How To Bake Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Peanut butter reindeer cookies are the kind of dessert that look difficult, but are super simple. Check out the ingredients and follow the instructions below.

Ingredients

My favorite peanut butter cookie recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

The most important part of baking reindeer cookies is to be sure you have all of the ingredients. Tonight, we were lacking an electric mixer and flour. Good things for awesome neighbors!

Here’s what you’ll need to get baking:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• Small pretzels
• Candy chocolates (I prefer plain M&Ms.)

Instructions

Step 1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter or margarine and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat till combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla till combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. If necessary, cover and chill dough til easy to handle.

Step 2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, perfectly round, with a 1/4-inch oval-shaped ball placed right on top and extending vertical just below the circle.

Step 3. If baking with children, have them sort the chocolate candies into different bowls while you are placing the dough onto greased cookie sheets. I started doing this years ago as a way to help my kids learn their colors and to sort. Now, it is their favorite part of our tradition.

Step 4. Add pretzels for antlers and colored chocolate candies for eyes and a nose and then bake for 5-7 minutes in the oven. As you can see, our kids love to get creative with eye color!

Step 5. After baking the cookies, place them on holiday plates. We chose a plain red variety.

Step 6. Wrap the plates in clear cellophane, tie a big bow around them, place a sticker with to and from information (if you are leaving on doorsteps),  and let the giving begin!

Fun tip! We let our kids go up to all the doors and take turns handing out the gifts. Then, we talk aboutthe giving spirit and why it is better to give than receive.

What cookie recipes do you love to bake over the holiday season?

My parents were like these organizations. They provided ample ways for our family to help others while at the same time helping us fall in love with the act of giving. So, as the holiday season gets under way, I want to share a few ways you can teach your children to fall in love with the act of giving as well.

Service and giving can have many different recipients: self, family, friends, pets, neighbors, community, the world, etc. Part 1 of my “Teaching Children to Give” series focuses on those right around you—your neighbors.

Neighbors are a vital part of the community in which you live. They often are the people you see at common places in your life—at the grocery store, at church service, at your kids’ school, at volunteer activities, at community events, and more. Showing appreciation for them and teaching your children the importance of valuing them is not only important, but can be fun!

Baking reindeer cookies is a tradition I started with my two boys several years ago. My mother in law shared the recipe with me and helped us bake our first batch. Now, my family bakes these every Thanksgiving holiday weekend and takes them around to our neighbors to kick off the holiday season with a bang!

Check out this Whrrl story for more pictures and detailed steps on how to make them!

If you join or log in to Whrrl, please comment and share your fun holiday giving traditions too!