The Shape of Things
I’ll admit, it’s a little weird to feed my kids animal-shaped things, but I generally don’t think twice about it.
Sure, we don’t eat actual animals, but it’s totally fine to bite the head off that gummy bear.
To clip a fin from a Swedish fish.
To munch a handful of Cheddar Bunnies.
And more than one chocolate rabbit viciously lost his ear last Sunday. That was me.
But my friend Brandi was thinking of these mixed messages when she gave me a little gift and asked me–no, told me, to make “animal” crackers.
I didn’t think twice about it.
Not Animal Crackers
(Gluten-free)
Makes 30-60 crackers (depending on your cutter size)
- 1/2 c. garbanzo bean flour
- 3/4 c. oat flour (or other gluten-free flour of your choice) + more for rolling pin and board
- 1/2 t. xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 2 T. maple syrup
- 2 T. vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance), melted
- 2 T. applesauce
- 2 T. non-dairy milk
- 3 T. organic brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl, mix together maple syrup, margarine, applesauce, milk and brown sugar.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until a dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out until about 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour to your pin, dough and board as necessary.
Carefully cut out shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to your baking sheet.
Repeat until all the dough has been used.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. Your baking time may vary greatly depending on how big or small your cutters are, so watch those crackers carefully.
Size does matter.
I thought twice about saying that.
Transfer crackers to a cooling rack before serving or storing in an airtight container.
These are slightly sweet with a great, nutty texture from the oats. They are a good basic “animal” cracker, but I think they’d be even better with a dusting of cinnamon and sugar or sandwiched together with jam.
The girls, though, were all over these, as is.
Literally, all over.
Before I knew what had happened, they’d eaten every single cracker.
Except for the peas.
That would just be wrong.
My hair is done exactly like those cute little Peas right now! And as for the veggie cutters- now I have to add that to my ever-growing list of kitchen tools I absolutely need!
Love the sloppy buns!
I am love, love, loving the gluten-free recipes of late Mama Pea!
(Wait, I read that again and it looks like I’m saying you’re deceased…I am sure you can figure out what I was intending. Ah, semantics! And now I’ve written this out when I could have solved it by inserting a simple comma. #facepalm.)
Is it sick that I don’t eat meat, but actually PREFER my candy and gummies in the shape of animals? Irony? Yes. More enjoyable? Undeniably. Logical? Not really. Guess I better go get my veg-shaped crackerin’ on and start reforming my barbarous ways.
I am just kind of experimenting with less gluten. It’s too soon after the great seitan incident of Easter Sunday to be bringing gluten back into the equation.
I thought Seitan was supposed to be conquered on Easter? (corny laughter)
LOL
Groan… Don’t quit your day job.
I wonder if in the animal world, they would also appreciate human-shaped cookies. Actually I think someone should create a human-shaped dog bone for puppies. That would be quite hilarious.
I love it. You better patent that one…
Oh I feed those to my dogs all the time! They even make mailman ones.
Such cute cutters!
i really want gummy vitamins for myself now…i’m pretty sure i’d take my vitamins more regularly if they were gummy and animal shaped!
These are vegan too! I love to eat ‘em
Gluten-free again! I think you are just buttering me up so I mail you some chocolates.
Love the veggie ideas. I think for adults, it’s OK to have images of animals in cute form that we eat, but for kids, it can give the message that animals are ok to eat.
They actually got quite the kick out of eating their vegetables this way
And I hope to have more and more gluten-free recipes!
Great. The more good vegan chefs that convert to be gluten-free, the better for me in terms of recipes. Well and I hope you feel better too for unselfish reasons.
My kids love anything in a cute shape. I love the cookie cutters, I’ll have to look that up. Thanks for the recipe, I’ll have to try it since my one year old is on a gluten free diet. It’s so much cheaper to make your own cookies and crackers…..though it’s more work in the kitchen! Ha!
I only baked half of these today. I’ve saved the other half of dough in the fridge and just roll it flat and then cut it into squares and bake them tomorrow.
Lulu was on a GF diet until she was almost 2…she outgrew it!
thanks for the tip on saving half dough for later. The allergist said my 18 month old tested positive for celiac panel with his blood work. His cheeks are always red thinking it was eczema but the doctor said it was dermatitis since none of the steroid creams worked. We see a GI doctor next week. What problems is Lulu have?
