"animal crackers" news and stories

Happy Birthday, Animal Crackers!

Hailed by Shirley Temple in her 1935 film Curly Top ("Animal crackers in my soup..."), animal crackers have long been a part of the American culinary landscape, dating back to 1902, when the National Biscuit company created the festive "Barnum's Animals" brand of circus crackers. The packaging was festively designed as a rectangular circus wagon that could be hung on Christmas trees by its string handle, a concept that endures today.

Today's Barnum's animals feature 17 varieties (lions, tigers and bears - and more!), but you can make your own at home using Williams-Sonoma's Circus Cookie Cutters using the cookie dough base of your choice.

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Circus Animal cookies were one of my favorite types of cookie when I was in school. Not only were they sweetly addictive, but they were covered in frosting, decorated with sprinkles and shaped like animals. When combined, those traits make up a combination that is irresistible to kids. The fact that the "animals" were next-to-impossible to identify was not an issue, since my primary objective when faced with the cookies was to find the white ones with the most sprinkles and eat them first.

Adults rarely seem to buy these cookies for themselves, which is unfortunate because they're still fun to eat. Instead of going out and buying a bag, try making them at home, as Peabody from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody did. They look just as good as the originals and, since they're homemade, they probably taste even better. They'd be a great thing to take to a party because they're something that no one would expect you to be able to make at home, not to mention that they're just hard to resist in general.

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