Description
These Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies are a festive and fun holiday treat perfect for celebrating the season. Soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are shaped into reindeer faces, decorated with pretzel antlers, red M&M noses, and candy eyes, making them irresistible for kids and adults alike. This recipe yields 36 charming cookies that are perfect for holiday parties or gifting.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
Decorations
- 72 small pretzel twists
- 36 red M&Ms
- 72 candy eyes
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it is hot and ready for baking your cookies.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy, ensuring even texture in your dough.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Stir in the flour and baking soda gradually until all ingredients are fully combined into a cohesive dough.
- Divide Dough: Separate the dough into 36 equal pieces to prepare individual cookies.
- Shape Cookies: Roll each piece into a ball, then slightly flatten and shape each into a rounded triangle shape to mimic a reindeer’s face.
- Arrange on Baking Sheet: Place the shaped cookies onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them evenly.
- Add Pretzel Antlers: Press two mini pretzel twists into the two top corners of each cookie triangle to create antlers.
- Add Nose: Press one red M&M onto each cookie to represent the reindeer’s nose.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
- Cool Cookies: Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them onto cooling racks to cool completely.
- Attach Candy Eyes: Once cooled, dip the bottom of each candy eye into a small amount of peanut butter and place them on the center face of each cookie to form the eyes.
- Serve: Your Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies are now ready to enjoy or gift!
Notes
- Use softened butter to ensure easy mixing and a smooth dough texture.
- Shape the cookies carefully to achieve the reindeer triangle face – not too thick so they bake evenly.
- Cooling completely before adding candy eyes helps them adhere better with the peanut butter.
- If you want a stronger peanut flavor, use natural peanut butter without added sugar.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