She would just start violently throwing up whenever she had oats and then she’d get the WORST gas/stomach pain with any gluten containing foods. I’m not trying to contradict what your doctor is saying (obviously) but the specialist we saw at OHSU said that it is virtually impossible to diagnosis a child with Celiac before they are two and that chances are she’d grow out of it, so we could from time to time offer her gluten containing foods and see how she reacted. Around 18 months, we started giving her just little bits of things and by two, she was able to eat whatever. There are a lot of levels of gluten tolerance and intolerance without necessarily being full-blown Celiac. I’m curious what other symptoms your little guy is having. I’ll keep him in my prayers!
I have to chime in here. I kept my daughter free from gluten voluntarily her first year of life because I am diagnosed with celiac. I had childhood problems but in the (ahem) 70s they had no idea what Celiac was. I was diagnosed officially in 2003 in my mid 20s! All those years of terrible discomfort.
Our pedi said the same thing for our daughter. Kind of hard to diagnose so early. She tested positive for the gene but has a 50/50 chance of actually developing celiac. Keeping her away from gluten her first year of life was an effort to have her intestines form fully. Apparently a child’s intestines isn’t fully formed after they are born and are not fully developed until after a year or so . . . and gluten/wheat is a naturally harsh substance on one’s intestinal tract (healthy yes, but definitely harsh).
It was my own personal effort to try and help my daughter and I will do the same thing with my new baby (due in June). The unfortunate thing is my daughter will only eat gluten free noodles and waffles even now at age 3. NOTHING else but those specialty brands.
I don’t mind as it requires multiple trips to Whole Foods . . . my favorite! 
Eager to see more gluten free recipes even though I still try all your recipes and just change the flour . . . sometimes it works and sometimes . . . well, not so much.
Thanks for all the information, Pam. It seems so long ago to me that I couldn’t remember all the details. I hope your daughter(s) don’t end up with Celiac so that they can have a bit easier of a time when eating out, shopping for groceries and finding recipes, but I definitely think it is manageable and there are plenty of wonderful things to eat without gluten! I hope to be able to add a few new things to your repertoire!
Too funny! Now I get it.
Love the cookie cutters..way too cute!! Love me some GF crackers too!
I love vitamin bears! I buy them “for the kids” but I eat them, too. So much tastier than those big adult one-a-days and no yucky after-burps! What brand are yours? I like the swirly opaque color. I usually get the Rhino vegetarian sour vitamin bears. It can be hard to find gelatin-free gummy vites depending on the store.
These are Lil’ Critters. They’re made with fruit pectin!
Didn’t Michael Pollan say that Butter is the best fat you can eat? Margarine is a highly processed food and doesn’t bring any good nutrition to your kids. Try to find a good source of raw milk, cream and butter, and life in the kitchen will be even better.
Those are very good dairy products and worth the money. Try raw butter.
I love your blog and follow it from France. Through Google Reader.
I try to balance what I think is right to feed my kids in minimally processed food versus what I think is right to feed my kids in terms of animal ethics. I respect your difference in opinion. Please respect mine
Usually I only use my cookie cutters for christmas cookies. I might need to break that habbit. Those veggie cutters would be a perfect addition to my (overflowing) cookie cutter collection.
Question: Could I use whole wheat flour instead of the GF flours? Guess I’ll just try it.
Yes, you could for sure!
How awesome are these little babies!
Vegan AND gf crackers…I heart that!
“slightly sweet with a great, nutty texture from the oats. ” — oh that’s my perfect cracker. Slightly sweet, no onions/garlic/lots of added salt.
I make sweet vegan and GF crackers out of seeds. Can you believe though that I have never tried garbz bean flour..thus have not tried all kinds of cracker and socca recipes that are all over. Crazy, I know. I really need to pick up a bag. These crackers look worth their weight in gold.
I adore the veggie cutouts….TOO CUTE! And the recipe…muah! awesome!
What a great idea!
I’ve been meaning to ask you if you think Pea Daddy might do another Pea illustration mini-story anytime soon?
Sounds like a good Wacky Wednesday idea to me!!!
Ah I love these shapes!
What a cute idea to make veggie crackers.
I LOVE those Annie’s cheddar bunnies…and the fruit snacks, bunny grahams, etc.
We love them too
What a great idea! LOVE!
I was thinking too it these would be amazing with cinnamon and sugar, then I saw you wrote that! U can make another yummy batch with that, also maybe a frosted cookie batch! I used to LOVE those animal cracker cookies that were frosted all over and had little sprinkles on them, they were the best!
Have a wonderful day!
xoxo <3
I, of course, thought about frosting too. Great minds think alike!
