Circus Animal Cookies are soft cake-batter cookies topped with a big swirl of cream cheese frosting, tons of sprinkles, and a frosted animal cookie. My FAVORITE!
author’s note
The One Cookie I’d Pick Over All the Others
My mom never bought frosted animal cookies growing up, so the few times I got them from friends felt extra special. I was obsessed with everything about them: the flavor, the colors, the sprinkles, all of it.
And honestly? Even as an adult, they continue to have a pull on me. I STILL love them. So naturally, I had to turn that nostalgia into a fun, bakery-style cookie.
BIG claim incoming because I truly love all my cookie recipes and pour my heart into perfecting them, but I think this might be my favorite cookie on my entire site. 🤯
These Circus Animal Cookies are the perfect mix of homemade and nostalgic. A soft and chewy cake-batter-style cookie, a thick swirl of cream cheese frosting, lots of sprinkles, and of course, a classic frosted animal cookie on top.
Sweet, fun, and just the right amount of over-the-top.
Ingredients In Circus Animal Cookies
- To truly channel the animal circus crackers from my childhood into these cookies, we use nonpareil sprinkles. Nonpareil colors bleed into the cookie dough, so stir the batter as little as possible, being gentle as you mix.
- A quality cake mix makes a huge difference for the base cookie in this recipe. I highly recommend Betty Crocker® Super Moist cake mixes (not sponsored). As far as the flavor of the mix, I recommend Party Rainbow Chip. If you can’t find that particular mix, a close second we like in these cookies is Betty Crocker® Super Moist yellow cake mix.
- I recommend an instant-vanilla pudding mix for this recipe, not the cook-and-serve pudding mixes or the sugar-free/low-sugar versions. Neither will work properly in these cookies.
Circus Animal Cookie Tips
- Chill the dough. The dough needs time to chill so the butter can re-solidify and the pudding mixture can be fully absorbed. This will ensure you don’t have flat (and less-flavorful) cookies. I don’t recommend chilling the dough for more than 3-4 hours, as it begins to dry out.
- Measure carefully. The most important measurements are the flour and cake mix. If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour (or cake mix) you are likely packing in way too much, which will yield cakey and less-flavorful cookies. Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level the top with the back of a table knife. The printable recipe includes gram measurements if you prefer to measure using a scale.
- Set out your butter and cream cheese for about an hour before you begin. If these ingredients aren’t at room temperature, they won’t combine very smoothly, and there will be unpleasant cream cheese chunks in the frosting. Here are some tips for how to bring your cream cheese and butter to room temperature quickly.
- Before frosting the Animal Circus Cookies, make sure they are completely cooled to room temperature. Otherwise, the frosting will begin to melt and change consistency.
Quick Tip
Piping the frosting on top. To make these Animal Circus Cookies look more fun and “bakery-style”, I like to pipe the frosting in a swirl pattern. Use either a plastic bag or a piping bag and cut off the very tip. Holding the cookie in one hand and the frosting bag in the other, swirl the frosting from the inside of the cookie outwards. You can easily cover any piping “blemishes” with the animal cracker and/or extra sprinkles.
Quick Tip
You’ll probably have a bit of extra cream cheese frosting (depending, of course, on how much you add to the cookies). I’d rather err on the side of extra than not having enough to frost the Circus Animal Cookies generously. If you end up with extra frosting, use it as a fruit dip or spread over sliced strawberries. You could even add it on top of waffles or pancakes for a cheesecake-type breakfast.
More Bakery-Style Cookies:
Desserts
Levain Cookie Recipe
Desserts
Cinnamon Roll Cookie Recipe
Desserts
Lemon Cookies Recipe
Cookies
Swig Sugar Cookies
Circus Animal Cookies
Video
Equipment
- Sheet pan (15" x 10") with liner
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup instant vanilla pudding mix dry (not sugar-free or fat-free)
- 1 cup Funfetti cake mix or yellow cake mix dry
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sprinkles
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Frosted animal crackers
- Optional nonpareil sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Cookies
- Cream butter and sugars: In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth, light, and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, pudding mix, cake mix, and flour.
- Combine: Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat just until combined. Do not overmix. Dough will be very thick. Gently fold in sprinkles and white chocolate chips.
- Chill: Roll dough into 3-tablespoon (60g) balls. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet. Place no more than 6 dough balls per pan. Bake for 9 to 13 minutes, until edges are lightly golden and centers are slightly underbaked. About 11 minutes works well.
- Cool: Let cookies rest on the pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Make the Frosting
- Beat base: In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until completely smooth.
- Flavor: Mix in vanilla and salt.
- Sweeten: Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. It may seem like it needs more liquid, but keep beating and it will come together. If too wet, add more powdered sugar. If too dry, add a small splash of milk or cream.
Assemble
- Frost: Transfer frosting to a piping bag or plastic bag with the tip snipped off. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cooled cookie.
- Decorate: Sprinkle with nonpareils if using and gently press a frosted animal cracker into the center of each cookie.
- Set: Let frosting set before serving or stacking.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these for my daughter’s birthday, and they were a hit! I did have some trouble getting them cooked all the way through at first. At the 13 minute mark they hadn’t finished spreading, and there was still a big lump in the middle. The second batch had spread more, but were still so raw that I couldn’t get them onto the cooling rack. The third batch I just baked until they looked right, and I had let the dough sit out during the cooking of the second batch. Those went much faster. Next time, I will either decrease the chill time or take them out while my oven preheats. The recipe is DELICIOUS. My mother-in-law texted me a couple days later (she took an extra home) to tell me they are the best cookies she’s ever had!!
5 STARS for the icing—this is by far the best cream cheese icing I’ve ever made!! So perfectly balanced, not too tangy, not too sweet. And I appreciated the note about just to keep on mixing. It came together and I didn’t need to add a thing.
I made these and they were AMAZING!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Sarah! 🙂