Bite Sized Sugar Cookie Nibbles are fun to eat by the handful! Their tiny size and their delicious crunch, makes these cookies irresistible. Bake a batch of these cuties for snacks, lunch boxes, and care packages!
Some of you may remember that at the beginning of this summer my family adopted a 6 month old Sheltie who we named Pax. Somewhere in the back of my brain was the clear understanding that puppies are active little creatures, but I somehow ignored that fact when I decided that a puppy was just what we needed. Some breeds are more active than others. Shetland sheepdogs are on the “more” end of the scale. I have learned the hard way that if Pax doesn’t get out to do some running during the day, we will have to deal with “Devil Dog” from 7 to 9 pm. that night. “Devil Dog” is a barking, hyperactive lunatic. He demands to be played with. He leaps. He chews (people, shoes and newspapers are favorite chewables). Making time for walking was imperative.
Unfortunately, Pax is afraid of cars. Every time a car goes by he tries to hide. We are working on that, but in the meantime trotting down the subdivision side streets is not an option. Luckily, I stumbled upon a hidden gem of a public park with a two acre fenced dog park, just a five minute drive from my house. Almost every afternoon, Pax and I go to the dog park where, for more than an hour, Pax wrestles and runs. He is genetically programmed to herd, and apparently in lieu of sheep, he is happy to herd other dogs.
Afterwards, we walk the one mile path around the lake. It’s a gorgeous walk, especially now with the trees draped in fall colors.
All of that time spent admiring fall foliage made leaves the obvious shape choice when I decided to make these roll-out cookies. The original recipe was for animal crackers, which aren’t really crackers in the savory sense, but mildly sweet, crunchy, plain, little cookies. Bite Sized Sugar Cookie Nibbles end up with a flavor and crunch very similar to animal crackers but, because of the sugar topping, they are a bit sweeter. I mixed four colors of large crystal decorating sugar (gold, red, yellow, and orange) to make the topping. The color combination seems to capture the autumn glow. The gold sugar was purchased but the other colors were homemade using white crystals and food coloring. I put about ¼ cup of white sugar crystals into a zip lock bag along with 2 or 3 drops of gel food coloring. Then I mushed it together until the color was uniform (No, the sugar doesn't disolve. I don't know why.) I opened the bag and let the sugar dry for about an hour before using.
A note about tiny little cut out cookies:
Bite Sized Sugar Cookie Nibbles are adorable.They are tasty and fun to eat by the handful, which means they disappear quickly. Cutting out 100 tiny shapes is time consuming and, honestly, I am not sure that the tiny leaves end up looking like leaves. Cutting the sprinkled dough into little squares would be a whole lot quicker.(No need to re-roll out the scrapes either.) All the crunch and sparkly color without the time intensive cookie cutter use. Just a suggestion.
Bite Sized Sugar Cookie Nibbles
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon powdered milk
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites
- ¼ cup decorating sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, powdered milk, cinnamon, and baking soda.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter, vanilla and egg whites until combined.
- Alternate adding flour then egg whites. Mix until a smooth dough forms.
- Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours to overnight.
- When ready to bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator. The other half should remain refrigerated until ready to use.
- Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to ¼”.
- Remove the top sheet of parchment and sprinkle the surface of the dough with some of the decorating sugar .Replace the top sheet and gently use the rolling pin to embed the sugar into the dough.
- Remove the top sheet of parchment and cut out shapes. The scraps can be re-rolled and re-sprinkled (Re-rolled dough will have decorating sugar inside the dough as well as sprinkled on top, but that will not adversely effect the cookies.)
- Place the cookies on the baking sheet about ½” apart. These cookies spread very little while baking.
- Repeat with the second half of the dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until firm and edges begin to brown.
- If the cookies are too small for cooling on a wire rack, cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Store for up to one month in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- If shipping these cookies in an airtight container, fill any empty space on the top of the container with wadded waxed paper so that the cookies will not move during mailing.
- If using a large ziplock bag, squeeze out as much air as possible before closing the bag, then use packing material in your shipping box to ensure that the cookies don’t move around during mailing.
