Hedgehog cookies
These hedgehog biscuits/cookies are a fun bake children of all ages will enjoy baking. They work great as part of a woodland themed party.
We had a bit of a hedgehog themed day last week where we met a hedgehog, and made some hedgehog art at our local City Farm,. Inspired by that, I thought we would try some hedgehog themed baking and made these hedgehog biscuits. We’ve not made biscuits for a while, so I got out our trusty easy biscuit recipe and got Hannah to give me a hand.
There are perhaps better biscuit recipes for this as there is a lot of butter in this recipe which makes it a bit soft, but it’s such an easy biscuit recipe for kids which is one of my most important considerations and I know that they’ll taste nice. If biscuit hedgehogs aren’t your thing you can use this recipe as a base for something else that tickles your fancy.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Time: 30 minutes + 12 minutes baking + decorating
Serves: 16 biscuits
Ingredients
250g (1 1/4 cups) butter, softened
140g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g 2 1/2 cups) plain / all-purpose flour
For the topping
150g (1 cup) chocolate
Chocolate sprinkles or crushed nuts (walnuts)
How to make hedgehog biscuits
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan / 350F
Line a baking tray with greasproof paper
Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl
Weigh out the butter (or just use a whole stick). To make it easier to mix, either leave it out of the fridge for a while before you start or pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds or so.
Get your toddler to weigh the sugar and then add it to the bowl.
Mix together with a wooden spoon.
Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract
I did both these parts myself with a little help from Hannah as she doesn’t quite have the dexterity to do it all on her own yet. Your toddler can help to mix it all in though.
Sift in the flour
Weigh the flour in a separate bowl then sift it into your mixture. It can get a little messy, but Hannah really enjoyed this part! If you don’t want the mess sifting flour and bring, you can add the flour normally – the biscuits just won’t be quite as light. Once it’s all in give it another mix until it’s well combined.
Form the hedgehog biscuits
Use your hands to finish mixing and press the dough together into a ball. To make the hedgehogs, break off little bits and roll them in your hands to form balls, then shape the snout/nose.
Don’t worry too much about making them perfect, ours spread in the oven so I ended up doing it again a little after they had been baked. Put them on their baking tray with a little space between each one. If you put your baking trays in the fridge for 10 minutes it should stop your biscuits spreading as much.
Bake in the oven
Put your baking tray in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and put them on a wire rack to cool (you might want to reshape the noses a little before they cool).
Decorate your hedgehog cookies
Your toddler can help you break up the chocolate into a microwavable bowl then zap them for 30 seconds+ until it’s melted.
Either pour the chocolate over each biscuit, dip them in your bowl or use a spoon to spread the chocolate on. We did a mixture of all 3. Sprinkle over your chocolate sprinkles or nuts to form the hedgehog spines.
Use something pointy like a chopstick or cocktail stick to dip in the chocolate and form the eyes and nose.
Hedgehog biscuits
Ingredients
- 250 g butter softened
- 140 g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 300 g plain flour
- For the topping
- 150 g chocolate
- Chocolate sprinkles or crushed nuts walnuts
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C fan and line a baking tray with greasproof/baking paper
Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl
- Weigh out the butter and chop it into small pieces. Weigh the sugar and then add it to the bowl. Mix together with a wooden spoon.
Add the remaining ingredients
- Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract to your mixture, then weigh the flour in a separate bowl and sift it into your mixture. Once it’s all in give it another mix until it’s well combined.
Form the biscuits
- Use your hands to finish mixing and press the dough together into a ball. To make the hedgehogs, break off little bits and roll them in your hands to form balls, then shape the snout/nose. Don’t worry too much about making them perfect, ours spread in the oven a little so I ended up doing it again a little after they had been baked. Put them on their baking tray with a little space between each one.
Bake in the oven
- Put your baking tray in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and put them on a wire rack to cool (you might want to reshape the noses a little before they cool).
Decorate your hedgehogs
- Break up the chocolate into a microwavable bowl then zap it for 30 seconds+ until it’s melted.
- Either pour the chocolate over each biscuit, dip them in your bowl or use a spoon to spread the chocolate on. We did a mixture of all 3. Sprinkle over your chocolate spinkles or nuts to form the hedgehog spines.
- Use something pointy like a chopstick or cocktail stick to dip in the chocolate and form the eyes and nose.
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