Make Fun Dinosaur Cookies With Kids - Easy Decorating and Baking Tips

Making Fun Dinosaur Shaped Cookies for Kids

Cookies shaped like dinosaurs are a fun and creative baking project that kids love. These galletas dinosaurus (dinosaur cookies) can liven up any child's day with some prehistoric fun. Read on for tips on baking and decorating your own batch of dinosaur cookies at home.

Choosing Dinosaur Cookie Cutters

The key to making dinosaur shaped cookies is having cookie cutters in fun dinosaur shapes. You can find cookie cutters shaped like Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, stegosaurus, and more. Look for cookie cutters made of copper, aluminum, or sturdy plastic that will keep their shape through years of use.

For the best variety, get a dinosaur cookie cutter set with 6-12 cutters in different dino shapes and sizes. Individual larger cookie cutters that are 5+ inches work well too. Avoid flimsy cookie cutters that easily bend or warp.

Baking Basic Sugar Cookies

While you can make dinosaur cookies out of gingerbread or chocolate dough, basic sugar cookie dough tends to work best. Sugar cookie dough handles cleanly when cut and holds its shape well during baking. The cookies will also decorate smoothly with royal icing, sprinkles, and other decorative touches.

Choose your favorite sugar cookie recipe using butter or shortening. Chill the dough thoroughly before rolling and cutting for the cleanest shapes. Roll out the dough 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface using a floured rolling pin. Dip cookie cutters in flour between each cut.

Bake the cookies at 350°F for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely before decorating. The thicker your cookie dough, the longer the bake time.

Decorating Your Dinosaur Cookies

Part of the fun of baking galletas dinosaurus is customizing each dinosaur with unique decorations. Use royal icing, sprinkles, candies, and more to finish your cookies.

Tint some basic royal icing green, red, yellow, orange, brown, blue, and other colors to decorate details like spikes, horns, teeth, and plates on each dinosaur type. Outline the cookies and draw on scales, fierce teeth, or other features with a pastry bag fitted with small round tip.

Press sprinkles, candy beads, and edible googly eyes into the icing for added texture and dimension. Brush on metallic food powders like gold, silver, and copper for a glittery fininsh.

Air dry the decorated cookies uncovered at room temperature overnight. The icing will harden as it sets.

Dinosaur Cookie Party Theme

A fun idea for kids is hosting a dinosaur cookie decorating party. Provide batches of cooled sugar cookies cut into T-rexes, triceratops, velociraptors and more along with prepared bowls of colorful icings and assorted sprinkles and decorations.

Let kids tap into their creativity embellishing their own cookies freely. They'll have a blast seeing each unique dinosaur cookie creation. Display finished cookies on a platter lined with green coconut shreds or sprinkles to mimic grass.

For more prehistoric fun, play dino music in the background, watch dinosaur movies, and encourage kids to pretend to be paleontologists on a dig for fossils (the cookies!). Dinosaur cookie parties promise roared-approved fun.

Tips for Baking Fun Dinosaur Cookies

Baking your own galletas dinosaurus (dinosaur cookies) at home with kids allows for educational fun. As you craft edible prehistoric creatures, teach kids a bit about the different dinosaurs they're creating like the fierce Tyranosaurus rex and horned triceratops.

Here are some additional tips for making the experience of baking and decorating dinosaur shaped cookies with kids even more enjoyable.

Add Cookie Texture

For added dino-mite texture, use sanding sugar. Brush the cooled sugar cookies with light corn syrup then sprinkle liberally with sanding sugar in shades like green, dark brown, or black. Tap off the excess. Let set completely before packaging or stacking cookies.

Improvise with Decorations

If you don't have fancy decorating tips, improvise! Snip a small corner off a Ziploc bag then spoon icing inside and squeeze out patterns onto cookies. Or smear icing on with a butter knife. Press on M&Ms, chocolate chips, and cereal as makeshift sprinkles.

Take Dinosaur Cookie Photos

Let kids stage photographs of their decorated dinosaur cookie creations. Provide small dinosaur figurines, plastic trees and leaves, even an old sand bucket for a makeshift jungle scene. Taking pictures helps make the experience memorable.

Overall, baking dinosaur cookies allows creativity to run wild for both kids and kids-at-heart. With the right dino-shaped cookie cutters and decorating supplies, unleashing your inner pastry paleontologist is roaring good fun!

FAQs

What is the best dough to use for dinosaur shaped cookies?

The best dough for maintaining dinosaur shapes is basic sugar cookie dough. Sugar cookie dough handles cleanly when cut and holds its shape well during baking.

How long does it take to bake dinosaur sugar cookies?

Dinosaur shaped sugar cookies take 8-12 minutes to bake at 350°F. Bake until the edges are lightly browned. The thicker your cookie dough, the longer the bake time. Cool completely before decorating.

What's the best way to decorate dinosaur cookies?

Use royal icing to outline the cookies and draw on dinosaur details like spikes, horns, scales, and teeth. Press sprinkles, candy, and edible googly eyes into the icing for added texture. Air dry fully before stacking or storing.

Can I make dino cookies without cookie cutters?

While cookie cutters make shaping easier, you can hand form dinosaur shaped cookies. Roll dough into balls, taper and flatten to form body shapes, pinch for tails or necks, and shape with hands for features. The shaped dough may lose some detail during baking though.