pipe a second, smaller layer of mane.
- Pipe ears with yellow frosting and the inner ears with orange frosting.
- Pipe a face with black frosting.
RACCOON
- Switch the tip on the white frosting from an 8 (or 10) to a 3.
- Fill in the area around the eyes with white frosting. Fill in the remaining area with gray frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Pipe teardrop shapes of gray frosting over the white frosting in the eye area. Repeat steps 3 & 4.
- Pipe a face with black frosting.
BEAR
- Ice the bear cookie with light brown frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Switch the tip from a 3 to an 8 (or 10) on the white frosting. Pipe the snout with white frosting. Repeat steps 2 & 3.
- Pipe the inner ears with pink frosting.
- Pipe the face with black frosting.
FOX
- Ice the sides of the fox’s face with white frosting.
- Switch the tip on the orange frosting from a tip 101 to a 3. Fill in the rest of the face with orange frosting.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top and use your finger to smooth the frosting underneath. Place the cookie upside down in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookie from the fridge and peel off the parchment paper (if the parchment paper does not come off easily, place it back into the refrigerator for a few more minutes).
- Fill in the inner ears with white frosting and pipe the face with black frosting.