Nutrition
Miz Helen
I love bite size cookies, these look delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
The Monday Box
Thanks, Miz Helen! I hope you have a great week too!
laurasmess
Pax is so, so sweet! I've got such a soft spot for shetlands, they're gorgeous dogs. Haha. I can definitely understand the puppy annoyance though... Aaron and I both have had dogs in the past and they can make you wild with their behaviour!!! Totally worth it though. Love your sugar cookies. Beautiful festive cheer! xx
themondaybox
Thanks, Laura! When he isn't being a trouble maker, Pax truly is a sweetie. I had no idea that I apparently also have a soft spot for shetlands! 🙂 I believe Pax has me firmly wrapped around his little paw. 🙂 Though the fall colors are now just a memory, I really wanted to duplicate those colors in a munchable treat!
Reeni
Pax is ADORABLE! He looks like a sweet dog.The park is beautiful - your pictures are gorgeous. I love that it inspired you to make cookies! I can see the leaf shape! I could maybe eat all 100 of these! 😉 Have a great weekend!
themondaybox
Thanks, Reeni! I think Pax is a major cutie but that big long nose takes some getting used to. Once you are in love though, the nose is irrelevant! The park colors were so beautiful, it was impossible not to take a gorgeous photo. The colors really do awe me.
Jess @ On Sugar Mountain
That park looks gorgeous, Wendy! No wonder you were inspired to create autumny sugar cookies from that trip. They look absolutely delicious; I wish I had a batch to go eat IN a super cute park like that!
themondaybox
The park is amazing Jess. It idiot is near a highway so the dog park part is kind of noisy but walking on the path it is quiet and always empty. I am not an outdoors person in general, but I am really enjoying my walks. 🙂 the cookies are a lot like animal crackers and fit well into a pocket for munching on the go. 🙂
themondaybox
Thanks,Jess! The park is such a great place to walk. It is so quiet and underused, the views are stunning, and even the wildlife (deer, rabbits, squirrels) seem at peace. I love fall color!
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting
bite sized sugar cookies! sold!
themondaybox
These are surprisingly close to animal crackers, Julianne. Great for munching by the handful! 🙂
gottagetbaked
These are gorgeous, adorable little cookies. They're perfect for fall! As for Pax - he's a handsome fella! These little guys have so much energy. I hate that it rains so much in Vancouver because I wish I could take my Abby on long walks everyday. We've been exploring different dog parks and she has so much fun at the enclosed, off-leash ones. I hope he's having a fabulous time herding all those dogs and keeping them in line 😉
themondaybox
Thanks, Nancy! After a Halloween afternoon walk in the rain, Pax's Halloween costume appeared to be "drowned rat"! Walking a dog is lousy weather stinks. Too bad we don't live in the same city. Abby and Pax would have such fun running around together!
gottagetbaked
Ugh tell me about it. I live in Vancouver where it rains 80% of the year. Not just wimpy drizzle either. Torrential rain storms. I hate keeping Abby indoors though so I try and take her out even when it's wet. Man, I don't know who would get tired first - Abby or Pax. It'd be a blast to see these two rascals tear it up together!
shannon
PAX! he's so cute, and i bet that dog park is lovely right now (well, okay...not today, because rain, but still). your area of town has always been my favorite for leaves; i don't know what all of you have going with your beautiful fall colors, but i want more of it where i am. 🙂
i had to laugh when i saw this post. i have those cutters. i've tried this same exact thing. it always sounds like a fun idea until yes; you realize that cutting out about 38,000 (it feels like that many) shapes is a bad plan. but they're so cute, you sometimes just have to do things like this.
themondaybox
Do you think the color difference has to do with the age or the type of trees, Shannon? Certainly, the weather is the same. Interesting. This year has been particularly colorful, I think.
