Other Flavors Of Kinnikritters Animal Cookies
To note, we only tried the Traditional KinniKritters Animal Cookies in our home. They have Chocolate and Graham-Style varieties available, too. My friend Sarena shared her review of both the Graham-Style and Chocolate KinniKritters:
They are very similar to traditional animal crackers in texture and taste, but dare I say better??? I just did. It is amazing how many times I hear my husband say that about gluten free products, because I feel the same way. I think it is because the flours actually have flavor! The flavor is a cross between a graham cracker and an animal cracker. The texture is crisp and slightly powdery, so perfect with a cup of coffee or tea for an afternoon snack. They also come in chocolate, which was gone before I got a picture of it! They are similar in flavor to chocolate Teddy Grahams.
Tips On Making Gluten Free Goldfish Crackers
Taste Testing Kinnikritters Animal Cookies With My Nieces
Luckily, these were not reminiscent of the old Barnum variety. Modernized in taste, texture, and quality of ingredients, not a one failed to please a single child or adult in our party. Yes, none of the grown-ups could keep their hands out of the cookie jar either.
We started with the Bunny Grahams from Annies, moved onto the fun shapes from Eco-Planet , and finished out our kid-sized cookie tour with these KinniKritters from Kinnikinnick. Kinnikinnick differs from the other two brands, in that they only sell 100% gluten-free goodies. To be honest, I wasnt sure how everyone would respond to a gluten-free cookie, so I chose not to divulge the secret.
The littlest ones, ages 6 and 8, were all about the bunnies from Annies. The older kids, aged 10, loved the crunchy Eco-Planet cookies. Finally, the three adults had an affinity for the KinniKritters. Of course, no one complained about a single cookie! Every single one of us continued to go back for more of each until they had all vanished. Although, for some reason the Kinnikinnick Animal Cookies had top appeal to more mature taste buds.
After savoring a few, I think I pinpointed the reason. While not an exact duplicate, and lacking the frosting, the KinniKritters reminded me a good deal of Mothers Circus Animal Cookies from our childhood.
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Substitute For Bread Crumbs
Are Graham Crackers Gluten
Traditional Graham crackers are made with graham flour, which is a course wheat flour. So traditional Graham crackers, like Nabiscos Honey Made, are not gluten-free.
There are several brands of gluten-free Graham crackers on the market you can buy like Schär, Pamelas and Kinnikinnick. But it is super easy to make homemade gluten-free Graham crackers!
What Brands & Types Of Animal Crackers Are Vegan
Animal Crackers where always one of my favorite snacks, along with Goldfish Crackers.
Unfortuantely Goldfish crackers arent really vegan-friendly, so that childhood snack is out of the question. Fortunately, Animal Crackers are almost always vegan, with most brands being 100% Vegan.
While Animal Crackers are normally vegan there are a few brands to avoid, such as Austins Zoo Animal Crackers which contain milk. Those brands are rare, but another thing you need to watch out for are frosted animal crackers, as most frosted animal crackers contain gelatin in the frosting, which isnt vegan at all.
Recommended Reading: Glutencheck Gluten Intolerance Test
Youd Never Know These Diy Animal Crackers Are Whole Grain Gluten Free Sugar Free Dairy Free And Vegan They Sure Dont Taste Like It
I dont know what it is about Animal Crackers but I can never stop at just one. Anyone else out there get the same feeling? Its probably because Animal Crackers are a little bit salty, a little bit sweet, a whole lotta delicious. Too bad the storebought versions are made with unhealthy, low-quality ingredients. This is the ingredient list of Barnums Animal Crackers :
Enriched Flour, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Soybean Oil, Yellow Corn Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Baking Soda, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavor.
First of all, weve got enriched flour, which is basically flour that is stripped of its nutrients and then bleached. Then weve got both high-fructose corn syrup and sugar, which are highly refined, high calorie, high glycemic, and contain no nutritional value. Next weve got hydrogenated oil . Dont even get me started on the dangers of hydrogenated oil. Finally, weve got artificial flavor. Because a synthetic flavoring made by some scientist is so necessary .
Okay, rant over. Because now weve got these Healthy Homemade Animal Crackers so snack on! These cute little crackers are whole grain , sugar free , and all natural .
I swapped the white flour + corn flour with oat flour + homemade corn flour .
I swapped the high-fructose corn syrup + sugar with all-natural granulated erythritol + organic stevia extract.
I swapped the soybean oil + hydrogenated oil with coconut oil.
How To Make Gluten
Lots of love from my kitchen to yours! I hope you enjoy these gf animal crackers as much as we do!xoxo, Megan
Also Check: Is Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing Gluten Free
What Are The Best Animal Shaped Cookie Cutters
The very cool cookie cutters you see me using above and in the video are made by a company called Mrs. Anderson. I bought them online years ago, when I was writing my third cookbook, Gluten Free Classic Snacks.
Theyre spring-loaded cutters, with the ability to imprint details onto the dough. You use them the regular way, by pressing the edges into the dough.
Then, you press the plunger to imprint the pattern on the dough. Lift the cookie cutter from the rest of the dough, and press the plunger again to release the shaped dough.
I bought the cookie cutters online at a Philadelphia home goods store called Fantes. You can find them at Fantes.com.
These cookie cutters are sometimes available at big box stores online, but not always. Im not including links since these sorts of links tend to lead nowhere before long. Just Google the name!
You can also just use any small cookie cutters in any shape. Ateco makes a set for Spring, with duck and flower shapes. Theyre fun, too.
Acres Chocolate And Sea Salt Bar
The ingredients in these bars are sourced from the best farms around. All ingredients come from single-source providers to reduce the risk of possible cross-contamination. Handcrafted in small batches, they taste better than homemade.
