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Home · Recipes · Christmas · Reindeer Cookies

Published: Nov 19, 2021 by Kelly Anthony · Leave a CommentThis post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.

Reindeer Cookies

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Tell your family and friends to brace themselves for some serious cuteness overload this season. These Reindeer Cookies are the total package: irresistibly adorable, absolutely delicious, and positively exploding with holiday cheer!

A close-up shot of reindeer cookies stacked in a bowl.

Whether you're making these cookies for a Christmas party contribution or just having some fun in the kitchen baking with the kiddos, this is a festive cookie you can't go wrong with!

Looking for more awesome Christmas recipes to try? Bookmark these Iced Sugar Cookies with a gorgeous buttercream frosting made to look like holiday wreaths and trees or the ever-beautiful Painted Cookies!

Lemon Cookies are always a hit, too!

A PLAN FOR YOUR COOKIES

Does that Reindeer Cookie shape look familiar to you? That's because it's a gingerbread man turned upside down!

And overhead shot of undecorated reindeer cookies on a black surface.

Turn legs into antlers and arms into ears with the quick squeeze of a piping bag! Brown and red M&Ms make for especially cute noses, and as for the eyes, candy eyes or chocolate chips work great!

A hand holding reindeer cookies on a white plate.

But, before you can get on to the decorating, you'll first need to whip up the dough. This cookie dough is identical to my soft gingerbread men cookies, and the recipe comes loaded with holiday flavor thanks to warming spices, brown sugar, and a little kiss of molasses. This sweet combo makes for a treat that both looks and feels like Christmas. Yes, please.

This is a cutout cookie dough so you'll want to do some advanced planning before making them. Here's what you should keep in mind as you're planning:

  • You will need to make the dough,
  • chill it for about three hours,
  • roll out the dough,
  • cut out the cookies,
  • bake the cookies,
  • and allow them to cool before you begin decorating them.

Decorated reindeer cookies staggered on a black surface.

There's nothing especially difficult about this recipe, but there are a lot of steps, which means you need to allow at least 5-6 hours from start to finish before you plan to serve your Reindeer Cookies. You won't be working the whole time, but the chill time, cooling time, and setting time should be accounted for!

HOW TO MAKE REINDEER COOKIES

Mix the Dry Ingredients | To kick off your Reindeer Cookies dough, you will begin with the dry ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together and whisk. Then, you'll move on to the wet ingredients.

Dry ingredients in a mixing bowl being whisked together.

Mix the Wet Ingredients | For the wet ingredients, you will combine softened butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg in a large mixing bowl. You can use a large mixing bowl and a handheld mixer for this recipe, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Molasses, butter, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients together at medium-high speed until they are well combined.

Add Dry Ingredients to Wet | Then, add in the dry ingredients and mix on low.

And overhead shot of ginger bread cookie dough in a mixing bowl.

Divide the Dough and Chill | Once your reindeer cookie dough has come together, you will divide the mixture into fourths, form each section into a ball, place it on a sheet of plastic wrap, flatten it out into a disk, and transfer it to the refrigerator for at least three hours. You can leave the dough in the refrigerator just like this for up to two days!

A hand holding for gingerbread cookie dough discs.

Preheat Oven and Prep Pans | Once your dough is chilled, you can remove it from the refrigerator and preheat your oven to 350°F, and you'll also want to have your baking sheets lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Allow the reindeer cookie dough to sit out at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before you attempt to roll it out.

Roll Out the Dough | Working with one disc of cookie dough at a time, place it on a large floured work surface and dust the top of the cookie dough disc with flour as well. Roll out the disk so that it is just under a half-inch thick. Get out your favorite gingerbread cookie cutters, preferably ones near 3-5" in size.

Gingerbread cookie dough rolled out on a floured work surface.

Note, the size of your cookies will affect bake time, so if your cookie cutters are larger, they will take longer to bake. And, the opposite is true if your cookie cutters are especially small.

Bake | Once you have your Reindeer Cookies cut out, transfer them to the prepared pans and bake them in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough discs until all of your cookies are baked!

And overhead shot of baked reindeer cookies.

Cool | Once your cookies are cooled (this should take about 30 minutes), you can transfer your cookies to a sheet of waxed paper or a large work surface and get your decorating on!

HOW TO DECORATE REINDEER COOKIES

There's more than one way to decorate a Reindeer Cookie. You can use melted chocolate to get the eyes and nose to stick, but I've found royal icing works best for these cute Christmas cookies!

