Frosted Animal Cookie Valentine's Day No-Bake Treats

Frosted animal cookies – is there anything better? The princess pink and white icing, the sprinkles, the seemingly strange almost animal shapes (is it a buffalo-horse-seal or a camel?). Luckily your kids probably are in love with these tasty treats just as much as you are. I feel lucky that mine is. If not, I’d eat the entire bag in one sitting (and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to go to the gym for that long and work it off).

Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m feeling very lovey. I’ve got my love for my family, my love for my animal cookies and my ever-present love for making Oreo cookie balls – that’s not to say that my love for my family is on par with a cookie. But, a few months ago I did fall in love with making no-bake cookie truffles. I made peanut butter pretzel truffles, pumpkin pie versions and lots of various holiday delights. And then I started using other cookies. A good friend of mine asked, “Aren’t the cookie good enough on their own? Do you really need to mix them with cream cheese and call it baking?” The answer is – yes! I’m not the best baker out there, so this is pretty much the tops for me. It allows me to feel like a culinary creative without having to even turn on the oven.

I know, that like Oreo balls, frosted animal cookie balls aren’t exactly original. I have no doubt that I’m not the first cookie-lover who shoved a handful in the blender. But, these were truly better than any box of chocolates that my husband would have maybe thought to buy for me.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        Frosted animal cookies- yay!

·        6 oz. softened cream cheese

·        Frosting

·        Red or pink sprinkle or sugar crystals

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Crush the bag of cookies (take a few out to save for later) in a food processor. You’ll need to make them into a sand-like consistency, so hand-crushing simply won’t do.

2.     Stir the cream cheese in. I prefer to do this with my hands. If your kids are helping you, it turns the ‘no-baking’ into ooey, gooey fun.

3.     Sculpt the mix into hearts. It is Valentine’s Day after all. Roll a scoop of the mixture into a golf ball-sized sphere. Make the bottom pointy and press your finger into the middle of the top to create the two heart humps. Flatten the bottom. You can also keep a few in ball form.

4.     Put the animal cookie treats onto a piece of wax paper and pop them into the freezer for an hour.

5.     Take the cookies out and cover them with frosting. Pick a Valentine’s color such as red or pink. I only had orange on hand. It was actually a super-low priced post-Halloween pick-up (it was something ridiculous like $ 0.29) – it had a 2016 expiration date, so why not? I used a few drops of red food coloring to get it the shade that I wanted.

6.     Shake the sprinkles or sugar on top of the frosting, covering it. Another option is to hand-crush a few leftover cookies into chunky pieces. Sprinkle them over the frosting for added texture and sweetness.
 

Are you looking for more desserts? Follow my Pinterest board for Valentine’s Day treats galore!

Follow Mini Monets and Mommies's board Valentine's Day Holiday Treats on Pinterest.