Stuffed Circus Animal Sugar Cookies (Fun Birthday Cookies!)
This circus animal sugar cookie recipe is made with Mother's Original frosted circus animal cookies, sprinkles, and mini marshmallows (like the kind in your favorite breakfast cereal)! They're sweet and chewy with pockets of crunchy cookie within a cookie goodness! Serve them up for a birthday party or enjoy them as a mid-week treat, because you really do deserve it!
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Equipment
- 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
- 2 half-sheet pans
- parchment paper
- kitchen scale or measuring cups
- whisk for mixing dry ingredients
- spatula for incorporating mix-ins
- small bowls for preparing ingredients
- cookie scoop 2 TBSP
Ingredients
- 226 g unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened at room temp
- 200 g granulated sugar 1 cup
- 160 g light brown sugar 3/4 cup, packed
- 30 g corn syrup 1-1/2 TBSP
- 101 g eggs 2 large eggs, room temp
- 9 g vanilla extract 1-1/2 tsp
- 7 g baking powder 1-1/2 tsp
- 10 g baking soda 1-1/2 tsp
- 6 g salt 1-1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 300 g all-purpose flour about 2-1/2 cups
- 150 g Mother’s frosted circus animal cookies broken up, about 1-1/2 cups
- 30 g mini marshmallows mini-freeze-dried (dehydrated) marshmallows, about 1/2 cup
- 26 g rainbow sprinkles about 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Cream butter, corn syrup, + sugars. Cream butter, corn syrup and sugars together until light and fluffy.226 g unsalted butter, 200 g granulated sugar, 160 g light brown sugar, 30 g corn syrup
- Add eggs + vanilla. Add in eggs and vanilla, and mix just until incorporated.101 g eggs, 9 g vanilla extract
- Combine wet + dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt using a whisk or sifter. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter + egg mixture until all ingredients have been incorporated, being careful not to over mix.7 g baking powder, 10 g baking soda, 6 g salt, 300 g all-purpose flour
- Add mix-ins. Crumble in the crushed circus animal cookies, mini marshmallows, and sprinkles. Mix lightly using a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients are incorporated.150 g Mother’s frosted circus animal cookies, 30 g mini marshmallows, 26 g rainbow sprinkles
- Rest dough. Allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes while you prep your baking sheet to hold the scooped cookie dough balls. They will sit on the baking sheet in the fridge as they chill overnight.
- Prep pan + scoop dough. Line a pan with parchment paper. Scoop your dough using a 2 TBSP cookie scoop and begin placing the cookie dough balls on the pan. Fill the entire pan, as you will be resting the dough and don’t need to worry about spacing yet. 30 cookies will fit comfortably on a half-sheet pan or a jellyroll pan.
- Cover + chill. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 8-12 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven. Heat the oven to 350ºF. Keep the cookies in the fridge as you bake batches, so they stay as cold as possible between batches.
- Place cookies on pan. Space the cookies 2-2.5 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 8 cookies fit well on a half-sheet pan, staggering the cookies in lines of 2, then 1, as pictured in the instructions of the blog post.
- Bake in batches. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or just until the edges and tops of the cookies start to brown lightly.
- Cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. This helps them to finish baking! After 2 minutes, move them to a cooling rack.
- Store. Store your finished cookies in an airtight storage container for up to 5 days.
Notes
❄️ how to freeze + bake from frozen
After scooping your cookies, pop them in the freezer, making sure to cover them with plastic wrap. This allows you to have pre-portioned and ready-to-bake cookies whenever the mood strikes! Make sure to seal them in a zip top bag as soon as they are frozen (8-12 hours, or overnight). This helps keep their flavors contained, and keeps any rogue freezer flavors from getting into the dough. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months (I’ve pushed it to 6, but the flavor does start to degrade). When baking from frozen, I also like to put a circus animal cookie on top and bake it that way, so I don’t need to worry about storing them separately from the dough. Bake cookies straight from frozen for 12 - 15 minutes in a 350ºF oven.ℹ️ troubleshooting tips
- don’t want to wait - want cookies NOW without waiting for them to chill? Bake a few cookies to enjoy right away. BE WARNED: they WILL have a different flavor and they WILL spread thinner than if you let them chill. But then you will have a very useful, practical, and tasty real-world science experiment answer for why chilling your dough is important. 👩🏻🔬 Check them after about 7-8 minutes, and keep an eye on them because they will bake faster, too.
- not enough flavor - did you chill your dough? When I tested these cookies, the batch I baked right away had hardly any vanilla taste at all. They were almost bland. The next day, they had a FACE FULL OF VANILLA.
- spread too much - okay seriously…did you chill your dough??? I knoooow, it’s tough to wait for the dough to chill and it’s annoying too…but there’s really a REAL reason to chill the dough. It helps the flavors to deepen and meld together, and it helps to ensure your cookies don’t spread too much when baking.
- over-mixed or under-mixed - mixing the dough the correct amount is the key to perfect cookies! Scrape the bowl down between steps, being sure to also scrape the bottom of the bowl, so you can ensure that everything is incorporated.
- cover while chilling - be sure to cover your cookies with plastic wrap while chilling in the fridge (or while freezing). This helps stop any funky fridge flavors from getting into your dough. Garlic noodle sugar cookies don’t have the same appeal. 🥲
Nutrition
Calories: 178kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 220mgPotassium: 29mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 211IUCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
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Keyword: birthday party, cookie, party food, stuffed cookie, sweet, The Feels, The Intrigue, The Wow, Mom!