Animal Crackers Recipe {Nut Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free}
Crackers can be a great snack for kids- especially, crackers that are homemade, full of nutrients, and tastes great.
We set out to make some healthy crackers when we saw this recipe in a super old book, from 1981 Book by Lendon Smith, Foods for Healthy Kids. Awesome things about this Animal Crackers Recipe (as opposed to store bought) is that it is gluten free, dairy free, without HFCS or Trans-fats!
The main ingredient in this cracker is sunflower seeds, and that’s what makes them a nutrition powerhouse! 1/4 cup of Sunflower seeds provides
- 90% of the Daily value for Vitamin E (providing anti inflammatory benefits.)
- 54% of the DV for Vitamin B1
- Also a good source of manganese, magnesium, copper, and tryptophan.
- Contains 7 grams of protein!
To make these crackers, grind up sunflower seeds in a food processor. Once the sunflower seeds are ground into a course meal, add the rest of the ingredients and chill.
Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment paper and then cut into desired shapes using mini cookie cutters. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes or less- watch carefully to not burn them.
WARNING: These crackers are not sweet! Even with the honey and coconut, they are not sweet. If your kids are used to having store bought animal crackers, and use those as a comparison- this will be a total disappointment. You can do a few things:
- Use them as a dipping vehicle- hummus or flavored yogurt would taste great here!
- You could add more honey.
- If you really want them to be sweet, you can add some chocolate like my daughter did here:
Otherwise, give them a try the way they are. Especially if you have super young kids (over 1 years old), that haven’t been desensitized to the super sweet crackers found in the store yet.
And that is what we did! Let us know if you try them!
Animal Crackers Recipe {Nut Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free}
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place shelled sunflower seeds in a food processor or blender. Grind until it’s the texture of coarse meal.
- Place seed meal into a bowl and add remaining ingredients and stir with a spoon.
- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Spoon batter onto wax paper. Cover with wax paper and roll out with rolling pin until 1/4-1/8th inch thick. Cut out shapes.
- Place shapes on greased cookie sheet. Bake in 300 degrees oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
- Delicious served with sweetened yogurt.
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Are they crispy?
I always check out your recipes but as a whole food eater, some of them I would not feed my grandkids. Please work to eliminate refined sugars and flours from your recipes. They just aren’t healthy for kids.
Bonnie- I think you misunderstand the position we take on healthy eating. We do not eliminate sugar, fats, or even flours. We focus on adding nutrient dense foods to our families diet. Our target audience is families who still like to enjoy food without eliminating or demonizing food groups etc.
For a great sugar free blog with real food recipes try http://iquitsugar.com/ or for blogs that eliminate flour, try glutenfreegirl.com
Depends on how thinly you roll them out @malgorzata. If they are thin, they are crispy, but they also cook more quickly. so watch carefully.
Good grief Amy…. I guess super old is a relative term. I don’t see 19881 as super old. I love this and would make them if I had kids or grandkids.
LOL! Touche’ Susan!
My kids love animal crackers but I hate the corn syrup and other junk in them. I’m totally trying your recipe today! My family loves your recipes! Thanks for all you do to share them with us!
I am very excited to try these – they will be the perfect diaper bag snack. Also, it will be fun to make together! I end up buying not good for you crackers just to have something on the go but this will be much better! Thank you!
How are these for little ones without many teeth? Do they dissolve relatively easily or would they be better once she gets more teeth?
LOL. Shoot my grandkids don’t come over too often But these would be great snacks for me. They will be right next to your goldfish crackers.
I don’t understand. There is no refined sugar or flour in this recipe. (Unless it’s the chocolate which is obviously optional.)
This looks like a great, healthy, high protein snack. Also a great alternative to highly refined snacks in the cookie isle. I’m going to give it a try – would be great for hiking and camping for my 2 scouts!
Thank you for sharing all of these great recipes!
I don’t understand. There is no refined sugar or flour in this recipe. (Unless it’s the chocolate which is obviously optional.)
This looks like a great, healthy, high protein snack. Also a great alternative to highly refined snacks in the cookie isle. I’m going to give it a try – would be great for hiking and camping for my 2 scouts!
Thank you for sharing all of these great recipes!
Would I be able to use oatmeal for the sunflowers? I’m planning on making these very soon! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Bonnie,
I too, limit sugar as much as possible and believe it should be extremely limited to children. If I use a sweetener, its a banana or apple sauce. I think limiting all sugars is the best solution, but a tablespoon of honey is minimal in this recipe. I really like the link given to you, but do find this recipe is a much healthier version of so many things out there labeled for children. I see no reason why kids should have yogurt sweetened, since its uneccessary.
I can see Molasses instead of honey as a good flavor enhancer
this recipe contains neither refined flours nor refined sugars, unless I am not reading this correctly…
Is there something else to sub for sunflower seeds? My daughter has peanut, tree nut and sunflower allergies.
I am trying these today-my son will love the animal shapes. I think you do a GREAT job balancing your recipes and avoiding processed ingredients. Honey, if you know where it comes from or keep bees yourself, is a superfood! Thanks again!
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Courtney- the sunflower seeds are a pretty big part of this recipe (the main part in fact!) lol.
I haven’t tried substituting anything, but if you do with success, don’t hesitate to report back!
I would probably wait for some teeth @Kate. They don’t dissolve like a cracker from flour would.
The recipe looks nice, can I substitute the flax meal for flour?
Hi! Could you suggest a substitute for the flax meal? We’re allergic to flax.
I’ve been super excited to try these but I hate rolling crackers out. I put the mixture in my cookie press and extruded the small x shapes; once they pressed down on the pan they turned into little squares! Can’t wait to see how they turn out in 11 minutes!
Thanks for this. I really liked the idea of a high protein cookie for my dairy allergic, non meat eating, very picky kids
How did it go Janelle~?
Lindsay and Nicole
You can leave it out if you replace it with 1/4 cup of either sunflower seeds or coconut.
It worked great, they came out soft enough for my 5-toothed 1 year old and it was super easy!
The cookie press! What a great idea!
Hi thanks these look great! Can they freeze? I would love to make a big batch.
Hi Shana! I haven’t tried freezing them. They might turn out a little crumbly. I would just make them in small batches.
Just made these for our 18 month old. I was nervous that he wouldn’t like them because he figured out how to use his teeth by eating the store bought crackers. I added an extra tablespoon of honey, and gave him two. He he ate them, snd then brought me the bag I put the rest in, asking for more. He’s had 12…I think he like them!!!!!?
Hooray!!
Looks like a good recipe without the flax.Please,please research about flax.Even my grandma knew not to feed this to humans.I will try to replace that with some psyllium husk.
Desperately want to try these but son allergic to flax, any substitute for flax? Thanks!
Hi Katherine! You could try chia seeds in place of the flax seed. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
So excited for this recipe! Can you please suggest a substitute for the coconut flakes? My daughter is allergic to tree nuts and coconut.
Can these be frozen?
Hi Amy,
Have you ever tried any other seeds? I’m allergic to sunflower seeds and wondered if pumpkin seeds would be a good substitute.
Thanks
This looks so good! What a fun snack to make with kids!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
We’ve kept them up to a week in a sealed container- or you can freeze them for longer storage. 🙂