Pipe On the Antlers | You'll begin by piping on the antlers. Make a V-shape across the legs of the gingerbread-shaped cookie, and pipe on a few small hooks attached to that V-shape.

I seen being piped onto a cookie to look like antlers.

And, if you would like to spruce up your antlers with Christmas-colored sprinkles, now is the time to do it!

Reindeer cookies be in piped on with royal icing..

Add Eyes, Nose, and Ears | Then pipe on two dots for the eyes, a dot for the nose, a smile at the head of the gingerbread-shaped cookie, and little ears where the arms would be.

Decorate | You can either use chocolate chips for the eyes or small candy eye decals. For the nose, use brown M&Ms for your standard Reindeer Cookie look, or for a red nose/Rodolph vibe, a red M&M is perfect! Be sure to add the eyes and nose while the royal icing is still wet.

A hand holding a decorated reindeer cookie.

Allow Icing To Set | Allow your decorated cookies to set up for about 45 minutes, then serve and enjoy!

For more delicious cookies, add our Cookie Recipes to your "must-make" list!

6 MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

  • Pinwheel Cookies
  • Texas Sheet Cake Cookies
  • Haystack Cookies
  • Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
  • Red Velvet Cookies
  • Painted Christmas Cookies

  • Overhead shot of Painted Sugar Cookies - trees and wreaths.

    Painted Sugar Cookies

  • Christmas colored pinwheel cookies clustered together on a white plate.

    Pinwheel Cookies

  • Three rows of Texas Sheet Cake Cookies on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

    Texas Sheet Cake Cookies

  • Haystack Cookies

  • Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

    Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

  • Red Velvet Cookies

    Red Velvet Cookies Recipe

A close-up shot of reindeer cookies stacked in a bowl.
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Reindeer Cookies

Cute Reindeer Cookies are as delicious as they are adorable with an easy-to-make dough loaded with holiday flavor! Perfect for a Christmas party, holiday gift-giving, or baking with kids.
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time8 minutes mins
Chill Time3 hours hrs
Total Time3 hours hrs 23 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Reindeer Cookies
Servings: 24
Calories: 188kcal
Author: Kelly Anthony

Ingredients

FOR THE REINDEER COOKIES:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon cloves
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
  • ¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsulphured molasses (such as Brer Rabbit or Grandma's Molasses)
  • 1 large egg

FOR THE ICING:

  • 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon meringue powder
  • 3 tablespoons warm water

DECORATING:

  • M&Ms for nose
  • Candy eye decals or chocolate chips for nose
  • Sprinkles for antlers (if desired)

Instructions

TO MAKE THE COOKIES:

  • Add the flour, baking soda, sea salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside until ready to use.
  • Add the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and egg to a large mixing bowl. Using a handheld mixer, mix on medium-high speed until the mixture is well-combined.
  • Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing on low. Do not overmix.
  • Have ready a floured work surface and turn out the dough onto it. With floured hands, divide the dough into 2 and form it into 4 equal portions shaped like disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to two days.
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and have ready 2 baking sheets lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • Working with 1 unwrapped disk at a time, dust your work surface, as well as the top of the disk, and roll out so that the dough is just under a ½" thick. Cut out your cookies using 3-5" cooking cutters.
  • Place your cookies 2" apart on the baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
  • Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Once the cookies have cooled completely, you can begin decorating them with icing and sprinkles, or as desired.

TO MAKE THE ICING:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine powdered sugar, meringue powder, water, and extract.
  • Begin mixing on low until powdered sugar has absorbed the liquid ingredients, then increase speed to high. Alternatively, use a large mixing bowl and a handheld mixer. Mix for 2-3 minutes or until the icing has thickened.
  • To ensure the icing is the right consistency, test it by allowing icing to drip from the paddle attachment or beaters. It should take about 30 seconds before the fallen icing loses its shape and melds into the rest of the icing.
  • Add the icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and twist to close.

DECORATE THE COOKINGS:

  • Place the cookies on a sheet of wax paper or a large work surface. Turn them upside down and pipe on the antlers by making a V-shape with little hooks coming off on the legs of the gingerbread men. Then on the head, add two dots for the eyes, a dot for the nose, and a little curve for the mouth.
  • Use either chocolate chips or candy eye decals for the eyes and M&Ms for the nose. Place each item directly onto the royal icing dots, and set aside to set for at about 45 minutes to an hour. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 129mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 188IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg

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I’m Kelly Anthony — a baker, home chef, and mom with a passion for food and an adoration for entertaining.

Comfort food is my specialty, and it is truly my pleasure to share these recipes with you. If you’d like to get to know me a little better, click here.

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