Ah, these are adorable!!!!
These are the cutest things ever! I love the idea of veggie shaped cookie cutters.
Bahahaha omg those veggie cookie cutters are too perfect! I am obsessed with animal crackers, and I’d definitely sandwich those with peanut butter or chocolate spread mmmm
That is a cute idea, however I don’t quite know if I’d have the energy. But if I did the peas are my favorite! I really enjoy those darn cheddar bunnies, too. Even if it does send mixed messages
We’ll keep right on eating our animal-shaped things too. But these were fun anyway!
Hey, I recognize those Gummy Vites! Ya, I’m 30 going on 5, I take ‘em
And YaY! Another use for my garbanzo flour! WINNING!
I was meaning to tell you, you should check out these coconut flour pancakes for that coconut flour of yours. I make mine with flax eggs, but still delish! http://heathereatsalmondbutter.com/recipes/coconut-flour-pancakes/
PERFECT. I make protein pancakes after the gym in the morning so I’ll try these tomorrow. THANKS
those are SO adorable! do you know where she got the cutters from? and i never even once thought about the animal crackers thing…but it makes perfect sense.
just give me those crackers and a jar of Nutella and i’d go to TOWN!
Hmm…I’m not sure! I’ll ask her! And that Nutella idea is BRILLIANT.
Hehe so cute!! I don’t think you’d have a hard time getting any kid to eat their “veggies” if they’re in cracker form!
That is funny that we don’t think twice about eating animal shaped things. Why are cookie/crackers even shaped like animals? I do’nt get it.
I don’t really see the issue in eating “animal shaped things,” as there are crackers and cookies like little Keebler Elves and I don’t feel cannibalistic in consuming those (actually, I don’t eat those because of the ingredients, not the shape.) At any rate, I love the veggie shapes! Very fun
I don’t have an issue with it at all. I just thought it would make for a funny post. You have me rethinking that…
No rethinking. That’s the problem–people think too much
Food is fun. People are too serious. Eat plants, not animals. The end.
Cute post!
My dog got People Crackers one time for Christmas. It had little mail carrier cookies. My dog still growls at anyone. It didn’t change him at all.
LOL!
Those cookie cutters are so cute!
I’ve never really thought about eating animal shaped things — same with Gingerbread men — I’m a cannibal!
I truly don’t have an issue with eating animal (or people) shaped things
Those little calcium gummy bears are the bee’s knees! I look forward to them every morning….. Love the cookie recipe, the finished product reminds me of my grandmother’s pie crust cookies, minus the stick of butter and white flour
Awww, I loved pie crust cookies
I was directed to your blog a while ago and thoroughly enjoy it. First time commenter, however. I’ve been vegetarian for almost 15 years, have a 6 month old little boy who I intend to raise meat-free. My future struggle, as I see it, in the realm of SHAPE, would be the oh-so-occassional veggie convenience foods (ie: soy nuggets or not-dogs) and explaining at a street fair or restaraunt that those aren’t “the same” as the nights at home when all mama can manage to do is toss a not-dog in a grill pan!
First off, hello and thanks for reading and commenting. We simply tell our girls the truth! When we go to the ballpark, I tell Gigi and Lulu that the hot dogs are meat hot dogs and they usually stop asking for them. But when they were younger, I just made sure we had enough of our our snacks as options so if they were hungry, I could offer them something else instead!
The cookies are so cute! Love the veggie cookie cutters
Yay, I’m so glad you liked the cutters! I just couldn’t resist when I saw that they had a Pea Pod in the mix
The cookies look great! And yes, sandwiched with jam would be awesome!
Thank you, Brandi! A couple people have asked where you got them. Any insight for us?
I found them while searching on Amazon!
Here’s the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Vegetable-Cookie-Cutter-Set/dp/B000U27MAY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303917655&sr=8-1
I was wondering how the cookies would come out since the cutters were so small, but they look adorable!
Thank you!!!
No problem! I hope others enjoy them too
Gah! I think those might be the cutest cookie cutters EVER.
Also, I made your tofu soft tacos last night, and WOW. The tofu was SO good. I absolutely love that marinade.
Fantastic!!!
Those are SO freaking cute. I have a huge urge to make crackers now!
Thank you a million times over for making these wheat free, I’ll just sub out the oat flour and the margarine and it will be safe for my food allergic daughter. Did I already say thank you? Thank you! I jumped onto amazon and ordered these cutters so I can make these asap. Too cute for words.
