These reindeer cookies are easy to make and so adorable! They’re the cutest Christmas cookies!
Pin these cute Reindeer Cookies for Later.
How darling are these reindeer cookies?
You know I love reindeer treats this time of year. Like our Reindeer Oreo Cookie Balls, Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats, and our Rolo Pretzel Reindeer. They are all so adorable and such fun festive treats this time of year!
I love cake mix cookies, so when I thought of making these cute reindeer cookies I knew cake mix cookies would be the perfect base. I then topped the cookies with a store bought chocolate frosting to keep that step simple as well. They’re then topped with a mini vanilla wafer cookie, m&m, candy eyes and mini pretzels for the antlers.
These would be great for a Christmas party! And they’re simple enough to decorate I bet your kids would love to help!
I used a mix of red and brown m&ms for the noses. Because there are of course regular reindeer and special reindeer like Rudolph. (Funnily enough I ran out of red and brown m&ms – you never know how many will be in a package! But luckily remembered I had some special m&ms that Nate brought home from Australia – banana m&ms and apple toffee m&ms – both delicious!)
And you can make them with full pretzel antlers or partially broken pretzel antlers. I did a mix of both. But either way, adorable!
Ingredients Needed:
- chocolate cake mix – any chocolate cake mix will work, you’ll use the dry cake mix with the ingredients called for
- eggs – to hold the cookie dough together
- vegetable oil – to give the cookie dough moisture
- chocolate frosting – use a store bought frosting to make this extra easy, or your favorite homemade chocolate buttercream frosting
- mini Nilla Wafers – for the reindeer’s cute nose
-
red m&m and brown m&ms – for the reindeer’s noses
- candy eyes – for the reindeer eyes
- mini pretzels – for the reindeer antlers
How to make Easy reindeer cookies?
- Combine the cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl and stir them together to make a thick cookie batter.
- Scoop balls of cookie dough, and roll them into smooth balls. Place them a couple inches apart onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies up until the tops start to crinkle. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Spread frosting on top of one cookie at a time, and while the frosting is still wet place one Nilla Wafer on top of the cookie, then two candy eyes above the small cookie. Two pretzels above the eyes. Add a little chocolate frosting to one m&m and add it to each Nilla wafer for the nose.
- Let the frosting set, and then the cookies are ready to enjoy.
Tips and Tricks:
- Use any favorite cookie recipe for the cookie base. You could use your favorite chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies, or sugar cookies.
- Instead of m&ms use cinnamon red hots, sixlets, or other small red or brown candies for the reindeer face.
- Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing the cookies with the pretzels, candy eyes, and noses on top.
These adorable reindeer cookies are so much fun for the whole family. They’re not only adorable, but also a delicious cookie, that is loved by all!
They’re a fun idea for a cookie swap, cookie trays for neighbors or at a holiday party, or baking up a batch for Christmas eve! They’re a cute idea for little hands to help you decorate them, gobbling up a few, and I just know Santa will love these fun Reindeer cookies.
More Christmas Cookie recipes:
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Reindeer Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 can chocolate frosting (1-2 cups of homemade chocolate frosting)
- 24-28 mini Nilla Wafers
- 24-28 red and brown m&ms
- 1 package candy eyes
- 48-56 mini pretzels
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl combine your cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil and stir together to make a thick cookie batter.
- Scoop 1 1/2 - 2 TBS of dough and roll into a ball. Repeat with additional dough.
- Place 12 cookies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
- Bake cookies for about 8 minutes until the tops start to get crinkly.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet.
- Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
- Spread frosting over the top of a cookie.
- Place one nilla wafer onto the bottom half of cookie.
- Place two candy eyes above the nilla wafer.
- Place two pretzels above the eyes like antlers.
- Attach one m&m to each Nilla wafer using frosting.
- Allow frosting to set and serve!
Video
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GET SET TO MAKE THIS AMAZING MEXICAN PASTA DISH WITH THESE GREAT KITCHEN TOOLS and INGREDIENTS:
Carole Bailey says
I have made cupcakes and decorated them like reindeer with larger pretzels as antlers
Aimee says
So cute!! I love it
Ashley says
These cookies were easy to make and turned out adorable…oh and they taste great too! I’ve never made cake mix cookies before and I almost made my chocolate sugar cookie instead, but I’m glad I gave these a try. They are so soft and delicious and super easy to whip up. I only got 21 cookies using a 2 T. cookie scoop to form my cookies, but no worries. I did, however, opt for a homemade chocolate buttercream instead of jarred frosting. They turned out super cute and got so many compliments from friends. I will definitely be adding these to my ever growing roster of Christmas cookies.
robin says
Such a cute design and an easy recipe. One of the few times I’ve seen something cute online and it came out perfectly! I followed the directions exactly except- I made homemade chocolate buttercream for the icing. Still surprisingly easy even though they look hard to make. Got so many compliments. Thank you for sharing!
Aimee says
Yay Im so glad you liked them 🙂
Brenda Jones says
This looks like a fun cookie to make for my church cookie exchange on Saturday.
Where do you buy the candy eyes for the reindeer cookies?
Aimee says
They can be found at most grocery stores near the sprinkles! Ive seen them at Target, Walmart, and Kroger stores!
Pattihabby says
These are SOOO Adorable ! I’ve looked at a lot of Reindeer Cookie Recipes, and yours won my heart !
Great for the Grandchildren’s Cookies for Santa !
Aimee says
Aww thank you so much! Hope your grandchildren love them!
HappyMom says
Thank you so much for the recipe. I am so making these for my daughter’s Pre-K ChrIstmas party tomorrow. I will be in charge of treats and these are cutest ever. SO EXCITED! Hope it will turn out well. My daughter will be helping out so this is a fun bonding for us. Thank you again and have a happy holidays.
Aimee Berrett says
Hope the kids all liked them and your daughter enjoyed decorating them with you. So fun!
Amanda Bergsten says
Ours came out very cute we used some quick chocolate and covered the pretzels in it as well, this recipe says it’s serves 24-28 though and we were only able to make 16.
Aimee Berrett says
So glad you liked the cookies! Sorry you didn’t get as many though, I’ve made cake mix cookies over a dozen times and I always get at least 24 cookies from the batch, maybe yoursome were bigger than mine.
Ganesh 108 names says
I’m definitely making this!!!
Shannon Erickson says
Thank you for sharing this adorable recipe. I will be making these for the grandchildren this weekend. I love your site.