Sweet and salty reign with these fun and easy reindeer wagon wheel cookies. They make for the perfect treat to get kids excited for the holidays and satisfy your sweet tooth.
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Why You’ll Love These Wagon Wheel Reindeer Cookies
These cookies are sure to be a hit because they make for a fun treat you can hand out at parties and gatherings, and they’re a fun addition to your holiday cookie exchange if you are not the baking type. The added bonus is that they can even be turned into a fun and simple activity to keep the kids busy over the holidays.

Groceries Needed
- Chocolate Marshmallow Wagon Wheels – I have seen some store-brand wagon wheel cookies around. If these are what you can find, go for it. As long as they are round, have marshmallows in the center, and are covered in chocolate, they’ll be perfect.
- Chocolate chips, for melting
- Pretzel twists – to make those adorable antlers!
- M&M Candies – you’ll want to use the red and brown ones.
- Candy eyes – I like these candy eyes for this project, but use what you have on hand.


How to make these adorable reindeer cookies
- Unwrap your wagon wheels and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips for 10 to 15 second intervals, stirring between, until completely melted.

- Use the chocolate to “glue” the reindeer features into place on the wagon wheel cookie to hold everything together in a few simple steps.
- Place a dab of chocolate towards the bottom for the nose, and two small dabs for the eyes.

- Place two large dots of chocolate at the top to affix the pretzels around the top of the cookie, forming antlers. This can be done quickly with a helper or two.


- Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden before serving.
A Salty Cooking Tip: Using little spoons or plastic sticks make the best applicators for the chocolate “glue”.

How to make this reindeer cookie recipe your own
While we went with classic Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer for these easy Christmas cookies, you can make them unique very easily by swapping out the candy you use to make the nose, swapping the pretzels for white or peppermint chocolate-covered ones, or adding other fun candy accents.
You can use other cookies to make these as well. From homemade chocolate chip cookies to Oreos, nearly any cookie can be decorated in this way to make fun reindeer cookies everyone will fall in love with.
Getting the little ones to help
Swap out the melted chocolate for a bit of chocolate frosting to make it easier for kids to use it as glue to hold their cookies together.
You can set this up ahead of time as a fun activity by gathering everything needed into small bowls so the kids can add as many eyes or noses as they see fit! Alternatively, you can make individual cookie kits by placing everything they need onto sheets of parchment paper, including dabs of chocolate frosting.
To make this even more exciting for the kids and leave some variety you can set up an additional project to make these Rudolph candies for the kids as well.

Storing your super cute wagon wheel cookies
These cookies make a great option for serving at holiday parties or making part of your Christmas cookie exchange.
To make these ahead of time and store them, simply place them in an air-tight storage container with layers of parchment or wax paper between the layers of cookies to protect them from sticking together. They’ll last on the counter for 2-3 days, but I prefer to store them in the fridge until I’m ready to serve.
If you want to freeze them, store them in a freezer-friendly container for up to a month and thaw them either overnight in the fridge or on the counter with the lid off, approximately 5-6 hours before you’re ready to serve.
Questions you might have about these Wagon Wheel Treats
Yes, they are very similar. Made by different companies they are practically identical and can be substituted to make these reindeer cookies.
Absolutely! The infamous Paul Hollywood from The Great British Bakeoff has a complete recipe on how to make them yourself.

Reindeer Wagon Wheel Cookies
These reindeer Wagon Wheel Cookies are not only delicious, but they also make a super fun activity for the little ones for the festive season.
Ingredients
- 9 Chocolate Marshmallow Wagon Wheels, unwrapped
- ¼ cup chocolate chips, for melting
- 18 pretzel twists
- 9 Red and brown M&Ms
- 18 Candy eyes
Instructions
- Remove all the plastic coverings on the wagon wheel cookies and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips at 15-second intervals, stirring between, until completely
melted and smooth. - Use the chocolate as the glue to affix the eyes, nose, and antlers onto the wagon wheel to form the reindeer face.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden before serving.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Be sure the reindeer cookies' eyes and antlers are completely dry and attached to the wagon wheel before storing them away. Separating each cookie with parchment paper is a good idea and be sure they lay flat so as not to bump each other and break the antlers or the cookies.
If you can't get your hands on candy eyes, using a little melted white chocolate will work. Dab two spots of chocolate for the white of the eyes, and then a tiny dab of dark chocolate for the iris part will work.
This recipe is easily adjusted to make more or less wagon wheel cookies by increasing or decreasing the number of candy eyes, pretzel antlers, and MnM's.
To give them as cute edible gifts, when the cookies are completely dry and set, place each one in a cellophane bag and use a pretty ribbon to close it. Add a tag and they're ready for giving!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 337Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 717mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 2gSugar: 19gProtein: 6g
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
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