Really Easy Cookies for the Birds!
Birdseed Heart Cookies
This is such a simple recipe for birdseed cookies. All you need is gelatin, birdseed and water. The mixture simply air dries and becomes a hard birdseed cookie.
I found the recipe and wonderful directions at Bargain Hoot. Please see instructions here for a her ideas on how to shape and add twine hangers to these cookies.
The recipe I came up with is very similar, it just uses less gelatin than the original one I found. It held together quite well once the bird cookies dried.
Birdseed Cookie Recipe:
- One gelatin packet (one of those small ones, I guess there is about two tablespoons of gelatin in one)
dissolve into: - 3/4 C water
mix in: - 2 to 2 1/2 C amaranth and millet (or other birdseed of your choice) With larger seeds I found I needed to add more seeds to the mixture
The resulting mixture will be pretty wet at first. Let it begin to gel for a while, stirring occasionally before you use cookie cutters or your hands to shape the mixture into cookies on a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper.
The cookies can air dry over night. The paper will make it easier to flip the cookies part way through the drying.
Decorate your Birdseed Cookies
We decorated the tops of ours by pressing raisins and pumpkin seeds into the birdseed mixture while it was still in the cookie cutter.
My kids were able to participate in making these by mixing and decorating. If I was in a more patient mood they could have helped with filling the cookie cutters too.
Their favorite part, however, was hanging our birdseed cookies out for the birds!
You can find more outdoor play for kids here:
- Gardening with Toddlers
- 10 Fun Fall Activities in your Backyard
- Best Outdoor Toys for Preschoolers and for Toddlers
Alissa Zorn is an author, and founder of the website Overthought This. She's a coach and cartoonist passionate about helping people overcome perfectionism and shame to build authentic, joyful lives. Alissa is certified through the International Coach Federation and got her Trauma-Informed Coaching certification from Moving the Human Spirit. She wrote Bounceback Parenting: A Field Guide for Creating Connection, Not Perfection, and is always following curiosity to find her next creative endeavor.