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I love baking cookies for the holidays, don’t you? My sweet gingerbread Reindeer Cookies are cute Christmas cookies everyone will get a kick out of. The best part about these iced gingerbread cookies is the kids can help decorate them!
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Best Gingerbread Cookies
One of my favorite holiday pastimes is making cookies for the holidays! There are so many ideas for unique Christmas cookies you can make, and one of my favorites is this recipe for cute Rudolph reindeer cookies.
Not only is this gingerbread cookie recipe completely adorable, it is so easy to decorate. You don’t need a ton of artistic skill to make these cookies super cute. This makes them a perfect choice for decorating cookies with kids!
I make my reindeer cookies using simple boxed gingerbread cookie mix and royal icing. If you like, you can also use sugar cookies or shortbread cookies; even if they won’t be the same color as gingerbread, they will be cute and delicious!
Tools for Decorating Iced Gingerbread Cookies
- Disposable piping bags or Regular piping bags and tip #2
- Couplers (if using regular piping bags)
- Black Royal Icing
- Brown Royal Icing
- Red Royal Icing
- White Royal Icing
- Wet paper towels
- Gingerbread man cookie cutter
A great help for decorating cookies for the holidays is having a cookie decorating tool kit on hand. Try this Cookie Decorating Tool Kit (affiliate).
How to Decorate Gingerbread Cookies
- Bake gingerbread cookies according to directions using boxed cookie mix or homemade gingerbread dough. Allow them to cool before decorating. While the cookies are cooling, you can set up your piping bags with royal icing to have everything ready for decorating.
- Once cooled, begin by turning the gingerbread cookie upside-down so the gingerbread man’s head is turned towards you. Start by piping a fluffy and thick white circle near one of the arms to create the first eye. Set aside and let it dry for 15 to 20 minutes before icing the other eye.
- Once the first eye is dry, pipe the second eye the same way. Making sure not to touch the eyes, you can also pipe on the large red nose with a drop of white for a shine (optional). Allow it to dry for another 15 to 20 minutes. Piping them separately this way will ensure you have two defined eyes on your reindeer cookies.
- On the arms, fill in brown sections for the ears. Let them dry for 15 to 20 minutes before piping in the pink centers. In the meantime, draw on the antlers from the tops of the eyes to the tops of the cookie. Add black dots to the centers of the eyes.
- Let the cookies dry completely before serving; for best results, 6-8 hours. This can be done at room temperature. Enjoy!
FAQs
Though this recipe for reindeer cookies uses gingerbread cookie mix, you can decorate sugar cookies or shortbread cookies exactly the same way if you prefer. As long as the cookie can be cut into a gingerbread man, it can be used for this recipe!
Iced gingerbread cookies will last about 1 weeks when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Gingerbread cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze baked gingerbread cookies, allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet. Do not decorate them. Place in freezer. Once completely frozen, store in an airtight freezer-safe container with layers of cookies separated by parchment or wax paper. To thaw, take them out of the container and bring them to room temperature.
How to Store Gingerbread Cookies
Store gingerbread cookies in a covered cookie jar or tin, a zip-lock plastic bag with the air pushed out, or wrap them in plastic or foil and store in a cool, dry place. Because they last a while and are just so cute, gingerbread reindeer cookies make amazing holiday food gifts!
Tips for Making the Best Gingerbread Cookies
- If you’re making a lot of cookies and decorating with kids, you can make royal icing transfers by piping the icing decorations first onto parchment paper and letting them dry. Dry them the day before, then transfer onto the cookies by using dots of icing to “glue” them in place.
- Royal icing takes time to dry. If it’s humid or raining when you make the cookies, you will need to give them extra time to dry – up to 12 hours.
Best Cookie Recipes
- Copycat Crumbl Cookies
- Levain Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Orange Cardamom Cookies
Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment and a rating below to let us know what you think! We love to hear from you!
📋 Recipe
Rudolph Reindeer Cookies (Iced Gingerbread Cookies)
Equipment
- Disposable piping bags or regular piping bags with #2 tip and couplers
- Gingerbread man cookie cutter
- Wet paper towels
Ingredients
- 12 Gingerbread Cookies cut into gingerbread men, baked and cooled
- ¼ cup brown royal icing
- ½ cup white royal icing
- ¼ cup black royal icing
- ¼ cup red royal icing
- 3 Tablespoons pink royal icing
Instructions
- Bake gingerbread cookies according to directions using boxed cookie mix or homemade gingerbread dough. Allow them to cool before decorating. While the cookies are cooling, you can set up your piping bags with royal icing to have everything ready for decorating.
- Once cooled, begin by turning the gingerbread cookie upside-down so the gingerbread man’s head is turned towards you. Start by piping a fluffy and thick white circle near one of the arms to create the first eye. Set aside and let it dry for 15 to 20 minutes before icing the other eye.
- Once the first eye is dry, pipe the second eye the same way. Making sure not to touch the eyes, you can also pipe on the large red nose with a drop of white for a shine (optional). Allow it to dry for another 15 to 20 minutes. Piping them separately this way will ensure you have two defined eyes on your reindeer cookies.
- On the arms, fill in brown sections for the ears. Let them dry for 15 to 20 minutes before piping in the pink centers. In the meantime, draw on the antlers from the tops of the eyes to the tops of the cookie. Add black dots to the centers of the eyes.
- Let the cookies dry completely before serving; for best results, 6-8 hours. This can be done at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you’re making a lot of cookies and decorating with kids, you can make royal icing transfers by piping the icing decorations first onto parchment paper and letting them dry. Dry them the day before, then transfer onto the cookies by using dots of icing to “glue” them in place.
- Royal icing takes time to dry. If it’s humid or raining when you make the cookies, you will need to give them extra time to dry – up to 12 hours.
Let us know what you think or ask a question about the recipe!