I must begin by saying how much I like food art – those appetizers and desserts that look like something else. I’m always reading posts and pins with cute and tasty food; that’s my 2 requirements for me to try them. I’ve done Easter chicks from deviled eggs, Halloween Spider Eggs, and Cream Cheese & Olive Penguins for Christmas to name a few. Today let’s discuss several ways to make reindeer cookies for Christmas besides buying a reindeer cookie cutter. The first thing to remember is use a recipe for cookies you like. That is most important. I read multiple reviews of different reindeer cookies which said it’s cute but I have a better recipe for peanut butter cookies or gingerbread cookies, etc. Then no matter how the design turns out, you have a cookie you’ll want to eat.
One of the simplest reindeer cookies is a frosting decorated round cookie which requires no special cookie cutter. You can use a gingerbread cookie, a peanut butter cookie (smooth peanut butter), a chocolate cookie, or even a sugar cookie. Below is sugar cookies with chocolate icing to make antlers and eyes. Use a toothpick to draw lines up for antlers and make 2 dots for eyes. Use colorful round candy for the nose. Bingo! You have reindeer cookies and you don’t have to be an artist!
Another popular reindeer cookie is a triangular shaped cookie with small pretzels for antlers. Again various cookie types have been used. Form a triangle of dough, press 2 small twisty pretzels at top of cookie. Press chocolate chips for 2 eyes and round colored candies like M & M’s for a nose. Bake and you’ve got a reindeer. Some folks add icing but most don’t.
I’ve seen many recipes for this cookie. I don’t quite get the idea of a salty pretzel and a sweet cookie, but that’s just me. As I said, it’s very popular. They’re cute and easy to make and I can make them for others, but the taste isn’t for me. I saw an interesting post by Baked By Rachel, a food blogger, who considers it a complete failure. She dipped her little twisted pretzels in chocolate which attracted me to the photo. I thought maybe this would be sweeter than a plain pretzel. Rachel hated them and said the chocolate melted when pushed into the gingerbread cookie. Her 4 year-old daughter enjoyed making them, took one bite, said yuck, and left the cookies. You really have to know your taste preferences and those of your children.
Last is the third reindeer cookie that I believe is best. If you have a gingerbread man cookie cutter, then you can make reindeer cookies.
Choose the kind of cookie flavor you want, i.e. gingerbread or chocolate, roll dough, cut out little men, bake, and then turn cookie upside down to decorate. Go with traditional gingerbread for a classic look. Cookie photo uploaded to Pinterest by Thom Brandt.
Photo by Thom Brandt via Pinterest
You can use a few simple lines of icing to designate the antlers (which are the legs of a gingerbread man). A few dots, lines for ears and candies for a nose. A drawn or candy mouth is optional. For those great icing artists, you have a nice size cookie (depending on your gingerbread cutter) to decorate. Taste of Home has beautiful antlers on their Jolly Ginger Reindeer Cookie.
I love Gabriela Figeczka’s chocolate reindeer with white icing. The white really pops!
Photo by Gabriella Figeczka via Pinterest
Another option is to frost the whole cookie and do layers of icing decorations. For example, use sugar cookie dough and frost the reindeer with chocolate icing. Make white icing lines and dots to designate antlers, ears, mouth or even nose. Candy is optional too. It can be simple or a more complex design.
Monster Mama’s Christmas Sugar Cookies:
Below is Food Network’s Gingerbread Reindeer:
Make your cookies as fancy as you want! Use icing and lots of candy.
Hope you had fun looking at luscious cookies with me! Merry Christmas!
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Aww! These are so cute. What a great variety too! I think even I could manage the simple one’s x
So many great ideas here! I actually really like the simple round ones. #MMBC
What a clever idea to use a gingerbread man cutter! So simple and so effective!
Happy Christmas!
#MMBC
Awww these are just adorable X #mmbc
I would eat any one of those cookies. Or more probably, every one of those cookies.
Those big, red noses are adorable!
These are adorable. I love the ginger bread man cookie cutter idea. #MMBC
Those cookies are just perfect for the holiday season and they would make a great Christmas gift idea as well!
All of these are cute as can be!
thanks Jeanie!
These are so cute!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Hugs,
Debbie
What a great post! Thanks for sharing each of these darling ideas! If you have time, stop by for my teatime. I’m serving reindeer cookies, and yes, they were made with the gingerbread cutter. Such a clever idea.
Yes I’d love to see your cookies – I’m coming over now!
So many cute ideas for reindeer cookies! I have tried one or two of these versions with my boys. Thanks for sharing with us at Encouraging Hearts and Home. Pinned.
These cookies are the cutest! My little man would sure love helping to make and decorate some. Merry Christmas!
These are great!! I love the gingerbread man turned reindeer! Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party! Hope your holidays are wonderful!
These are fun ideas, Carol! I didn’t make a single Christmas cookie this year…I was too sick with a cold! Thanks so much for sharing this on Farm Fresh Tuesdays! I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks!