Remember when you were a kid and sprinkles made everything better? Oh, sure you do. You'd go to the bakery and be inexplicably drawn to those stupid, dried-out sugar cookies just because they were topped with colorful glaze and a butt load of sprinkles. I have to confess I'm still a sucker for anything adorned with a sprinkle. I know old-fashioned, sour cream donuts taste better. Intellectually I am sure of this. But I still gaze longingly at the brightly topped, carnival colored donuts, their doughy interiors nearly caving under the weight of all that sprinkle.

It's like a party for your mouth, a brief explosion of sugar that provides a little taste of your childhood.

Rosie from Sweetapolita shares my obsession. She's been dreaming up whimsical baked goods on her blog since 2010. You should really go take a peek at her recipes. No seriously. GO RIGHT NOW.

It's like standing outside of a bakery window, gazing longingly at the cake pedestals overflowing with decadence and wiping the drool off your chin.

I recently grabbed a copy of The Sweetapolita Bakebook because I really, really couldn't resist. Look at that loveliness. So much color and creativity. The woman is an artist masquerading as a baking genius. And I had to try out all that mile high frosting and homemade sprinkle goodness for myself. Plus, I decided to give this book away. That's right, another giveaway! Because this bakebook is just too sweet not to share. More on that later, Back to baking beautiful stuff like these darling, mini-frosted animal crackers, loaded with sprinkles.

We begin with standard sugar cookie ingredients but before we proceed, a note about these crackers. I wasn't able to get my hands on baker's ammonia and had to substitute with baking soda and baking powder. It's a shame because I think these little bites tasted more cookie than cracker. When I used to go to the grocery store with my Mom, she'd stick banana stickers from the produce section all over the backs of my hands, call me Chiquita banana, and let me eat a box of those circus animal crackers. You know the ones. I was hoping these would taste the same. They don't. Don't get me wrong. Totally yummy in their own way but not the classic crackers I was dreaming about.

I also used almond meal and almond extract instead of whole wheat flour and vanilla extract. It gave these cookie crackers a very distinct flavor, but the almond meal did make it tricky to roll them out. They kept sucking up flour in great quantities like a damn parched desert.

In retrospect I realized that the whole wheat flour might also have created that cracker taste profile. Next time, friends.

These go in the fridge for a good long while, so plan accordingly. I had some adorable cookie cutters that created perfect little animal indents. It was SO hard to glaze these over, because look how cute!

One of the secrets to making sugar cookies keep their shape is to make sure they are REALLY cold when you put them in the oven. I was a bit impatient and it shows. Live with it.

I did. And it was still delicious.

Next up is a gorgeous glaze in hot pink. I recently bought some professional food coloring and I'm still learning to use it properly. I didn't intend to go neon pink here. It just happened. As Bob Ross says, "We don't make mistakes. We just have happy accidents."

This glaze is uber-basic. Powdered sugar. A little milk. A little extract for flavoring. And if you're me, way too much food coloring. Gotta walk that back next time.

And there you have it. A recipe worthy of your childhood fantasies, adorned with colorful glaze and speckled with copious amounts of sprinkles. Enjoy a little taste of the sweet life until next time!

Mini Frosted Animal Crackers

Adapted from Sweetapolita

For the cookies:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup almond meal, sifted

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup superfine sugar

2 teaspoons pure almond extract

½ teaspoon bakind soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

¼ teaspoon lemon extract

1 large egg

For the glaze:

2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons milk

Food coloring

Nonpareils, for decorating

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until it becomes a pale paste. In a small bowl, combine the almond extract and baking soda and baking powder, and then add the mixture to the butter, followed by the lemon extract and the egg. Beat until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce to low and gradually add the flour mixture, beating until all of the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and press it into a large disc. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Unwrap the chilled dough and roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Slide the parchment paper and dough onto a board and refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment. Remove the dough from fridge, cut out shapes using the cutters of your choice, and put them them on prepared baking sheets, about 1½ inches apart. Freeze for another 15 minutes.

Bake until the cookies are starting to turn a light golden color, about 12 minutes. Cookies will puff up in the oven, but will fall back while cooling. Gently transfer the cookies to the wire racks and let cool completely.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add food coloring to desired tint. Using a spoon, pour the confectioners’ glaze over each cookie, letting the excess drip onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle with rainbow nonpareils and let dry completely, about 1 hour.

Share a recipe and win a copy of Sweetapolita's Bakebook

Are you looking for details about the giveaway? You're in the right place! Just share a recipe from a Sweet Little Life on Facebook and tag A Sweet Little Life in the post. You'll be automatically entered to win a copy of The Sweetapolita Bakebook. Winner announced Friday, June 17th.