Reindeer Gingerbread Cookies from Gingerbread Men

These reindeer gingerbread cookies are super simple to make with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. They’re irresistibly cute!

Post Updated December 4, 2018.

SUPPLIES AND INGREDIENTS FOR REINDEER GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Here’s the items we recommend for making your own reindeer gingerbread cookies. By clicking one of these links, we get a small commission on anything you buy from Amazon, without it costing you any extra. Thanks for supporting our family business!

SICK KIDS FOR CHRISTMAS

Tear your eyes away from the adorable reindeer gingerbread cookies for a moment, and check out the deep dark circles under Larkin’s eyes. We all have matching under-eye circles right now, because the kids have been sick for six days and none of us have slept through the night in over a week.

The poor kids have been absolutely miserable, and are going stir crazy with no day care, church, or grandma time. So it was easy to say yes when Corban requested to make a video of him teaching Larkin to make reindeer gingerbread cookies.

Of course, the last time he helped me make them, he was her age, so there was quite a bit of coaching from mama.

No surprise they wanted to help with the food photography as well, so I got a lot of photos like these!

HOW TO MAKE REINDEER GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Part of what makes these cookies so much fun, is that they start out as gingerbread men. But when you turn them upside down, you can decorate them as reindeer!

We really love the Wilton comfort grip cookie cutters, because they don’t hurt your hands at all when you are cutting out the cookies.

Of course, I have a million and one cookie cutters and couldn’t find it in my cookie cutter cupboard (yes, I actually have a whole cupboard of them!), so I had to go with a different cutter.

But if you only own one gingerbread man cookie cutter in your life, seriously, make it this one.

Now making the gingerbread cookies is super simple. Just follow the recipe and make sure to cool them before decorating.

As for the icing, use pasteurized egg whites either from pasteurized whole eggs, or egg whites in a carton.

You can use squeeze bottles for super easy application, or a plastic bag with the corner snipped off for super easy clean-up.

To make the reindeer eyes, make sure to snip the tips off of your chocolate chips before you stick them in. If you leave them whole, they tip over.

And for the red Rudolph nose, we just buy a giant bag of m&ms and sort through them. If you’d rather just get red, stop by a party store. They usually have m&ms bagged by color that you can buy.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful (and healthy!) Christmas. As always, we’d love to see your kitchen creations, so make sure to take a picture of your reindeer gingerbread cookies and share it with us. You can send it to us on Facebook, or post it on Instagram and tag @EatingRichly. Merry Christmas!

PIN TO SAVE REINDEER GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Make sure you save these cookies for later. Save the pin, and then leave a photo in the comments of the pin when you make your own!

MORE CUTE CHRISTMAS BAKING

PRINTABLE REINDEER GINGERBREAD COOKIES RECIPE

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Yield: 18 cookies

Reindeer Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

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These reindeer gingerbread cookies are super simple to make with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. They’re irresistibly cute!

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup molasses

Icing

• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar

Decorating Supplies

• Gingerbread man cookie cutter, I used the Wilton Comfort Grip Gingerbread Boy Cutter
• Squeeze bottle
• 36 chocolate chips
• 18 M red &M'S

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, use a fork to whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda.
2. In a large bowl (I used my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer), beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy.
3. On low speed, mix the egg and molasses into the butter and sugar.
4. Still on low speed, add the dry ingredients (about 1/2 cup at a time to prevent a mess!), and mix well.
5. Divide the dough into 2 balls, and dust them with flour. Wrap 1 ball in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it.
6. Place the other ball on a sheet of parchment paper dusted with flour.
7. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top, and roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick.
8. Place the rolled sheet of dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
10. Remove the sheet of dough from the freezer, and use your cookie cutter to cut out 9 gingerbread men. You will have to re-roll your scraps to get all 9, but should not need to freeze the dough again.
11. Place the gingerbread men on a Silpat-lined baking sheet (or parchment), and bake for about 10 minutes. You want the cookies to be firm with the edges just starting to darken.
12. Transfer the cookies to a wire baking rack to cool completely, and repeat the rolling, cutting and cooking with the second ball of dough.
13. For the icing, whisk the egg whites until frothy (I used my stand mixer again. with the whisk attachment).
14. Mix in the vanilla, then add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time while mixing on low speed.
15. Turn the speed up to high, and whisk for 6 to 8 minutes, until stiff, glossy peaks form.
16. Scoop the icing into a squeeze bottle, or a plastic bag with the end snipped off.
17. Pipe antlers, eyebrows, ears and a mouth onto each cooled cookie.
18. Using a pair of scissors or a paring knife, snip the points off each chocolate chip.
19. One at a time, pipe 2 ovals for eyes onto each cookie. Place a chocolate chip upside down into each oval.
20. Working with 4 cookies at a time, place a dot of icing above the mouth, and stick on a red m&m.
21. Make sure you let the icing harden completely before stacking the cookies.