These Christmas reindeer cookies are a fun and festive holiday treat that kids will love to help make and eat! The base is a soft and delicious peanut butter cookie complete with an M&M nose, chocolate chip eyes, and chocolate-covered pretzel antlers! The whole family can celebrate the holidays together by decorating a batch of these sweet reindeer cookies!
Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies
I've made more than my fair share of Christmas cookies, and these reindeer cookies come highly requested year after year! The cookie itself is a soft and tender peanut butter cookie, but the fun part is when it comes time to decorate!
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For more fun holiday baking, be sure to check out my 12 Days of Christmas cookies! I also have 24 Days of Christmas Cookies and 25 Days of Christmas Cookies challenges you can start on December 1st and bake along with, too!
🥘 Christmas Reindeer Cookies Ingredients, Notes, & Substitutions
You'll find all the classic peanut butter cookie ingredients here, plus some bonus goodies for decorating your reindeer! I can usually find red and green M&Ms at any grocery store around Christmastime.
- Butter - 1 cup of butter softened at room temperature or a butter substitute.
- Peanut Butter - 1 ½ cups of creamy or chunky peanut butter. Or, you could try a peanut butter substitute.
- Sugar - 1 cup of granulated white sugar.
- Light Brown Sugar - 1 cup of packed light brown sugar or a brown sugar substitute.
- Eggs - 2 large room-temperature eggs or an egg substitute.
- Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (use pure vanilla for the best flavor) or a vanilla extract substitute.
- Baking Soda - 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda or a baking soda substitute.
- Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon of baking powder or a baking powder substitute.
- Salt - ½ teaspoon of salt
- All-Purpose Flour - 2 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour or an all-purpose flour substitute.
- Chocolate-Covered Pretzels - 60 chocolate-covered pretzels for the antlers (they must be chocolate-covered, *see note).
- M&Ms - 30 M&Ms candies for the nose(there are 56 M&Ms in a standard single serving bag you would pick up at the gas station or grocery store).
- Chocolate Chips - 60 chocolate chips for the eyes.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Christmas Reindeer Cookies
You'll need your measuring utensils, a stand mixer or hand mixer, a mixing bowl, a silicone spatula, and a large baking sheet.
This makes about 30 reindeer cookies, so you can save a dozen and gift the rest!
Make The Cookie Dough
Step 1: Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C/Gas Mark 4) and line a baking sheet (or 2) with parchment paper.
Step 2: Cream butter and sugar. Cream together the 1 cup (227 grams) of butter, 1 ½ cups (387 grams) of peanut butter, 1 cup (200 grams) of sugar, and 1 cup (220 grams) of light brown sugar in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) until creamy.
Step 3: Mix in the 2 large eggs (100 grams), 1 teaspoon (4.93 milliliters) of vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoons (4.93 grams) of baking soda, 1 teaspoon (7.93 grams) of baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon (1.23 grams) of salt until smooth. *If the wet ingredients start to curdle after adding the eggs, add 1 tablespoon of the flour.
Step 4: Mix in flour. Mix in the 2 ¾ cups (343.75 grams) of all-purpose flour just until it has been incorporated into the do; be careful not to overmix.
Form & Bake The Cookies
Step 5: Form the reindeer head. Form the dough into 1-inch round balls and gently pinch the bottom of the dough ball, then lightly flatten it with your hand to shape it into a reindeer face. Place them onto your prepared baking sheets with 2 inches of space between them.
Step 6: Bake. Bake at 350°F (175°C)/Gas Mark 4) until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes.
Decorate
Step 7: Add the M&M eyes. Have your reindeer embellishments ready to go so you can work quickly when the cookies come out of the oven. Once you take the cookies out of the oven, place 1 of the 30 M&M candies on each reindeer face for the nose.
Step 8: Add the noses & antlers. Place 2 of the 60 chocolate chips above the M&M nose on each cookie (fairly close to the nose to leave room for antlers). Then, place 2 of the 60 chocolate-covered pretzels just above the eyes for antlers. They should be at least 50% on the cookie because they are heavy and will fall off if there is not plenty of cookies underneath to support them.
Step 9: Cool and serve. After decorating, transfer your reindeer cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving or storing them for later.
