These easy holiday reindeer cookie treats make perfect Christmas treats for holiday parties. You don’t need a long list of ingredients to make these Nutter Butter reindeer cookies and they’re not difficult at all to prepare. Everyone is going to love these cute Christmas cookies with eyes and you’re going to have fun making them. These easy no bake Christmas cookies are perfect for the peanut butter cookie fan.
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When the season of holiday parties rolls around, you’re going to be looking for festive Christmas treats. These Nutter Butter reindeer cookies with pretzel antlers are ideal for the occasion because they are just so adorable!
Ingredients for Festive Decorated Cookies
Nutter Butter peanut butter sandwich cookies are the basis of these easy holiday reindeer cookie treats. In addition, you need mini pretzels, edible candy eyeballs, red M&M candies, regular or mini chocolate chip pieces, and coconut oil.
The peanut butter and chocolate flavours in Nutter Butter cookies tastes so good, although if you aren’t so keen you can use another type of cookie instead. Choose something similarly shaped, so they will pass muster as reindeer faces! These are great holiday cookies to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve or take to a Christmas party this holiday season.
You can also sub any other small round red candy such as red hots for the M&Ms to make reindeer noses. I like to use semisweet chocolate for these, since the cookies are already really sweet. Use dark chocolate or milk chocolate if you prefer.
The coconut oil blends with the chocolate to make the cookies shiny. Without it, they would be matte. There’s nothing wrong with that but they just look better when they have a bit of gloss. These peanut butter reindeer cookies are cute treats both ways.
You can also use some butterscotch chips in place of some of the chocolate, or even almond bark which is also festive. These no bake Christmas treats are a versatile sweet treat.
Another idea, if you don’t have candy eyes, is to use some white icing for eyes and then add a tiny piece of raisin for the pupils.
If you can’t head north for the holidays and visit reindeer in person, there’s another option. These reindeer decorated cookies are definitely the next best thing! The whole family will love these Christmas reindeer cookies!
How to Make Nutter Butter Reindeer
Break the mini pretzels up a bit. Or, if you can only get regular size ones, you can break those up but a little more, so the antlers look like they’re in proportion on the top of the cookie.
Pretzels make great reindeer antlers. Melt the chocolate chips for a minute in the microwave and then stir in the coconut oil.
Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and then smooth the chocolate topping with a spatula or popsicle sticks. Decorate the easy holiday reindeer cookie treats with the pretzels, red M&Ms (for the nose) and edible eyeballs. This is such an easy recipe for Nutter Butter Christmas cookies and a fun way to show your holiday spirit.
If the chocolate dries before you have time to add the decorations, melt a little more chocolate and use that to stick the candies in place. As it dries, it will hold them there. It’s best to work quickly when decorating these simple Christmas cookies!
Give the easy holiday reindeer cookie treats about an hour to dry before serving. You can place them on a wax paper or parchment paper covered cookie tray or baking sheet.
How to Serve Christmas Cookies with Eyes
These adorable reindeer cookies look so festive arranged on a platter, so whether you’re making them for holiday parties, or just as a treat, these pair well with any kind of beverage especially a glass of milk. Celebrate the Christmas season with a fun treat like these easy reindeer cookies.
Anything from coffee to a Christmas Grinch cocktail would go perfectly alongside these Christmas cookies with eyes. There are so many great recipes for no bake cookies, but this has got to be the cutest cookie!
Why you Add Coconut Oil to the Chocolate
There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it makes sure the chocolate layer will set and be glossy instead of dull and matte. Second, it helps to chocolate to set and harden.
Because coconut oil sets so fast, it’s a worthy addition to everything from Nutter Butter reindeer to chocolate-dipped strawberries or Magic Shell (the kind of chocolate that sets as soon as it touches ice cream).
If you don’t have any, or you don’t want to use it, you can substitute olive oil or another neutral-tasting oil, melted butter or cocoa butter. Just add the same amount of one of those and it will have the same effect on the chocolate coating.
Easy Holiday Reindeer Cookie Treats FAQs
They are fresher in flavour and texture if you make and serve them the same day. But if you are making other Christmas treats for Christmas parties, you might prefer to make them in advance.
These Christmas cookies with eyes will be good for up to five days if you keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. If you have kids, you might like to keep them hidden in the pantry though, since they can disappear alarmingly fast!
Holiday Reindeer Cookie Recipe
Easy Holiday Reindeer Cookie Treats
Ingredients
- 32 pretzels mini
- 64 candy eyeballs
- 32 chocolate candies red M&M's
- 1 Package Nutter Butter cookies 16 Ounce package
- 1 Cup chocolate chips semi-sweet
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Let’s begin by breaking the mini pretzels in half and then snapping the edges to make our reindeer’s “antlers.” Gather your edible eyeballs and red m&m’s and set them aside along with the prepared pretzels.
- It’s time to melt the chocolate for our reindeer. Melt 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir and heat for an additional
- Grab a Nutter Butter cookie and dip the face of the cookie into the melted chocolate. Smooth the chocolate with an icing spatula and place it onto a large tray for decoration. Repeat until all cookies are coated.
- Quickly but carefully add the “antlers” (broken pretzels), edible eyeballs, and nose to the wet chocolate. Once decorated, set the reindeer aside for at least1 hour to dry.
- Once the reindeer cookies are dry, serve them on your favorite plate or holiday platter and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
You’re going to love these fun, cute and easy holiday reindeer cookie treats. They are cute decorated cookies, ideal for holiday parties or to surprise your loved ones during the festive season.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti of xoxoBella is a storyteller, food lover, dog mom and adventure seeker living on the Pacific coast. She shares her passion for recipes, dogs, sustainability, adventures, travel and philanthropy, in hopes of encouraging followers to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places and stand for a cause. Bella lives with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease.
Bella Bucchiotti is a freelance food, travel, and lifestyle writer for MSN and the Associated Press Wire.
I make these every year. So cute!