A Lesson in Animal Cracker Taxonomy

After eating my way through two boxes of animal crackers for the chocolate rain cupcakes and the cupcakes for a party, I became familiar with eight different species of Barnum's Animal Crackers. Further research has revealed the vast field of Animal Cracker Taxonomy which both puzzles and amazes.

Whenever you're eating an animal-shaped snack and you aren't sure whether to classify it as a cookie or a cracker, refer to the article below. It describes everything you need to know (and more!) about Kingdom Pseudobiotae, Phylum Consuma, Class Snacka, Order Animales.

Classification of Animal Cookies, Animal Crackers, and Related Taxa
Mark E. Eberle, Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University.

Chocolate Rain Cupcakes

These cupcakes were inspired by a friend who asked for Chocolate Rain cupcakes for his birthday. Literally, it's a reference to Chocolate Rain, a youtube video with 39,000,000+ views by Tay Zonday.

'Chocolate' practically requires a chocolate cupcake, and 'rain' connotates a great flood where only two of each animal were saved on a boat. This explains my post earlier this week about the animal crackers.

After much deliberation, I settled on a chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World with Green tea glaze frosting, to represent a dirt hill covered in grass. Animal crackers graze, while a light chocolate rain falls down upon their backs.

Chocolate Rain Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/6 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325°F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk soymilk and vinegar together and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.

Add sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Beat until foamy.

Sift together remaining ingredients and add in two batches to wet ingredients. Beat well and fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


Prepare the green tea glaze, and frost the top of each cupcake. Then, place one animal cracker on top of each cupcake.


In a double broiler, melt semisweet chocolate chips. When melted, drizzle your chocolate rain. Enjoy!

Guess who bought WHAT?

Look at what I bought from the grocery store today.
Try to guess what I'm planning to make on Friday.
They're going to be cupcakes, and I promise they're going to be amazing.