Dinosaur Cookies

Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Allison Lancaster

Does anyone else’s child love dinosaurs? If your little one is obsessed with all things related to prehistoric creatures, they will love these dinosaur cookies! Not only do they look like dinosaur paw prints, but they also taste delicious.

These dinosaur paw print cookies are adorable as a party favor for a Jurassic Park themed party, birthday party, or just as a special treat. The footprint kind of looks like a cool dinosaur skeleton shape that is perfect for little kids.

You can easily match the color of the footprint on your dinosaur cookie to any color scheme you’re using for birthday parties or even as a treat to go with your child’s favorite dinosaur movie or cartoon!

My husband said these dinosaur cookies tasted like sugar cookies, but I thought they were a little bit more like shortbread. Either way, they are delicious!

Dinosaur Cookie Ingredients & Substitutions:

Unsalted sweet cream butter – Softened at room temperature. 

Powder sugar – This can be sifted to avoid lumps in the cookie dough.

Pure vanilla extract– I love the Aldi brand of this or you can go for a name brand if you prefer.

Large egg – Allow this to reach room temperature for better mixing into the other sugar cookie dough ingredients. 

Flour – Plain flour like all-purpose flour is perfect for this recipe. I haven’t tried this recipe with wheat flour.

Cream of tarter – This ingredient makes the cookies deliciously chewy. 

Baking soda – Always check the expiry date to ensure a good rise in your cookies. 

Royal icing sugar – You’ll need egg whites, powdered sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and black gel food coloring. Other colored food coloring can be used to add variety when hosting your dinosaur party!

How To Make Dinosaur Cookies

• Preheat the oven.
• Using a standing mixer, cream together the butter, powder sugar, vanilla and egg together until creamy and combined.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cream of tarter and baking soda.
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined and a dough forms.
• Once the dough is formed, sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of flour onto a cutting board and place the dough onto the cutting board.
• Sprinkle some flour onto the cookie dough and roll out the dough to about 2 inches thick.
• Cut out your cookies and place onto the cookie sheet.
• Bake your cookies for about 8-10 minutes. Let them cool completely on a wire rack.
• Now make the icing. Using the standing mixer, combine the egg whites, cream of tarter, powder sugar and vanilla and mix on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
• Split the icing into 2 bowls. In one bowl add a drops of Black gel food coloring and mix. Add in a few more drops of black and mix until you get the shade of black you want.
• Leave the second bowl white.
• Cut the tips off the piping bags and place a tip into each bag.
• Scoop the Black icing into a piping bag fitted with a number 2 tip, and set aside.
• Scoop the white icing into the piping bag fitted with the last number 2 tip and set aside.
• Using the edible marker, draw out the outline of a Dinosaur footprint.
• Outline the footprint using the black icing
• Outline around the circle and around the footprint using the white icing
• Fill in the white area using the white icing
• Fill in the paw print with the black icing
• Let icing completely dry for about 2 hours before enjoying!

Equipment You’ll Need

• Medium circle cookie cutter
• 1 cookie sheet or baking sheet fitted with parchment paper
• 2 disposable piping bags
• 2 – #2 wilton cake tip
• 1 edible marker

Serve

Serve these delicious treats alongside other dinosaur-inspired baked goods for birthday parties or as a fun treat for the family instead of regular plain sugar cookies. 

How To Store These Dinosaur Cookies

Store these dino cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Leftover royal icing must be stored in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

Recipe FAQ’s: 

More Sugar Cookie Recipes

• Amish Sugar Cookies
• Caramel Apple Pie Sugar Cookies
• Soft and Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Chocolate Sugar Cookies
• Easter Sugar Cookies
• Strawberry Cookie Pizza Recipe

I hope you enjoy this fun dinosaur sugar cookie recipe! If you try it, please come back and leave me a comment letting me know how you liked it. And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I love hearing from you!

Dinosaur Cookies Recipe:

Continue to Content

Dinosaur Cookies

Yield: 18

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

These cute dinosaur cookies are easy and delicious, made with a simple sugar cookie base and royal icing decoration - perfect for dinosaur-themed parties!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 C unsalted sweet cream butter
• 1 1/2 C powder sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 C flour
• 1 tsp cream of tarter
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 medium circle cookie cutter
• 1 cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper
• Royal icing ingredients:
• 3 Egg whites
• 1 1/2 -2 C powder sugar
• 1 tsp cream of tarter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Black gel food coloring
• 2 disposable piping bags
• 2 – #2 wilton cake tip
• 1 edible marker

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a standing mixer, cream together the butter, powder sugar, vanilla and egg together until creamy and combined.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cream of tarter and baking soda.
4. Gradually mix in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined and a dough forms.
5. Once the dough is formed, sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of flour onto a cutting board and place the dough onto the cutting board.
6. Sprinkle some flour onto the cookie dough and roll out the dough to about 2 inches thick.
7. Cut out your cookies and place onto the cookie sheet.
8. Bake your cookies for about 8-10 minutes.
9. Let them cool completely.

Royal icing directions:

1. Using the standing mixer, combine the egg whites, cream of tarter, powder sugar and vanilla and mix on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
2. Split the icing into 2 bowls.
3. In one bowl add a drops of Black gel food coloring and mix.
4. Add in a few more drops of black and mix until you get the shade of black you want.
5. Leave the second bowl white.
6. Cut the tips off the piping bags and place a tip into each bag.
7. Scoop the Black icing into a piping bag fitted with a number 2 tip, and set aside.
8. Scoop the white icing into the piping bag fitted with the last number 2 tip and set aside.

Decorating directions:

1. Using the edible marker, draw out the outline of a Dinosaur footprint.
2. Outline the footprint using the black icing.
3. Outline around the circle and around the footprint using the white icing.
4. Fill in the white area using the white icing.
5. Fill in the paw print with the black icing.
6. Let icing completely dry for about 2 hours before enjoying!

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 412Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 200mgCarbohydrates: 72gFiber: 1gSugar: 56gProtein: 3g