Frosted Holiday Reindeer Cookies

Pillsbury shared with me some of their tried and true hero holiday cookie recipes and asked me to try one of them out. Their Frosted Reindeer Cookies looked delicious and I knew my boys would love to help me decorate them. But I also couldn’t help but put my own spin on them and make them look like our favorite reindeer of the holiday season.

I decided to feature chocolate in our recipe, including chocolate dipped pretzels for the antlers and chocolate frosting to resemble brown fur. Of course I couldn’t resist giving them a red nose! Instead of gumdrops, I opted for one of our very favorite cinnamon flavored candies. The nose stood out and created more of a 3D effect. My kids loved them and they tasted great!

Ingredients
Total Time: 40 min total time: 55 min ingredients : 6 servings: 28-32

1 roll Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk chocolate ready-to-spread frosting (from 1-lb container)
64 small regular or chocolate covered pretzel twists
64 semisweet chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup)
16 Hot Tamale cinnamon candies, cut in half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Knead in flour until well blended.

Roll into log. Create a triangle shape by pressing dough in on both sides at an angle so it resembles a tent.

Gently mark 28-32 indentations in the top of the log with a knife for a guide.

Slice with thin sharp knife or sharp metal spatula. (If too soft to cut into slices, refrigerate up to 30 minutes.) Cut dough roughly into 28 to 32 (1/4-inch) triangular slices.

On parchment or silicone lined cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart. (Can also use ungreased cookie sheet.) Reshape into triangle if necessary after slicing.

Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until fully set. Cool 1-2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Decorating:

Frost cookies with chocolate frosting. Place 2 pretzel twists on each triangle near corners for antlers. Lightly press 2 chocolate chips into each cookie for eyes and 1 halved cinnamon candy for Rudolph’s red nose. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.

Cinnamon candy drops or red gum drops cut in half can also be used in place of Hot Tamale candies.

Tips:

It is more important to create even sized cookies than it is to create exactly 32 cookies. How many you can make will depend on the length of your triangle-shaped log.
To create a nice cookie bottom, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

 

Be sure to check out all the Pillsbury holiday recipes featured on Serious Eats!

 

Disclosure: I have been compensated for my time to create this recipe however all thoughts remain my own.