FREE OF: Top 8 allergens, sesame, gluten, and made without use of latex gloves
Don’t Miss: Jason’s Deli Gluten Free
Tip For Measuring Gluten
Gluten-free flour is different than traditional wheat flour in many ways. I have found the best way to measure gluten-free flour is the spoon & level method.
I use a spoon to scoop the flour out of the bag and into the measuring cup. Then I use the back of a knife to level off the top of the measuring cup.
Please do not scoop the gluten-free flour directly out of the bag with your measuring cup. If you do, you could end up with more flour than is called for in the recipe.
Also, use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients .
Healthy Frosted Animal Crackers
Tasty healthy frosted animal crackers that will bring you right back to childhood! They have an almond flour base and are lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup. Each one is dipped in pink and white icing and dusted with rainbow sprinkles giving them the notorious look we know and love. These homemade animal crackers are sure to be a crowd hit!
This Heathy Frosted Animal Cracker post is sponsored by Edward and Sons. All thoughts are my own. Thank you so much for supporting brands that make The Fit Peach possible!
Want to know why I’m obsessed with these healthy frosted animal crackers? Here’s my running list:
- Probably obvious but they are SO DARN CUTE! I used these zoo animal cookie cutters for this batch but this set is also down right adorable! Ps: can you pick out the 6 different animals in this batch? I tell ya what’s what down below
- They are easy to make. We use a sugar cookie style dough and add touches of the typical animal cracker taste with cinnamon and black strap molasses
- The icing and sprinkles. Two things you simply cannot skip. The icing is a super simple royal icing naturally dyed pink and white so these healthy animal crackers resemble the classic
If that’s not reason enough to make these cuties then I don’t know what is! They’re fun and delicious and quite easy to whip up.
For more sprinkle fun, check out my funfetti vegan rice krispie treats and cake batter white chocolate cups.
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Substitute For Bread Crumbs
What About A Brand That’s Not Listed Above
If the brand youre considering buying or have isnt above then it must not be a super popular one, but no worries, you can do the leg-work and figure out of its vegan yourself.Simply go to the ingredients and check for things like whey, eggs, honey, or milk, and make sure the allergy list doesnt say it contains any of the above. If it passes that test its most likely vegan.I cant guarantee you that it is vegan though, as some companies do strange things. Youd have to contact the manufacturer to figure out for sure whether or not its vegan, but if it doesnt contain the above ingredients or have any allergy warnings regarding them then it most likely is vegan-friendly.
Gluten Free Vegan Animal Graham Crackers
November 15, 2013 by Laura
Tina Juithe Worktop
I, of course, cannot follow directions so I had to change a few things. I added molasses instead of sugar and hot shortening and followed up with ice water. The hot shortening helps flour absorb the moisture faster so I didnt need to wait the ideal 1 hour rest. The ice water helped cooled it off enough to handle and it held its shape to bake right away. I also added egg replacer to help things stick together without any gum.
Ok, back to the Xanthan gum . I suspect that Mr. Naughty is allergic to this. Whenever I give him baked goods with larger amounts of XG, his mouth breaks out just a little. Nothing major like hives, just some small red patches. The thing that convinces me hes allergic is the immediate mid-meal irritabliliy and sudden loss in interest of his meal.
After reading more about XG, Im more even more convinced and confused. Heres Wikipedias explanation that explains its a bacteria that could be grown on anything including soy and WHEAT.
Whaat?! Xanthan gum is grown on wheat? Or soy, etc? Shouldnt companies have to list this on their allergy statements? I think thats sneaky they dont list them. Especially since the XG found in groceries stores are primarily used to bake gluten free goods.
Umm, isnt that a little ironic since xanthan gum is often the primary binder in gluten free baking?
Alright, enough of my whining and soapbox.
Also Check: Is Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing Gluten Free
A Gluten Grain & Dairy
If I am being honest I bought a box of gluten-free animal crackers last month. They brought back a lot of childhood memories . But I looked at the ingredients & they were definitely not the best. Gluten-free doesnt automatically mean healthy!
So I decided to try & create my own version ! But these offer that same animal cracker mouth feel & I personally love the nutty flavour of them from the almond flour.
If you dont have the animal cookie cutters I used, they can easily still be made! Just cut them into squares with a knife, but if you want to make the fun animal shapes like I did you can find the cookie cutters I used HERE!
Ok so I wont waste any more time & lets get into the recipe! Make sure yo tag me on if you make them so I can re-share your creations on my story!-Lau
If you want an icing to top on these or make them into dunk-a-roos try my sugar-free cream cheese icing HERE or my vegan cream cheese icing HERE!
| Prep Time |
- 1/4cupCoconut oilmelted
- 2 + 1/2cupsAlmond flour
- 3tbspCoconut Flour
- 3tbspMaple Syrupor sugar-free syrup of choice
- Optional: 1 tbsp granulated sweetener to top on the crackers
- Optional add-ins to mix up the flavour: 1 tsp almond extract1/2 tsp cinnamon, 3 tbsp honey , etc.
| Prep Time |
Why You Should Not Be Feeding Your Kids With Store
The thing is, the goldfish crackers are not healthy. They contain cheap hydrogenated oils , synthetically fortified flour conventional wheat , conventional dairy , autolyzed yeast a known additive which makes you overeat, and a mix of other unknown spices.
Also, are goldfish dairy free? No, they have dairy, or at least a milk derivative in their composition, plus theyre processed in a facility that also handles milk, whey, soy and wheat.
So its probably best to make your own vegan / gluten free Goldfish crackers and add some ingredients that will truly benefit your childs health!
Also Check: Is Red Wine Gluten Free
