Description
These Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies are a festive and fun holiday treat featuring soft peanut butter cookies decorated with pretzel antlers, mini peanut butter cups, and colorful candy faces. Perfect for holiday parties or gifting, these adorable cookies combine simple ingredients into a joyful seasonal dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter (not all natural)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
Decorations
- 1 cup pretzels, broken in half
- 24 mini peanut butter cups
- 24 M&M’s or other round colored candy for noses
- 48 candy eyes or 48 mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Set your oven to 325°F (163°C) and grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin or a 12-cup regular sized muffin tin. Using the mini muffin tin is recommended for better-sized cookies.
- Mix Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and egg thoroughly until the dough is smooth and evenly mixed.
- Scoop Dough: Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, portion the dough into the prepared muffin cups. Gently press the dough down with the back of the scooper, spoon, or your hands to spread it evenly within each cup.
- Bake Cookies: Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden brown.
- Add Peanut Butter Cup: As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, carefully press one mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. The residual heat will slightly melt the chocolate to help it adhere.
- Decorate with Antlers: Break pretzels in half to form the reindeer antlers. Gently position two pretzel halves on each peanut butter cup to resemble antlers.
- Add Eyes and Nose: Place one M&M on each cookie to create the nose, and add two candy eyes or mini chocolate chips above for the eyes.
- Cool and Serve: Let the cookies cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then carefully remove them and transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, enjoy these festive reindeer cookies!
Notes
- You can use either a mini muffin tin to make 24 smaller cookies or a regular sized muffin tin for 12 larger cookies. Adjust decoration quantities accordingly.
- If using the regular sized muffin tin, reduce the decorations to 12 mini peanut butter cups, 12 M&M’s, and 24 candy eyes or mini chocolate chips.
- The residual heat from the freshly baked cookies is key to slightly melting the chocolate on the peanut butter cups, which helps the pretzels stick as antlers.
- Use smooth peanut butter for the best texture and ease of mixing the dough.
- For a festive twist, choose holiday-colored M&M’s or candies for noses.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 140 kcal
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 100 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
