Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies
Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies are just about the cutest holiday cookies ever! Delicious and fun to make, get the kids involved and make making these cookies a yearly tradition!
Servings: 48 cookies
Calories: 107kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
For the decorations:
- 1/4 cup vanilla icing
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 48 pretzel twists
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix the softened butter with the peanut butter on medium-high until it is light and fluffy.
- Add the sugars and continue mixing on medium high until it's all combined.
- Add the egg, and mix until combined. Don't worry if your batter is lumpy - it won't be for long.
- In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
- If you're using a hand mixer, swap it for a good wooden spoon. Or, continue with the stand mixer and mix in half the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add the remaining flour and mix but don't over-mix.
- Roll tablespoon-sized balls of dough and put them about 2-inches apart on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand or the back of a large spoon.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the pretzel twists in half and press the halves into the top of the cookie to form the antlers.
- Bake at 350-F for about 10 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden brown. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.
How to decorate the cookies:
- The pretzel antlers will bake into the cookies so you don't need to do anything with the antlers.
- To make the mouth, cut dried cranberries in half or use half a maraschino cherry. You can also pipe on a mouth with store-bought icing.
- Affix the mouth with a small bit of vanilla icing to act as glue.
- To make the eyes, cut the round bottom off of chocolate chips and using the vanilla icing, glue them onto the cookie. A tiny drop of white icing can make the pupil on the chocolate eye.
- Alternatively, you can use vanilla icing to pipe the eyes and mouth onto the cookies.
Notes
Chef Jenn's Tips
- You can make the batter for these Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies ahead of time and pop it into the fridge. Let the cookie dough come to room temperature before forming into balls and baking.
- Parchment paper is a cook's best friend! Invest in a big ol roll and make clean up so much easier!
- Use a tiny bit of icing to glue on the eyes and nose. You can put a few spoonfuls into a zipper-top bag and press the air out before closing. Then, cut a very tiny bit off one of the bottom corners, and squeeze out the icing you need.
- If you forget to press the pretzels into the cookies before baking, use a bit of icing to glue them on.
Decoration Ideas
Use your imagination to come up with some cute decorating ideas to make these adorable Christmas cookies, or use some of the ideas below:- Pretzel twists for the antlers
- Edible google eyes, brown or black M&M's, chocolate chips
- For the nose: red M&M's, maraschino cherries, chocolate chips, dried cranberries
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 130mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 64IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg