Animal cookies offer old-fashioned goodness

Phil Lempert TODAY Food Editor • Profile • E-mail

We were inspired by the retro-chic SusieCakes bakeshops to bring you a different type of Steal This Recipe this week: For the first time, we are featuring a cookie recipe. The magic formula for these adorably cute Frosted Animal Cookies comes to us courtesy of Susan Sarich, owner of SusieCakes in sunny Newport Beach, Calif. (There’s another location in Calabasas, Calif.; the original venue is in the Brentwood district of Los Angeles.)

SusieCakes is an all-American, home-style bakeshop specializing in an array of sentimental dessert favorites. Made with fresh ingredients by in-house bakers, SusieCakes’ offerings are a welcome alternative to the artificial preservatives and flavors found at most grocery-store bakeries. Instead, SusieCakes owner Susan Sarich provides classic treats made from scratch with one-of-a-kind taste, as well as a friendly, neighborhood experience.

SusieCakes features a variety of sought-after Americana desserts, including Susie’s specialty layer cakes in flavors like Southern Red Velvet and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, as well as Susie’s signature frosting filled cupcakes.

For this recipe you will need a set of animal-shaped cookie cutters as well as nonpareils, which are the tiny, multicolored sugar balls used for cake decoration. Both are available from your baking supply store or on the Internet. 

About the chef
A 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry, experienced in everything from event planning to

Denise Crew Frosted Animal Cookies

being managing partner, Susan Sarich knows what it takes to satisfy even the pickiest of customers. Sarich dreamed of opening her own restaurant and craved the kind of home-style American treats that have increasingly been replaced by processed desserts in recent years.

Armed with her grandmothers’ recipe cards and business savvy accrued from her years of experience (not to mention having attended Cornell University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration), Sarich finally realized her dream in 2006: She opened the first SusieCakes bakeshop, where everyone could get the sentimental favorites they love.

On the rare occasion Sarich is not at SusieCakes, she enjoys spending time with her partner, Houston; decorating their new home; entertaining friends and family; practicing yoga, and, of course, dining out. She enjoys traveling to her other favorite cities (besides Los Angeles), San Francisco and New York, where she can’t resist checking out the competition. Her treat of choice is a vanilla cupcake with vanilla butter cream frosting, showing that deep down, Sarich is a purist through and through.

Susie Cakes
2043 Westcliff Drive, #104
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 646-6881
www.susiecakesla.com

Frosted Animal Cookies are sold at SusieCakes for $6.95. This recipe makes approximately 24 cookies.

Want to nominate your favorite restaurant dish for a “Steal This Recipe” feature? Just e-mail with the name of the restaurant, city and state, and the dish you would like to have re-created. Want to know more about Phil and food? Visit his Web site at www.supermarketguru.com.

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