Funny vegan sort of story: we were watching Beauty and the Beast and my daughter wanted to know why Gaston attacked beast and all I could come up with was that he thought beast was an animal and he wasn’t nice to animals. A little indoctrination I suppose but I didn’t want to oversimplify it into good guy/bad guy.
Thank you again. Can’t wait to try these.
Ha ha! Good thinking on your feet, Mama. I’m so glad your daughter will be able to eat these
It worked out great! I wrote about it here:
http://ohmahdeehness.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/animal-crackers/
Thank you!
These are TOO CUTE!!!!!! Love those veggie shapes! I’m totally tickled. Great idea, and they look yummy, too!
so cute! I can’t wait to make them for Peter’s class!
Love those cracker cutters!
Awww!! Is it bad that I think food in animal shapes actually make it better though? There’s just something so fun about animal crackers. And gummi vitamins
Love gluten-free recipes and this one looks delicious! I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free recipes as I know I’m intolerant. But I also found out I’m intolerant of xanthan gum, that sure makes things interesting!
This could be the next kiddo cracker movement! Out of al the cookie cutters my Mom owns, I don’t think a single one of them is veggie-shaped. Who knew we could branch out of the shape-for-EVERY-holiday theme?
This is brilliant. It doesn’t get more vegan than veg-shaped non-animal vegan crackers! I’m a huge fan of them myself so I may have to bust a move all over this recipe.
Mostly because I have to hijack a fellow shopper’s kid in order to buy them w/o embarrassing myself. (<– there is something odd about that statement)
What a nice gift from Brandi and I love the thought of making them veggies, not animals! Ah, this will go down in history!
Oh my gosh! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait to make these (for me, not my kid). ha! Well, maybe I’ll share.
I just made a second batch and just cut them into squares—they are great!
Adorable!
Question though, what exactly are those tasty looking bears in the first picture? =) I’m craving them just looking at the photo….
Ha ha…they are Lil Critters calcium supplements. They’re pretty tasty!
These look delicious, and I love the veggie cutters too! I looked for them on amazon and found it, plus the same brand has fruit shaped cutters… can you tell I want to order both?
I love making our own crackers, just this past weekend I made graham crackers and “cheese” crackers (with nutritional yeast), there are none left of any of them and I am now happy since I will be able to try a new recipe!
Btw, if I omit the sugar I bet these would be easily adaptable to make savory crackers too, I will have to try that!
I never tire to say that I love your blog and your recipes Mama Pea!
Ana
Thanks, Ana! I definitely want to make a savory “vegetable” version…and with our love of nooch, I think you are on the right track!
Those are too cute! And thanks to a trip to Bob’s Red Mill the other day, I actually have all of those ingredients on hand. Yay!
I can’t remember, are you local? Love the Bob’s Red Mill store and cafe!
I’m in SE Portland, so Bob’s is pretty close! I had only been in there once a while ago but recently went gluten free so had to go back. I definitely want to try the cafe sometime!
This post makes me think of my senior year of high school–one of the quotes on my senior page was “Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?”
I’d say that the answer is a resounding YES.
Or, if the kids aren’t around…”Hell yes!!!”
I keep reading your cute ideas for the kids and try to make a mental note to remember them after my hubby and I have kids! We’re still a couple years away from that point though. Thank goodness you have a book!
Thank goodness we have people that want to read it
Thanks, Taylor!
Mmm! Those look really yummy & I love the idea of making them veggie shaped! Animal crackers have always been a favorite of mine,
Love that Brandi! HOW cute
I often bite the tops of off my gummi vitamins. And yes, i am 27 and love my VitaCraves!
those are the cutest little cookie cutters I have ever seen I need those!
Mmm, I think I’m going to try these with the cinnamon sugar dusting. I wish I had veggie cookie cutters, though. They’re too cute!
we have cookie cutters like this, now we know what to make with them
This post made me smile! Too cute!
Can adults eat those bear-shaped vitamins as candy?
I don’t know if they can, but I do
My brother just went vegan and I’m trying to support him by trawling food blogs (ok, I just love trawling food blogs and it might be useful for him ;P) Cute cookies, one for him – thanks.
Oh my goodness such fun little crackers that are healthy too? How fun!
OMG those are the cutest things ever!!!
I find eating the heads and tails off of animal shaped things oddly satisfying.
…perharps not as satisfying as eating the stems off of vegetable shaped things. I’ll have to get some vegetable cookie cutters and get back to you.