Cake Mix Reindeer Cookies

These adorable reindeer cookies can be made in just minutes with the use of chocolate cake mix and a few items to make reindeer faces and antlers! Kids will love helping decorate the little reindeer faces and everyone – kids and adults alike – will love eating these tasty reindeer cookies!

This year my family did a big reindeer games Christmas party where we played all sorts of games inspired by Santa’s reindeer – all of them, not just Rudolph.

And of course, I had to make reindeer treats to go with the games! I made my popular reindeer chow, some reindeer cupcakes (made with Nutter Butter cookies), and these reindeer cookies. Well, I sort of made them – my boys helped me with the decorating!

The cookie dough for these Rudolph cookies is made with a chocolate cake mix that gets doctored up with a few ingredients to create a cookie the whole family will love – I know mine did!

And then the cookies are decorated with pretzel reindeer antlers (like I did with my reindeer cake and reindeer balls), Vanilla wafers, and a red M&M for the nose!

1. Chocolate cake mix – any brand of chocolate cake mix will work, just as long as it is chocolate.
2. Vanilla Wafers – using off-brand cookies are just as good and might save you a few dollars! You could even use the mini Nutter Butters if you want to do peanut butter cookies with your chocolate cookies instead!
3. M&Ms – chocolate chips, Sixlets, or Red Hots can be used instead. You just need some sort of red candy!
4. Butter – an equal amount of vegetable oil (so 1/3 cup vegetable oil instead of the 1/3 cup butter) will work too if you don’t have butter, but I personally prefer the consistency you get with butter instead! Also, make sure you’re using unsalted butter, not salted.
5. Eggs – ideally, you should use room temperature eggs for this recipe.

Making cake cookies is super simple and quick, leaving plenty of time to enjoy making the faces of your reindeer. Here’s everything you need to know to make these foolproof holiday cookies.

1 – Make The Cookies

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees then line two separate baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, add in chocolate cake mix, melted butter, and the two room temperature eggs. Mix all the ingredients together on low speed until they are fully combined. The cookie dough will be thick.

3. Make 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of dough using either a cookie scoop or a spoon and eyeball the amount. Place the balls of dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets, giving them at least an inch on all sides to allow them to expand as they bake.

4. Place the cookies into the preheated oven and bake for 10- 12 minutes. The tops of the cookies should be set.
5. Once the cookies are done baking, let them cool on the baking sheet for about five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely.

2 – Decorate the reindeer cookies

1. Once the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl for 30-second increments, stirring between each one until the chocolate is fully melted and smooth.
2. Working in batches so the chocolate doesn’t harden, add about 1/2 of a tablespoon of the melted chocolate onto the cooled cookies. Spread it evenly on the top of the cookie then after you’ve done just a few, move onto the decorating before the chocolate sets.

3. Then add the toppings onto the wet chocolate – pretzels for the antlers, a Nilla Wafer for the nose, and little eyeballs under the pretzels.

4. Finish them off by adding a little dot of chocolate onto the Nilla wafer and place a red or brown m&m on top of the dot. Continue making the faces until you have finished the batch.

3 – Set and serve

Once you’re done decorating your reindeer cookies, all that’s left to do is let them sit for a few minutes so the chocolate can completely set!

After the chocolate is set, you can eat these immediately or save them to enjoy later! I know my boys couldn’t wait to eat them as soon as they were done (my youngest, anyway).

Recipe FAQs

If you like cute Christmas treats like these reindeer cake mix cookies, try one of these next!

• Oreo Christmas balls – these adorable Oreo balls are decorated to look just like Christmas presents!
• Meringue trees – Christmas meringues get a fun twist when they’re piped into tree shape!
• Christmas Oreos – Oreos dipped in chocolate then decorated like ornaments, Santa, and more!
• Hot chocolate cookie cups – sugar cookie cups topped with a peanut butter cup and candy canes!
• Candy cane cookies – sugar cookie dough gets twisted and colored to look just like a candy cane!