Make these adorable reindeer cookies using my buttery soft sugar cookie recipe with silky buttercream using a gingerbread cookie cutter. It’s genius.
Recipe makes approximately 2 dozen cookies depending on size of your cookie cutter.
You might also enjoy this poinsettia sugar cookie tutorial.
Or this Christmas tree & snowflake sugar cookie tutorial.
I love repurposing cookie cutters to bring a new cookie design to life. I follow a lot of cookie bakers and cookie artists on social media and they always keep me on my toes and get my mind thinking in a different direction when it comes to cookie cutters.
Not only is it economical to use cookie cutters in more than one way, it also cuts down on storage space issues and that makes me happier than an elf making toys at the North Pole.
While I didn’t come up with using an upside down gingerbread cookie cutter to create a reindeer cookie on my own, I thought it was genius.
Now whenever I look at one of my cookie cutters, I ask myself, what else could I make with this design?
Which is kinda ironic if you think about the words “cookie cutter.” Because it means mass produced with no distinguishing characteristics.
Well these reindeer cookies are anything but cookie cutter. You can give each reindeer their own whimsical facial features. Just as no two snowflakes are the same, well no two reindeer antlers are identical.
How to make reindeer cookies using a gingerbread cookie cutter:
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What You’ll Need For reindeer sugar cookies:
- Gingerbread Cookie Cutter
- Wilton Master Tip Set
- Wilton Gel Icing Color
- Wilton Disposable Piping Bags
- Plastic Wrap
Colors you will need for reindeer cookies:
- Light brown for outlining reindeer and head of reindeer
- Dark brown for antlers, eyes, and ears
- White for eyes and ears
- Red for nose and inside of ears
Piping tips & other supplies needed for reindeer cookies:
- Wilton tip #1 for outlining and antlers
- Wilton tip #3 for filling in color
- Wilton tip #8 for eyes
- Couplers for changing out tips (if you purchase a master set of tips, couplers are included but they can be purchased separately.)
- Plastic wrap to fill with icing and slip inside your master piping bag for easier changing and clean up.
- Several small pieces of plastic wrap to smooth out the buttercream for quicker & easier decorating.
I don’t have a video tutorial for this particular reindeer cookie, but you can watch one of my other sugar cookie decorating tutorials to get a better visual of how I outline, fill in the color, and use plastic wrap to smooth out the buttercream. It’s very helpful so I hope you take the time to watch it.
The sugar cookie recipe and buttercream is posted below in a printable recipe with detailed instructions.
Make, divide and color your buttercream accordingly to the colors you will need taking in to account how much you need to each color.
Place each color on a medium sized piece of plastic wrap and roll the plastic wrap. Twist both ends but cut the tip off of one end and place it in your master piping bag with the appropriate tip and coupler.
Place your reindeer sugar cookie in front of you with what would be the gingerbread legs facing up and what would be the face should be facing downward.
Outline the lower two thirds of the cookie with light brown and tip #1. So face, and ears will be outlined.
Change out tip of light brown and replace with tip #3 and fill in face and nose area with light brown.
Using tip #3 fill in ears with dark brown.
Take a small piece of plastic wrap and smooth out the face and ears.
Using white buttercream with tip #8. Pipe two large ovals for the whites of the eyes. Also pipe a somewhat curved white line in the middle of the ears. Smooth out the white buttercream with plastic wrap.
Using dark brown buttercream with tip #8 pipe smaller dots on top of the white eyes and smooth out with plastic wrap.
Using red and tip #8 pipe a large round or oval nose. Move over to ears and add another curved line with the red buttercream on top of the white buttercream. Smooth out the red buttercream with plastic wrap.
Using the dark brown buttercream and tip #1 pipe your antlers in curved and “S” shaped patterns. There is no right or wrong way. Don’t smooth out the antlers with plastic wrap.
The more you decorate, the better you’ll get and you’ll pick up your own pattern and technique.
Whimsical Reindeer Cookies: Using Gingerbread Cookie Cutter
Ingredients
- Sugar Cookies
- 1 stick salted butter slightly cool
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 cups flour.
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 cup slightly cool butter
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Gel or liquid food coloring
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar in stand mixer.
- Add eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated
- Add vanilla & mix.
- Switch over to hook attachment.
- Add 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder and
- 2 cups flour.
- Mix and then gradually add ½ cup flour more.
- Dough should be firm but not too sticky and should come together in a ball
- Wrap in plastic or ziplock bag and refrigerate
- Chill dough overnight or at least one hour.
- When ready to bake cookies preheat oven to 330 degrees
- Lightly flour your work space and roll out dough to desired thickness.
- Cut out cookies with your favorite cookie cutter
- Bake on middle rack at 330 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or until bottoms lightly brown.
- Cool cookies on wire rack.
- Decorate/frost when completely cool.
- Store decorated cookies in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
- Butter Cream Instructions:
- Whip butter in stand mixer with paddle attachment.
- Add 2 cups confectioners sugar
- Vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon whipping cream. Mix until well blended.
- Add remaining 2 cups confectioners sugar and last tablespoon whipping cream. Whip well.
- Divide frosting and add color. If icing thins out add more confectioner’s sugar. I use color gel/paste from Wilton.
I hope you try these reindeer cookies and they become a holiday tradition for years to come. The best part is eating them! They’re so cute and delicious.
Wising you a very Merry Holiday Season and Christmas no matter how you celebrate. Be blessed and well friends.
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