Get in the Christmas spirit with these easy, no-bake Reindeer Christmas Cookies!
This fun no-bake cookie recipe is perfect for kids and can be a great activity for a Christmas party or make a great cookie exchange recipe.
The kids will have a blast creating Rudolph the Reindeer cookies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Are you looking for a super fun yet easy project to do with the kids over the holiday season?
Look no further than Reindeer Christmas Cookies! These cookies are incredibly simple to make and require absolutely no baking.
The time spent crafting them with your children will result in beautiful, delicious treats they – and everyone else – will enjoy eating during the holidays!
Not only are these Reindeer Christmas Cookies festive, but they’re an excellent addition to any cookie exchange or tray of homemade food gifts.
So grab the ingredients, put on your cooking aprons, and get ready for a wonderful afternoon of creating together.
Recipe Prep
- Set up a work area. Once the chocolate is melted the process moves quickly.
- Gather your ingredients and place the red M&M's, the mini pretzels, and mini eyeballs into small bowls so these ingredients are easier to reach.
- Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Slowly and carefully melt the chocolate wafers in a bowl at 20, 10, 5 and 5 second intervals in the microwave. Every time the microwave stops stir the chocolate. By the last 5 minutes all of the chocolate should be melted with just a few lumps remaining.
- Continue to stir the warm chocolate coating until those lumps have melted.
Reindeer Cookie Ingredients
Below is a quick look at the ingredients and directions. You can find the entire ingredient amounts and step by step directions in the recipe card below. P. S. You can also save your favorite recipes to your personal recipe box! ⬇️
👇See the step by step directions below!
With these ingredients, you'll be able to create the tastiest and cutest reindeer cookies that will impress everyone.
- Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers: These are premium dark chocolate disks that are designed to melt smoothly and easily. They're perfect for dipping, coating, and drizzling. Ghirardelli is known for its rich and intense chocolate flavor.
- Nutter Butter Cookies: These are peanut-shaped sandwich cookies filled with a delicious peanut butter cream. The cookies themselves have a slightly sweet, nutty flavor and a crunchy texture. These cookie are the perfect shape and size to make a reindeer face.
- Itty Bitty Minis pretzels from Snyder's of Hanover: These are small, twisted knots of baked bread product, usually salted. They add a savory crunch to the reindeer cookies, acting as the "antlers". If you can't find them you can use the original mini pretzels broken in pieces.
- red M&M's: These are small, round candy-coated chocolates. The red ones are often used in festive baking and will serve as the "nose" of the reindeer.
- Wilton mini candy eye balls: These are tiny, white, sugar-based decorations with a black 'pupil' in the center. They're perfect for adding personality to any edible creation, in this case, they'll be the "eyes" of the reindeer.
- a tube black decorating gel: This is a squeezable gel used for decorating baked goods. It comes in a tube with a fine tip, allowing for precision when drawing or writing. In this recipe, it will be used to add the mouth details to your reindeer cookies.
Here's how to make them:
- Step 1: Start by setting up a work area and lining your cookie sheets with parchment paper. This will make cleanup a breeze.
- Step 2: Melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave, being sure to stir every few seconds until smooth.
- Step 3: Dip one side of each Nutter Butter cookie into the melted chocolate, leaving the back side of the cookie uncovered in chocolate. Place the dipped cookies on the parchment-lined sheets.
- Step 4: While the chocolate is still soft, press two pretzel pieces into the top edge of each cookie to create antlers.
- Step 5: Below the antlers, add two mini candy eyeballs and a red M&M for the nose. Be sure to place the M&M logo-side down. Repeat this process with all of the cookies, then let them set and harden in a safe area.
- Step 6: Once the chocolate has hardened, use the black decorating gel to draw a small mouth on each cookie. Allow the gel to set.
You're done! These adorable Reindeer Christmas cookies are ready to be enjoyed!
Reindeer Themed
Why not celebrate with a reindeer themed treat day?
You can make Reindeer shaped treats like Reindeer Rice Krispies and Reindeer Bark treats with the kids. They will love them.
Grab my Pin The Nose on The Reindeer printable to make it a really fun day.
Pin the Nose on The Reindeer Game
Gather the kids together during any festive Christmas occasion to play Pin The Nose on (Rudolph) the Reindeer. Fun times for all ages!
