Adorable Animal Bakes: 60 Cute Creations to Make with Your Family, written by Cathryn Wood, features an exciting collection of animal-inspired baked treats for all ages. A few highlights include Sloth Cookies-and-Cream Chocolate Tart, Giraffe Swiss Roll, Cute Chicken Cupcakes, Shark Ice Lollies, and Hedgehog Chocolate Truffles. I will also be featuring her recipe for Turtle-y Cool Cookies following the review.
Disclosure: I received this book from Page Street Publishing in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and statements are my own.
Cathryn Wood
Cathryn Wood is a baker, author, and content creator. She shares her photography and artsy bakes across social media, including Instagram and YouTube.
She is currently based on the Suffolk Coast in the UK with her family. This is her debut cookbook.
Adorable Animal Bakes
Cathryn begins Adorable Animal Bakes with a short introduction before jumping into the recipes. She shares how she developed a passion for baking as a child while in the kitchen with her mother and now with her own children.
Chapters are divided according to type of animal: Cuddly Creatures, A Walk on the Wild Side, On That Farm, Making Waves with Water Wonders, Woodland Critters, Beautiful Bugs, Snowy Pals, and Brilliant Basics.
The contents page has a list of the included recipes with page number for easy reference. In the Brilliant Basics chapter, there are even recipes for decorations such as Edible Eyes and Perfect Piping Icing to add extra detail to the bakes.
Cathryn also provides the photography. Every recipe is paired with a full-page photo of the finished treat.
Measurements are written in US Customary and Metric. Each recipe has a headnote with background information, yield, helpful tips, and serving ideas.
Turtle-y Cool Cookies
To pair with this review, Claire made the Turtle-y Cool Cookies! These fun, vanilla-scented sugar cookies are formed into turtles and baked until set.
They are definitely a great option for young bakers. The basic sugar cookie dough comes together with only a handful of ingredients. It is also fairly easy to mold and shape with no specialty equipment or cutters required.
Simply bring together the dough, then divide in half and dye one portion green. Divide the dough further to make the shells, heads, and limbs.
Arrange these pieces into twelve individual turtles, decorate the shells and eyes, and bake until lightly golden around the edges.
Allow the Turtle-y Cool Cookies to cool completely to room temperature before serving. They will be fragile while still warm.
A Few Tips
Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature before using.
Beat the butter and sugar until completely light and fluffy.
Take care when mixing in the green food coloring to avoid staining. Wash hands immediately after mixing and/or wear gloves.
More Adorable Animal Bakes
We also made Bunny Bread, Choco Octopus Pie, Bear Palmiers, and Dragonfly Pretzel Sticks.
Evan picked out the Bunny Bread. A cinnamon-spiced yeast bread is divided into individual ropes, then coiled up to form a bunny shape. To finish, a little round is placed at the base for the tail. The rolls are baked until golden, then icing is brushed over each tail before serving.
The Choco Octopus Pie was a favorite with both kids (and me). Store-bought puff pastry is cut into an octopus shape with a chocolate spread distributed across the center. Eight strips are cut at the bottom and twisted to make the limbs before baking until puffed.
The Bear Palmiers were another fun treat using store-bought puff pastry. The pastry is filled with a layer of cinnamon sugar, then rolled up and sliced. The slices are arranged on a baking sheet with smaller slices for the ears. After baking, the homemade piping icing is used to make the faces for each bear.
Claire picked out the Dragonfly Pretzel Sticks as an afternoon snack on the very first day we received the book. We happened to have all the ingredients on hand! Chocolate pretzel sticks are arranged on baking sheets, then freshly coated chocolate pretzels are placed on each side to make the wings. To finish, more chocolate is piped at the top to form the head and antennae.
Adorable Animal Bakes is a wonderful pick for those wanting to add some whimsical and exciting animal-shaped patterns in their baking. There are a variety of cookies, cupcakes, bars, cakes, donuts, brownies, and small bites to choose from. Recipes range from quick afterschool bakes to more intricate weekend projects and celebratory desserts.
Most of the ingredients are readily available in larger American grocery stores. Some specialty candy may be difficult to locate for some.
Turtle-y Cool Cookies Recipe
Excerpt from Adorable Animal Bakes
Turtle-y Cool Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (130 grams) butter softened
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
- 1 small egg
- 1 3/4 cup (215 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- green food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Line two to four baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, using an electric whisk or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the egg, flour and vanilla. Beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half. Add green food coloring to one half. Mix this in with your hands until the color is evenly distributed throughout.
- Roll the green dough into 12 equal-sized balls, then flatten them down.
- Take a butter knife and create the crosshatch pattern on top to create the shell. Set them aside.
- Wash your hands here to make sure there is no green food coloring on them.
- Roll the rest of the plain dough into 48 small balls and 12 medium balls. Squash them down to flatten slightly.
- On your lined baking trays, place four small balls in a square shape.
- At the top of the square, add the medium ball.
- Place the green shell on top. Carefully flatten it slightly to stick the dough together.
- Repeat this process with the remaining dough.
- Using a skewer, poke two small holes in the heads for eyes.
- Once all turtles are assembled, bake them in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
- Leave to cool completely at room temperature before serving.
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