Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies
Festive and whimsical Rudolph cookies for the holiday season. From a recipe in Ladies Home Journal, December 2007.
Festive and whimsical Rudolph cookies for the holiday season. From a recipe in Ladies Home Journal, December 2007.
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 0.5 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 0.75 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 48 large red m&m candies
- 96 mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 48 pretzels broken into 96 1-inch pieces
- Carbohydrate 11.6154107638889 g
- Cholesterol 10.5313541666667 mg
- Fat 4.60516135416667 g
- Fiber 0.52228384833162 g
- Protein 1.22379885416667 g
- Saturated Fat 2.59855135416667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (20g)
- Sodium 91.8887170138889 mg
- Sugar 11.0931269155573 g
- Trans Fat 0.524993505208335 g
- Calories 92 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375F and place rack in center of the oven. Grease two baking sheets.
- In a large mixer, beat butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium until mixed well and light in texture, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until dough forms. Roll into 1-inch balls and place 1 inch apart on prepared sheets.
- Bake (recommend one sheet at a time) until just set and bottoms are golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. For each cookie, while warm, place 1 M&M in center for nose, 2 miniature chocolate chips for eyes, and broken pretzel for antlers. Transfer cookies to a wire rack or flattened paper bag and let cool completely.
Standard drop cookies rely on chocolate chips or simple sugar doughs, but whimsical novelty treats like peanut butter reindeer cookies incorporate structural garnishes directly into the warm base. Holiday themed baking traditions in mid-century American periodicals frequently transformed basic dough formulas into recognizable figures using pantry items. Ladies Home Journal popularized such whimsical adaptations during the holiday season by turning standard peanut butter rounds into seasonal characters.
Creaming butter, peanut butter, and sugars on medium speed for two full minutes incorporates enough air to lighten the fat structure before the egg goes in. Baking these portions at 375 degrees Fahrenheit on the center oven rack ensures the bottoms turn golden within eight to ten minutes without over-baking the interior. Pressing candies and pretzel pieces into the surface must occur immediately upon removal from the heat while the fat remains pliable enough to anchor them.
Storing these finished pieces requires careful layering inside an airtight container to protect the fragile pretzel antlers from snapping off. Placing parchment paper between stacked layers prevents humidity transfer and keeps the miniature chocolate chips from blooming. Ambient kitchen conditions can soften the crisp edges, so keeping the container sealed tightly maintains the intended structural crunch over several days.
Substitutions alter the final presentation significantly if standard ingredients require swapping. Using standard pretzels instead of broken one-inch pieces unbalances the visual proportions relative to the red candy nose. Adjusting the baking temperature upward causes the peanut butter sugars to scorch prematurely due to the high fat content present in nut pastes.