Black Gel Decorating Tip
Allow the black gel to set up overnight. It will not harden completely but will form a thin skin. Because of this you should not stack the cookies on top of each other when serving or packing into cookie tins or holiday boxes. The black lined mouth will smear very easily.
Recipe FAQS
It takes less than 30 minutes to make no bake Reindeer Christmas cookies. But it will take a couple of hours for the melted chocolate to harden.
No-bake Reindeer Christmas cookies can be eaten in about an hour but the chocolate coating will not be completely harden so you will not be able to move them around or package them up for gifts. You can put the cookies in the refrigerator to speed this up.
This recipe for Reindeer Christmas cookies will make 32 Christmas cookies.
📌Pro Cookie Making Tips
- chocolate dipping bowl: use a shallow and wide enough bowl that you can easily dip the cookie in. It should be twice as wide as the cookies are long. Otherwise you will have a hard time lifting the cookie up without getting melted chocolate all over your hands.
- best chocolate for melting: melting chocolate is not created equally. In the past few years I have been recommending Ghirardelli brand for the easiest trouble free melting experience.
- melting the chocolate: do not over heat the melting chocolate or it will seize and will have to be thrown out.
- chocolate hardening times can vary. I usually wait 12 hours or overnight.
- Use tweezers to set the mini eyeballs down into the melted chocolate.
- Black decorating gel can be found with the cake decorating supplies in most grocery stores.
- The pretzels: Itsy Bitsy Mini Pretzels can be found at Walmart and most grocery stores.
Fun Christmas Cookies
With this recipe, you'll have 32 delicious Reindeer Christmas cookies to enjoy. Happy baking!
And don't forget to share with your friends and family. They make great gifts or treats at holiday parties.
Get creative and have fun with it!
And be sure to snap a picture of your tasty creations before they all disappear. Happy holidays
More No-Bake Christmas Treats
Discover a delightful collection of hassle-free Christmas recipes that require no baking below.
⭐Leave a Star Rating
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Reindeer Christmas Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 oz Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers
- 16 oz. Package Nutter Butter Cookies
- 1 cup Itty Bity Mini pretzels (Snyder of Hanover or original mini pretzels broken in pieces)
- 32 regular red M and M's
- 64 mini Wilton mini candy eye balls
- 1 tube black decorating gel
Instructions
- Start by setting up a work area and lining your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave, being sure to stir every few seconds until smooth.
- Dip one side of each Nutter Butter cookie into the melted chocolate, leaving the back side of the cookie uncovered in chocolate. Place the dipped cookies on the parchment-lined sheets.
- While the chocolate is still soft, press two pretzel pieces into the top edge of each cookie to create antlers.
- Below the antlers, add two mini candy eyeballs and a red M&M for the nose. Be sure to place the M&M logo-side down.
- Repeat this process with all of the cookies, then let them set and harden in a safe area.
- Once the chocolate has hardened, use the black decorating gel to draw a small mouth on each cookie. Allow the gel to set.
- Makes 32 Rudolph Reindeer Christmas Cookies.
Recipe Expert Tips
- chocolate dipping bowl: use a shallow and wide enough bowl that you can easily dip the cookie in. It should be twice as wide as the cookies are long. Otherwise you will have a hard time lifting the cookie up without getting melted chocolate all over your hands.
- best chocolate for melting: melting chocolate is not created equally. In the past few years I have been recommending Ghirardelli brand for the easiest trouble free melting experience.
- melting the chocolate: do not over heat the melting chocolate or it will seize and will have to be thrown out.
- chocolate hardening times can vary. I usually wait 12 hours or overnight.
- Use tweezers to set the mini eyeballs down into the melted chocolate.
- Black decorating gel can be found with the cake decorating supplies in most grocery stores.
- The pretzels: Itsy Bitsy Mini Pretzels can be found at Walmart and most grocery stores.
Julie Briones
I love how easy these are, and that they are so cute! Thanks for sharing at Tuesday Turn About! I'll be featuring your post at this week's party! Pinned!
Donna @ Modern on Monticello
Nutter Butter Cookies and chocolate - can't go wrong with that combination! And they are so adorable too. This post will be a feature this week. #HomeMattersParty