Holiday Reindeer Cookies
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These easy peanut butter Christmas Reindeer Cookies are the perfect no bake treat to make with the kids this holiday season! Peanut butter sandwich cookies are dipped in melted chocolate coating and decorated with pretzel antlers, candy eyes, and a bright red nose! These are just as much fun for the adults as they are for the kids!
This Reindeer Cookie recipe is perfect for moms wanting a festive, easy treat, without hours spent in the kitchen.
I love the holidays, but sometimes I bite off more than I can chew. Sugar cookies? Fun in theory, but by cookie eight, I’m over it—and the kids are just eating sprinkles!
These easy Christmas Reindeer Cookies fix all that. They’re cute, fast, and easy to make in any amount, with no oven required.
And the best part? Decorating these little reindeer friends is half the fun for kids—perfect for a cozy holiday afternoon!
Why You’ll Love These Reindeer Decorated Cookies
- This recipe is a quick way to add some Christmas cheer without the fuss of rolling sugar cookie dough, cutting, and endless decorating. It makes a great Christmas Eve activity!
- These are easy no-bake Christmas Cookies, made with chocolate dipped Nutter Butters and complete with pretzel antlers and red noses.
- The number of cookies can easily be scaled up or down for just a simple treat or for a big Christmas party!
How to Make Christmas Reindeer Cookies
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Peanut butter sandwich cookies (Nutter Butters)
- White melting wafers or white chocolate chips
- Milk chocolate flavored melting wafers
- Mini pretzel twists
- Candy eyeballs or mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Step 1: Melt the milk chocolate flavored wafers in a heatproof bowl either in the microwave (per the package instructions) or over a pan of barely simmering water.
Stir until the melts are completely melted and smooth. Repeat the same steps with the white melting wafers in a separate heat-safe dish.
Step 2: Line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.
Decorating The Reindeer Cookies
Step 1: Place two pretzels side by side–into an antler shape-on the parchment paper.
Tip: To keep the pretzels in place, add a small dollop of candy melt on the parchment and set the antlers on top to “glue” them in position—totally optional!
Step 2: Drop a Nutter Butter into the melted candy coating. Using a fork, flip around until the cookie is coated completely.
Lift the peanut butter cookie out with the fork and allow the excess candy coating to drip off.
Step 3: Gently place the peanut butter cookie on top of your pretzels. The pretzels may shift a little, but that’s ok (see above note for “gluing” them in place). Slide them back into place to make the antler shape you desire.
Step 4: Add the candy eyeballs or the mini chocolate chips slightly above the center or “waist” of the Nutter Butter cookie.
Step 5: Place a red M&M or any red candy right at the bottom tip of the cookie to make the nose.
Now you have a reindeer!
Repeat the above steps until you run out of eyeballs, cookies, and/or candy melts. Once all the reindeer are made, pop them in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to set.
Serve your Reindeer Cookies in a single layer on a festive tray and enjoy! These festive treats are perfect for a cookie swap, last minute gathering, or as a fun treat for the kids!
Storing Your Reindeer Cookies
Once set, these guys should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll last for weeks!
They do not require refrigeration, so feel free to keep them on the countertop for easy snackin’ access.
Tip: I do recommend storing these reindeer cookies in a single layer. If they’re stacked or jiggled around too much in the container, the pretzel antlers will pop off!
Variations:
You can customize these reindeer however you like, and that’s half the fun! Here are some ways you can mix up your little sleigh team of peanut butter reindeer:
- You can use chocolate or white fudge covered pretzels instead of plain pretzels for the antlers! Or even peppermint coated pretzels would be adorable!
- Change the cookie from Nutter Butters to any other oblong cookie. I use the peanut butter sandwich cookies for their signature peanut shape, but you can use anything you have on hand!
- Use Oreos instead of Nutter Butters to make round little reindeer faces!
- Use Reese’s pieces for the noses instead of M&Ms
- Instead of milk chocolate candy melts, you can use dark chocolate or any other color wafer you like!
Can I double or half the amount of peanut butter reindeer cookies in this recipe?
Definitely!
One of the best things about this easy no bake Christmas treat is that you can really customize the recipe to fit how many people you need to serve!
So if you need more or less than what the recipe states, it’s super easy to scale.
I found that about 1 cup of the melting wafers will coat 9 Nutter Butter cookies. Using this ratio, you can increase or decrease how much you melt and dip to match your needs.
The candy eyes I use will make about 30-32 cookies.
So use these ratios as a guide to help adjust the recipe to the quantity you need!
Other Holiday Recipes You May Like
Chewy Snickerdoodles–Without Cream of Tartar
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Peanut Butter Red Nosed Reindeer Cookies
Ingredients
- 18 oblong peanut butter sandwich cookies Nutter Butters
- 1 cup of white melting wafers
- 1 cup of milk chocolate flavored melting wafers
- Mini pretzel twists
- Candy eyeballs or mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt the milk chocolate flavored wafers in a heatproof bowl either in the microwave (per the package instructions) or over a pan of barely simmering water.
- Stir until the melts are completely melted and smooth.
- Repeat the same steps with the white melting wafers in a separate heat safe dish.
- Line a sheet pan or cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.
- To make the reindeer, place two pretzels side by side–into an antler shape-on the parchment paper.
- *If you wanted to keep your pretzels in place, you could put a little dollop of candy melt on the parchment paper and set the antlers on top, to kind of “glue them” into position. But this is totally optional!
- Drop a Nutter Butter into the melted candy coating and using a fork, flip around until the cookie is coated completely.
- Lift the peanut butter cookie out with the fork and allow the excess candy coating to drip off.
- Gently place the peanut butter cookie on top of your pretzels. The pretzels may shift a little, but that’s ok (see above note for “gluing” them in place). Slide them back into place to get the antler shape you desire.
- Add the candy eyeballs or the mini chocolate chips slightly above the center or “waist” of the Nutter Butter cookie.
- Place a red M&M or any red candy right at the bottom tip of the cookie for the nose.
- Now you have a reindeer!
- Repeat the above steps until you run out of eyeballs, cookies and/or candy melts. Once all the reindeer are made, pop them in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to set.
- Serve your Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies in a single layer on a festive platter and enjoy!
What do you do with the white candy melts you melt in a separate bowl, did I miss something? Thanks!
Hi! The white melts are if you want both milk chocolate and white chocolate reindeer. You can use all milk or dark chocolate if you prefer!