These chewy gingerbread reindeer cookies are just as yummy as they are cute! They are very easy to make and require minimal preparation. These are a hit with my family EVERY year- I hope you guys love this recipe!
Key Ingredients for chewy gingerbread reindeer cookies
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Ginger, ground
- Cinnamon, ground
- Cloves, ground
- Nutmeg, ground
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Molasses
- Egg + egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Granulated sugar, for rolling
- Pretzels + M&Ms + candy eyes, for decorating (optional)
Method for chewy gingerbread reindeer cookies
Making the dough
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until lighter in color and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
Add the molasses and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until combined.
With the mixture on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients and continue to mix until a dough forms. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
Baking
Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Pour granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop the dough, roll them into balls and toss them in the sugar. Place them 3-4 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes if making smaller cookies and 12-14 minutes if making larger cookies. The edges will be set and the cookies will be slightly browned.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for two minutes then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.
Decorating
Once the cookies are on the baking sheet to cool, we decorate! You can totally skip this step, but I just think they are super cute with the decorations.
Place two candy eyes in the center of the cookie, and one red M&M slightly lower for the nose.
Break a pretzel twist in half and stick those in the top edges of the cookies - these are the antlers!
Enjoy 🙂
Chewy Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies
Equipment
- Stand/handheld mixer
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 grams) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (73 mL) molasses
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar for rolling, optional
- 10-15 pretzel twists broken in half, optional
- 10-15 M&Ms optional
- 26-30 candy eyes optional
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until lighter in color and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the molasses and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until combined.
- With the mixture on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients and continue to mix until a dough forms. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Pour granulated sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop the dough, roll them into balls and toss them in the sugar. Place them 3-4 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes if making smaller cookies and 12-14 minutes if making larger cookies. The edges will be set and the cookies will be slightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the pan for two minutes then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Once the cookies are on the baking sheet to cool, we decorate! Place two candy eyes in the center of the cookie, and one red M&M slightly lower for the nose. Break a pretzel twist in half and stick those in the top edges of the cookies - these are the antlers!
- Let cool & enjoy!
Tried this recipe? Make sure to rate and review and tag @sturbridgebakery on Instagram!
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