Circus Animal Cookie Blondies

My birthday was this week and I wanted to bake something fun and festive. I had pinned these cookies a while ago, from Peabody’s blog Sweet Recipeas . She and I have some similar favorites, such as Red Vines and Circus Animal cookies. I know that these pink and white frosted cookies are probably the worst thing for you to eat, but they are super addictive and I love them.

I did have one issue when making these, but that was an equipment malfunction. I tried to use the food processor to crush the cookies, and it wasn’t working. I was thinking that the cookies must be super strong! In actuality, my blade was broken. I was so sad! It was actually my parent’s food processor, bought in 1980 or so, that I’d been using for years. I’m not sure if I can find a replacement blade for such an old food processor!

Other than my equipment issue, these cookies are very simple, probably the hardest part is spreading the dough in the pan, because the dough is super sticky. I opted to add sprinkles, because I had them and why not? They bake up quickly and didn’t take long to cool, because they aren’t super thick. The cookies that I topped the bars with melted a little while baking, but that’s ok. These cookies have the same essence of the original cookies, maybe not quite as sweet as the originals, but that’s ok. They are very fun and celebratory!

Circus Animal Cookie Blondies

¾ cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups Circus Animal Cookies, divided

Sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the flour and salt and stir on low, just until the dough starts to form.

Place two cups of Circus Animal cookies in a large zip lock bag and crush the cookies with a rolling pin. Add the crushed cookies to the dough and stir on low to incorporate. Spread the dough in the prepared pan. Top with the remaining Circus Animal cookies and sprinkles.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cookies to cool before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Sweet Recipeas