I spy with my little eye...animal biscuits

A good friend of mine gifted me with an awesome set of safari animal cookie cutters for my recent birthday, and as soon as I saw them, I knew I had to put them (as well as the animal cookie cutters I already owned) to good use.

My first thought: animal crackers!!

Although I do have a more traditional recipe for little cookie/crackers that remind you of the store-bought little treats, I instead decided to go with a heartier sweet biscuit for my first animal cookie foray.

Can you find the following animals below: cat, bat, elephant, mouse, zebra, frog, lion, giraffe, bear? Hint--you may have to tilt your head up to 180 degrees upside-down for the correct perspective for some of the shapes.


These cookies were designed to be gnawed upon by teething babies, but they've got enough flavor to satisfy the discerning adult palate as well. They are lightly sweet, hearty from the wheat germ, faintly citrusy and cinnamony, and a suitable complement to a cup of coffee or tea...or a sippy cup of milk.


Biscuits to Gnaw Upon, whether teething child or fully-teethed adult (adapted from "Isabel's Teething Biscuits," found in Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel)

Ingredients:
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk powder
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar (note: if really feeding to infants, DO NOT substitute with honey)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup undiluted frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Instructions:
For the dough: In a medium bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, milk powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a larger bowl, combine the sugar and the oil; whisk by hand to combine. Add the egg and orange juice and whisk until smooth. To the wet ingredients, whisk in dry ingredients slowly until a thick batter starts to form; switch to using a spatula and finish combining the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

For animal cut-outs: Roll out dough on lightly greased cutting board or smooth surface to 1/8 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Peel away excess dough around the shapes, then use a spatula to help scoop up the shapes and deposit on greased and lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees, or until your animals have toasty noses and feet and tails. Follow cooling method as described below to make them more crisp and dry them out completely.


For teething biscuits: Grease and/or line a large cookie sheet (approx. half sheet pan size). Place the cookie sheet on a damp towel or some sort of mat for friction, and roll the dough out in the cookie sheet to dimensions of an inch smaller than all four edges of the pan. (By my estimation, this should give you a rectangle that is approx. 1/4 inch tall/thick). Cut the rolled out dough into 2 x 3/4 inch bars (for babies) or larger for adults. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees, or until edges are brown. Re-cut along the same lines. Turn OFF the oven, place the cookies back into the oven, and let them cool in the oven until the oven is cool. You can freeze them for up to 1 month; just defrost a cookie as needed. The full recipe is supposed to make about 6 dozen cookies.