animal crackers in my soup

May 18, 2016 8:48 AM

I am helping to host a baby shower with an "animals" theme. As party favors, we want to give out some little bags of animal cookies--a step up from basic grocery store animal crackers like these, but the same idea. Is this a thing? (Or should we just get the regular kind and fancy them up with nice packaging?) No, baking them ourselves is absolutely NOT an option.

Googling gives me like 800 kinds of marijuana cookies, but while that might be the Best Shower Ever for ME, it's probably not the mom-to-be's preference. Also at least 500 types of dog treats which, similarly not appropriate. ;)

I did find an Etsy shop that sells just about the right thing, but they cannot get the quantity we need in the time we have.

Specifications:

-Needs to be either in or deliverable to the Chicagoland area
-Available in pretty large amounts (~35 people attending)
-Able to be delivered or picked up by June 10
-Ideally this would not cost us more than like $100

All help, as always, appreciated! Thanks, MeFi!

posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Instead of a bag of tiny animal crackers, what about a single, iced, animal-shaped sugar cookie? (Like this, only not this, but with the cookies in individual cello bags.) There are tons of places that'll do those for you and it'll open your options up a lot if that's an acceptable option.

(If you think that'll work, let me know. I got one of these types of cookies (here in Chicago) as a corporate gift for New Year's and I can reach out to them and ask what vendor they used, since I know that place does a good job.)
posted by phunniemee at 9:05 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: In my neighborhood there are a couple of bakers who do custom cakes and so on as a home business. They tend to be less expensive than the B&M bakeries, so I might ask around on NextDoor or whatever your local social media of choice is. If you want them to be iced and not just little animal-shaped cookies, it's going to increase the cost a lot.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 9:10 AM on May 18, 2016

You know there are animal crackers that are sold in individual packages that look like circus tents, right? They're pretty cute.
posted by bq at 9:13 AM on May 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Check out these animal cracker themed dipped Oreos. They are adorable and I bet very yummy.

I think getting supermarket cookies and cute packaging is the way to go, otherwise. I like these clear boxes with a ribbon and sticker. There are other similar vendors selling things like this, or might be easy to DIY.

Here are some customizable animal cracker boxes.


These mason jars are the absolute cutest, but could be a lot of work.
posted by LKWorking at 9:14 AM on May 18, 2016 [2 favorites]

Seconding bq. I wouldn't underestimate the appeal of a classic animal cracker box like this. We had a Christmas day party this year, and these boxes showed up in all the Xmas stockings. It was the first thing people opened and it was like everyone was a kid again. I shit you not we played the make-the-animal-noise-before-you-eat-the-cookie game. (Granted, there was a lot of wine too. YMMV.) Flavorwise, I've always thought Barnum's were tastier than the offbrands.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 9:41 AM on May 18, 2016 [11 favorites]

I wouldn't use the pink-and-whites. Although I like them personally, they have that hard oil in the coating that a lot of people hate.

Trader Joe's makes an organic animal cracker that is well reviewed as being pretty tasty. That might be a good option if you are going the inexpensive route.

I also like the circus box. It makes me five years old again.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:00 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes, get the circus box! Super nostalgic and kids still love them too.
posted by town of cats at 11:04 AM on May 18, 2016

Here's a link to the circus box. No fuss, muss or bother.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:14 AM on May 18, 2016

Best answer: You could dip animal crackers in chocolate, maybe just do the feet, easily & pretty cheap. Some in dark, some in milk.
posted by theora55 at 1:15 PM on May 19, 2016