Gluten-free Homemade Animal Cookies
gluten-free | dairy-free option | tree nut free
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | May 1, 2025
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Making your own animal cookies is way more fun than buying a bag of animal cookies at the store! You get to choose what animals you make and watch the magic happen as you roll out the dough, cut out the cookies, and bake the shapes into delicious animal cookies! Whether you like snacking on animal cookies throughout the day, using them as a summer travel snack, or mixing them into a trail mix… these gluten-free animal cookies can be used in all the same ways that traditional store-bought animal cookies would be used. They are fun recipe to make with young modern pioneers and everyone will enjoy snacking on the results!

Modern Pioneer Recipe

Animal cookies are certainly a modern pioneer food. I’m pretty certain that the early pioneers did not have the handy-dandy mini animal cookie cutters that we have today for making animal cookies. But nonetheless, I love this modern pioneer recipe because it is a great way to make a delicious homemade snack. Instead of buying snacks at the store, these animal cookies make a great alternative!

Additionally, this recipe is allergy-friendly, which makes it the perfect snack recipe for modern pioneers with dietary restrictions. These animal cookies are….

gluten-free
tree nut free
dairy-free option
refined sugar free option
corn free
soy free

Another reason why you will love these gluten-free animal cookies is because they are a super easy recipe to make as a packable snack. Once baked and cooled, these animal cookies will last for a month when stored at room temperature in an airtight container. They can easily be made in advance, packed on road trips, or crammed into lunch boxes. They are a fairly hardy snack that won’t crumble into pieces if they get stuffed into the bottom of a backpack.

For other fun on-the-go snack options, check out these gluten-free energy balls or these no-bake protein bars!

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a crock full of gluten-free vanilla animal cookies

Fun Ways to Use Animal Cookies

I LOVE making animal cookies. They are so adaptable and can be used in countless ways to make for fun snacks or creative desserts. Once you make your first batch of gluten-free animal cookies, you will be hooked!

These gluten-free animal cookies are fun to snack on as they are, but there are also fun ways to get creative with them. Instead of buying animal cookies, use your homemade animal cookies to make a variety of different snacks. Here are some of my favorite ways to use animal cookies:

Snack Mix– I like to mix my animal cookies into snack mixes. They pair great with a variety of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and other snack foods.
Dunkaroos– Serve your homemade animal cookies with a frosting dip or cream cheese dip for a delicious party dessert!
Cake Decor– You make your animal cookies into whatever shapes you want, which makes them an easy way to create customizable cake decor for homemade cakes or cupcakes.
Desserts– You can add your homemade animal cookies to other dessert recipes too! Animal cookie cookies, animal cookie cookie bars, and animal cookie chocolate bark are just a few ideas…
Frosted– These homemade animal cookies can easily be frosted and sprinkled with sprinkles for your very own homemade frosted animal cookies!

If you’re looking for a grain-free version of animal cookies, then make sure you check out my Grain-free Animal Cookie recipe too! They are just as simple to make and can be used in all the same ways as these gluten-free animal cookies.

a bowl of homemade animal cookies set on top of a hunting magazine

Animal Cookie Recipe Tips

Can I use a different gluten-flour blend?

I have made this recipe with both King Arthur gluten-free all-purpose flour and gfJules gluten-free all-purpose flour. I am fairly certain that the recipe will work just fine with other gluten-free flour blends as well. It is a very forgiving recipe and you can easily make small adaptions if necessary to get the right dough consistency.

I have not tried substituting in any other flours for the oat flour. You can use homemade oat flour (grind whole oats in a food processor or blender) or a store-bought oat flour.

How can I make this recipe refined sugar-free?

This recipe uses both a granulated sugar and a liquid sweetener for creating perfectly sweetened animal cookies. You can make this recipe free from refined sugars by using organic maple sugar and pure maple syrup!

Additionally, for the granulated sugar, you can use organic cane sugar, maple sugar, or coconut sugar. Coconut sugar will result in darker colored animal cookies. For the maple syrup, you can use raw honey instead, although the cookies may not be as sweet.

Can this recipe be made dairy-free?

Yes! You can make these gluten-free animal cookies dairy-free by using melted coconut oil or dairy-free butter alternatives.

What if my dough is too dry? Or too sticky?

This recipe is very forgiving, and if your dough seems too dry or too sticky, there are some simple fixes you can do to create the perfect dough consistency. But first, let’s troubleshoot.

The dough may be sticky if your egg was very large, your oat flour wasn’t absorbent enough, you used a different blend of gluten-free flours, or you used oil instead of butter. The dough may be too dry if your gluten-free flour or oat flour was very absorbent, your egg was small, or your butter wasn’t melted enough.

In the end, you want a soft dough that is pliable and can easily be rolled out. You should be able to handle it easily without it sticking to your hands or crumbling into pieces. To achieve this constistency, simply add a little bit of water (if the dough is too dry) or a little more gluten-free flour (if the dough is too sticky). Use your hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball before rolling it out to make the cookies.

Where can I find animal cookie cutters?

I found my mini animal cookie cutters at a local craft store, but then I found the same cookie cutters online sold at thecookiecuttershop.com. They offer a wide range of mini cookie cutters in whatever shapes you could want! I like to use a toothpick or sharp knife to make ‘eyes’ in my animal cookies or add additional lines to the cookies to further enhance the shape. However, if you want more classic looking animal cookies, you may check out the animal cookie cutters on Amazon.com.

a crock full of homemade vanilla animal cookies

These gluten-free animal cookies are super easy to make and will yield delicious results that modern pioneers of all ages will love! Hint: You can even make different flavors by throwing in a handful of chopped chocolate bar, a dash of cinnamon, or a generous spoonful of sprinkles!

Gluten-free Animal Cookies

Recipe by The Pioneer Chicks

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 12

Total Time 52

Author Alexa Lehr

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups King Arthur gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or maple sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 large organic, pasture-raised egg room temperature
3 T. organic butter or coconut oil, melted
3 T. pure maple syrup
1 T. pure vanilla extract
1-2 T. water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two large baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, oat flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
Add the egg, melted butter (or coconut oil), maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Begin to stir everything together. If the dough seems too dry, add 1-2 T. of warm water to the dough. Stir until a smooth dough forms. As the dough comes together, you may want to use your hands to knead it into a smooth ball.
The dough should be soft and pliable. Not sticky, but not crumbly. Once you have a smooth dough formed, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper.
Place another piece of parchment paper over the dough and roll the dough out into a sheet that is about 1/4" thick. Use your animal cookie cutters to cut animal cookies out of the dough and transfer the cookies onto the baking sheets. You can place them fairly close together since they will only puff up a little.
Continue to re-roll out the dough and cut out animal cookies until all the dough has been used up.
Bake the animal cookies for 10-12 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies should be lightly browned. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the pans before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store the completely cooled animal cookies in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 weeks.

Where to Find the Ingredients

gluten-free vanilla animal cookies on a wood countertop

Once you make your very own homemade animal cookies, you won’t be going back to the store-bought versions. Or, maybe you couldn’t have the store-bought versions because of dietary restrictions… then this recipe brings you the fun of enjoying animal cookies for snack while still being gluten-free! These gluten-free homemade animal cookies are so easy to make, you’ll find yourself making a batch for snacking, a batch for baking fun treats, a batch for sharing, a batch for saving… there’s no end to the fun you can have with this recipe!

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