I have a cookie cutter addiction and its not like I use them that often. I just fall in love with them. I had been lusting over all the tiny ones (animals, leaves, shapes) for awhile and couldn't resist any longer when I got these leaves! It is just like you said, cutting out 38,000 mini leaf cookies has, at least temporarily, cured me of "needing" tons of tiny cutters! I do love the bite size of these cookies though. Just grab a handful and go. I will be making these again, but little squares will be just as tasty as little leaves!
noyomoco
Haha - my grandparents had a border collie and she would herd ANYTHING. Other animals, people, etc. Such high energy dogs, but so worth it! 🙂 I love these sweet little cookies!
themondaybox
Thanks, Jennifer! I had no idea until we got Pax that the herding was instinctual! It is pretty funny to watch. 🙂
Ashley
Pax is so cute! Our beagle is okay with cars but not with big trucks/buses, etc. - she's terrified of them! I feel so bad every time one passes us - she tries to run away from it! I always say I want another dog but I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with the puppy stage again just yet!
And these cookies sound delicious - I love how they look with those pretty sprinkles on top!
themondaybox
Thanks, Ashley! The cookie cutters are cute but didn't make the cookies "leaf-like" enough for me. The fall colors of the sugar did the trick for me. 🙂 I have always adopted dogs past the puppy stage until we got Pax. I adore him and his puppy antics are often adorable BUT puppyhood is exhausting to deal with! I guess that is why puppies are so incredibly cute. No one would want to deal with them otherwise!
The Café Sucre Farine
Very pretty, definitely gives you the feeling of autumn!
themondaybox
Thanks, Chris! I love all the colors. 🙂
Malou Perez-Nievera (@malou_nievera)
Hi Wendy, Taking the leaves as the inspiration of your cookies is just right. I am awed at the beauty of the foliage. They are exploding like crazy it warms my heart. They serve as daily reminders or post it that says... LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. I'm overwhelmed as you can tell hihi.
Great job as you captured the essence of the season here with your cookies. And oh, btw, I made it to the post office last Thursday. Yes, I sent those care packages to my kids... yay! Thanks to you!
Malou
themondaybox
We are having an especially colorful fall this year, Malou. When I look out over a spread of multi-colored trees in such vibrant colors, I totally agree with you, it is overwhelming in its beauty! Have you ever lived in a non-tropical place before with the distinct seasons of St. Louis?
I am excited for your kids. I bet they were thrilled with their care packages! Its always fun to get unexpected packages, especially when they contain love from Mom. 🙂
Elaine O'Neill Brockhaus
Our Sheltie, now in doggy heaven, would herd my children and their friends! He just loved circling them as they played. The were good sheep 😀 Anyway, the addition of a touch of cinnamon to your "plain" cookies is a great idea. It is not enough to make a statement but it is enough for a small kick and to keep hands big and small reaching for more.
themondaybox
Thanks, Elaine! I have never lived with a Sheltie before, but everyone who has sings their praises. 🙂 I had no idea how innate their herding instinct are! I can easily picture your little guy racing around, circling the kids, barking up a storm! 🙂
As for the cookies, you are so right about the cinnamon. Though I was tempted to put in more (I adore cinnamon. Check out my Cinnamon Dream Cookies.) the small amount was enough to warm and add just a bit of flavor. 🙂
Monica
Sugar cookie season is coming and I've got it on my mind, too. It's always a little surprising how good they are when you make them and taste one. : ) I love that you made the leaf shapes (despite the work). It looks lovely and really perfect for this time of year. The leaves are so gorgeous right now (as your photos show) and your cookies would be perfect for an afternoon treat as I look out the window.
themondaybox
Thanks, Monica! The thing about these cookies is that they aren't traditional sugar cookie texture, but I didn't know what else to call them. They are cookies(in that they are sweet) and they are covered in sugar. Sugar crackers didn't seem right and neither did Leaf Shaped Animal Crackers which is what they really are.:) I am awed by the colors of the leaves right now!
Monica
Ahh...I get it! I just read the recipe more carefully. Sounds good and a nice alternative to traditional sugar cookies. I love animal crackers and I think you've created the best of both worlds with all the sugar on top, which I love. Have a nice week, Wendy!
themondaybox
You too, Monica!
Anne ~ Uni Homemaker
These are so cute Wendy! I can nibble on these all day long! 🙂 I love that autumn looking sprinkle. So festive!
themondaybox
Thanks, Anne! Mother Nature has a bigger variety of sprinkle colors but I was very pleased with the sparkle of my sprinkles! 🙂