🎄 How To Serve Christmas Reindeer Cookies
These easy (and delicious) reindeer cookies are the perfect cookies to leave out for Santa! They also make a fun and festive cookie platter alongside some beautiful Linzer cookies and light and fluffy eggnog meringue cookies. Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- To make Rudolph reindeer cookies, only use red M&M for the noses.
- Adding your reindeer face while the cookies are still warm is very important, or the decorations will not stick. I start placing the noses as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Using chocolate-covered pretzel twists is essential because the melted chocolate is what adheres the pretzels to the cookie. White chocolate-covered pretzels will work as well. If you only have plain pretzels, melt some chocolate chips and dip the part of the pretzel that touches the cookie into the chocolate before attaching it. Be sure to let it set before moving your cookies.
🥄 Make Ahead Options
If you want to, you can prepare your cookie dough and freeze it for up to 3 months before baking your cookies. You will need to let them thaw out at room temperature until they are malleable enough to form your reindeer heads.
Lay your 1-inch balls of dough out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze them for 1 hour before putting them in a heavy-duty freezer bag for easier storage.
Check out my post on freezing Christmas cookie dough for step-by-step instructions!
🥡 Storing
You can store your Christmas reindeer cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. They will harden in the fridge but will last for up to 1 week.
Freezing Christmas Reindeer Cookies
The baked peanut butter cookies can be frozen in a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw out on the counter for at least 30 minutes to an hour before eating.
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❓ Recipe FAQs
The cookie part of the reindeer is a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie. Technically, you can use this method of decorating a hot cookie with M&Ms, chocolate chips, and chocolate-covered pretzels on other types of cookies, too. This would work on my vegan sugar cookies or classic sugar cookies, as well as any other variety of peanut butter cookies (like chocolate peanut butter cookies or almond flour peanut butter cookies).
Yes! You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months or bake and assemble your reindeer and keep them in an airtight container. The cookies stay fresh for 3-5 days as long as the container is tightly sealed.
I like to use just the standard milk-chocolate M&Ms in red for 'Rudolph' noses. Any colors will work; you could do red and green, brown, or multi-colors. If you want to, you can use flavored M&Ms like the cookie crunch, caramel, or whatever you like!
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📖 Recipe Card
Christmas Reindeer Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 60 chocolate covered pretzels
- 30 M&Ms candies
- 60 chocolate chips
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet (or 2) with parchment paper.
- Cream together the 1 cup butter, 1 ½ cups peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup light brown sugar in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) until creamy.
- Mix in the 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt until smooth. *If the wet ingredients start to curdle after adding the eggs, add in 1 tablespoon of the flour.
- Mix in the 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour just until it has been incorporated into the do, be careful not to overmix.
- Form the dough into 1-inch round balls and gently pinch the bottom of the dough ball then lightly flatten it with your hand to shape it into a reindeer face. Place them onto your prepared baking sheets with 2 inches of space between them.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown, about 8-10 minutes.
- Have your reindeer embellishments ready to go so you can work quickly when the cookies come out of the oven. Once you take the cookies out of the oven, place 1 of the 30 M&Ms candies on each reindeer face for the nose.
- Place 2 of the 60 chocolate chips above the M&M nose on each cookie (fairly close to the nose to leave room for antlers). Then, place 2 of the 60 chocolate covered pretzels just above the eyes for antlers. They should be at least 50% on the cookie because they are heavy and will fall off if there is not plenty of cookie underneath to support them.
- After decorating, transfer your reindeer cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before serving or storing for later.
Notes
- To make Rudolph reindeer cookies, only use red M&M for the noses.
- It is very important to add your reindeer face while the cookies are still warm, or the decorations will not stick.
- Using chocolate-covered pretzel twists is essential because the melted chocolate is what adheres the pretzels to the cookie. White chocolate-covered pretzels will work as well. If you only have plain pretzels, melt some chocolate chips and dip the part of the pretzel that touches the cookie into the chocolate before attaching it. Be sure to let it set before moving your cookies.
- You can store your Christmas reindeer cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
- The baked peanut butter cookies can be frozen in a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw out on the counter for at least 30 minutes to an hour before eating.
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