This Reader’s Horsey Holiday Cookies are ALL Your Horse Needs this Winter

These horsey holiday cookies look incredible — aside from one reader being incredibly talented at clipping Christmas trees on her horse’s butt, she’s also a master baker! Check out this adapted and improved recipe from Cortni Edwards, and let us know how many your own horse ate!

Photo by Cortni Edwards.

Cookies:

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour measured by weight or using the spoon and sweep method*
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼  teaspoon  ground cloves
  • ¼  cup molasses
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together molasses, water, and oil. Mix the liquid with the dry until a smooth dough forms. Knead it a bit to get an even texture. It should be tacky but not sticky. 
  4. Roll out the dough to ¼-inch thick and cut out shapes, gathering dough and re-rolling as necessary. To make “donuts” cut a hunk of dough and roll into a ball and then between your fingers and the workspace to form a tube. Connect the ends of the tube and roll a little between your fingers to seal. The “pop tarts” are just rectangular cuts of dough that you use your fork to add ridges to the sides.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Icing:

Ingredients:

  • Several spoonfuls of powdered sugar (plus more for consistency)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Soft peppermints (or any other favorite embellishment!) crushed

Instructions:

  1. Spoon some powdered sugar into a bowl. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of the water and mix.
  2. Continue mixing/adding water or sugar until you reach a thick consistency (sticks to the back of the spoon but still flows off). 
  3. Place the icing into a piping bag or a baggie and cut a small bit off a corner. Pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies and dip or sprinkle the crushed peppermints on top. Allow to dry for a few hours until hardened (or overnight if you’re lazy like me!) 


These cookies are picky eater approved — Cortni’s horse, Spring, doesn’t like fancy name brand cookies, just the cheapest ones from Tractor Supply…but she LOVES these! 

Spring’s butt getting in the holiday spirit. Photo by Cortni Edwards.

PS. Non-iced cookies are safe for dogs 🙂 

Go Jumping! And Baking!