Fun and easy Chocolate Reindeer Cookies that you can make with your kids! These triple chocolate cake mix cookies are so easy to make and use simple pantry ingredients. You will love the combination of soft and chewy textures, the rich chocolatey cookie, salty pretzels, and the sweetness of the chocolate coating!

Every year I come up with a list of cookies that I want to make with the kids, it’s a family tradition to make at least one fun cookie every week. And these easy reindeer chocolate cookies have been on the list for many years! The kids love making and decorating them, and then the best part is enjoying this treat with a glass of milk.
For more kid-friendly Christmas cookies, check out my Candy Cane Twists, Cake Mix Crinkle Cookies, No-Bake Polar Bear Oreos, and these adorable Melting Snowman Cookies!
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Shortcut Recipe: This cookie recipe uses a box of cake mix to make delicious chocolate cookies!
- Fun to Decorate: Get the kids involved, they will love decorating the cookies and turning them into cute reindeers!
- Cute: These adorable cookies will add color and cheer to your Christmas trays!
Key Ingredients

Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Cake Mix: I’m using a box of Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Fudge mix (Duncan Hines triple chocolate is also great), but you can use any other brand. Do NOT follow the package instructions, I mean, you don’t need to add any milk or oil as indicated on the cake mix box.
- Eggs and Melted Butter or Oil: To make the cookies, you need to combine the cake mix with 2 eggs and some melted butter or vegetable oil. Make sure that the eggs are at room temperature, they incorporate into the cookie dough much better this way.
- Chocolate Melting Wafers: We’re melting the chocolate to coat the cookies and make the base of the reindeer’s faces. I used Ghirardelli chocolate melting wafers.
- Nilla Wafers, M&M’s, Candy Eyes, and Mini Pretzels for the reindeer faces!
How To Make Chocolate Reindeer Cookies

Before you start, preheat the oven to 350℉/180°C, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, and set aside.
- Make Cookie Dough: In a large bowl, combine the cake mix with melted butter and eggs. Mix with a spatula to combine. Then fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Form Cookies: Using a medium cookie scoop (1 ½ tablespoon size), form cookie dough balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until the tops are set. Be careful not to overbake them.
- Cool: Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

- Make the Chocolate Coating: Use a microwave-safe bowl and melt the chocolate melting wafers in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals stirring in between until completely melted. Be careful not to overheat the candy.
- Spread the Chocolate Coating: Spread about half a tablespoon of melted chocolate over each cookie, then decorate (work quickly and in 2 batches as the melting wafers will set quickly and you want the decorations to stick).
- Decorate with 2 pretzels per cookie, 1 nilla wafer, and 2 eyeballs. Then for the nose, dab a little chocolate on top of the nilla wafer, and place a red or brown M&M right on top.
- Allow to Set: Allow the chocolate to set completely before serving, usually takes about 30 minutes.

Recipe Tips
- Use a Cookie Scoop. I love using cookie scoops for all of my drop cookies. A scoop allows you to easily portion out the dough, giving you cookies that are uniformly sized. I used a medium scoop that makes 1.5 tablespoon cookies and I got 24 cookies in total.
- Change up the Design: Candy eyes can be substituted with chocolate chips, if you can’t find nilla wafers you can use vanilla melting wafers instead. And if you don’t have enough mini pretzels, you can cut them in half to make the horns.
- To Store: Keep these cookies in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 5 days. These cookies can be frozen without the glaze for up to 3 months.

More Easy Christmas Cookies To Try
These reindeer cookies are so cute, easy to make, and fun to decorate! I hope that you enjoy them as much as we do! Be sure to Pin this recipe so you always have it handy.
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