Christmas Reindeer Brownies (An Easy & Fun Holiday Treat!)

Are you looking for the ultimate fun, festive, and completely irresistible dessert for your next Christmas party or holiday gathering? A cute and creative edible craft that is perfect to make with your kids? These incredible, from-scratch Christmas Reindeer Brownies are that perfect recipe! We’re talking a rich, dense, and fudgy brownie, cleverly cut into a reindeer head shape, and decorated with adorable candy cane antlers, a bright red nose, and the cutest little googly eyes.

This isn’t just another brownie recipe; it’s a guide to your new favorite holiday tradition. We’ll show you the simple but brilliant secrets to a flawless, from-scratch fudgy brownie and the easy, fun techniques for creating these adorable, edible reindeer. This is a guaranteed, crowd-pleasing hit that is as fun to decorate as it is to eat!

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Cute & Festive Holiday Treat

What makes these Reindeer Brownies so spectacularly fun is their brilliant, easy-to-achieve design and their classic, crowd-pleasing flavor. This recipe is a masterpiece of festive creativity. The “reindeer head” is a classic, rich, and fudgy chocolate chip brownie, which is baked in a simple round cake pan. The magic happens when the round brownie is cut into wedges, instantly creating a whole herd of perfect, triangular reindeer faces. The brownies are then “frosted” with a genius, easy hack of melting chocolate chips on top right out of the oven. The final, adorable touch is a collection of simple candy decorations: mini candy canes for the “antlers,” a vanilla wafer and an M&M for the “nose,” and marshmallows with chocolate chips for the googly “eyes.”

Metric	Time / Level
Total Time	2 hours 30 minutes (includes cooling)
Active Prep Time	30 minutes
Difficulty Level	Easy
Servings	16 brownie reindeer

Santa’s Bakeshop: The Essential Ingredients

This iconic party treat uses a handful of high-quality pantry staples to create its signature festive look and delicious flavor.

• The Fudgy Brownie “Face”:
  • Melted Butter: The secret to a super-rich, dense, and fudgy (not cakey!) brownie is to use melted butter.
  • Double Chocolate: This recipe uses both unsweetened cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate chips for a deep, rich, and intensely chocolatey flavor.
• The “Melted Chocolate” Frosting: This is a brilliant and easy hack! Instead of making a separate frosting, you simply sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot brownies right out of the oven. They melt into a perfect, glossy, and spreadable frosting layer with zero extra effort.
• The Adorable Decorations:
  • The “Antlers”: Mini candy canes make the perfect, festive, and ready-made reindeer antlers.
  • The “Nose”: A simple, red candy-coated chocolate (like an M&M®) is “glued” onto a mini vanilla wafer with a dab of melted chocolate to create the iconic, bright red nose.
  • The “Eyes” & “Ears”: A mini marshmallow is cut in half and dotted with a mini chocolate chip to create the wide, googly eyes, while a chewy, chocolate candy (like a Tootsie Roll®) is easily shaped into the cute little ears.

The Baker’s Masterclass: The Secret to Perfect Brownie Reindeer

This recipe uses a few simple but brilliant techniques that guarantee a flawless, delicious result.

1. Fudgy, Not Cakey: The secret to a perfectly dense and fudgy brownie is the high ratio of fat (from the melted butter and the eggs) to flour. This is the key that creates that signature, rich and chewy texture that is perfect for a sturdy, cut-out treat.
2. The Round Pan Hack: The number one, non-negotiable secret to the perfect reindeer head shape is to bake your brownies in two, 8-inch round cake pans. Once they have cooled, you can simply cut each round brownie into 8 equal wedges, just like a pizza, to create 16 perfect, identical triangles.
3. Clean Cuts: For the most beautiful, clean-edged triangles, it is a great idea to chill your cooled brownies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before you cut them. Use a large, sharp chef’s knife and wipe the blade clean between each cut.

Step-by-Step to the Best Christmas Reindeer Brownies

This fun and festive project is a joy to prepare.

Part 1: Bake the Fudgy Brownie Base

Step 1: First, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.

Step 2: In a medium bowl, stir together your 1 cup of melted and cooled butter, the 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar, the 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and the 3 large eggs.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of all-purpose flour, the 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, the 1 teaspoon of salt, and the 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix! Stir in 1 cup of the semisweet chocolate chips.

Step 5: Divide the batter between your two prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean.

Step 6 (The Easy Frosting Hack!): As soon as the brownies come out of the oven, sprinkle the top of each round evenly with the remaining chocolate chips. Let them stand for about 5 minutes until the chips have melted, and then use a spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the top. Let the brownies cool completely in their pans on a cooling rack.

Part 2: Craft Your Reindeer Decorations

Step 1: To make the ears, cut your 16 candy chews in half lengthwise and shape each half into a teardrop shape.

Step 2: To make the noses, use a dab of melted chocolate to “glue” one red candy-coated chocolate onto each of your 16 vanilla wafers.

Step 3: To make the eyes, cut each of your 16 mini marshmallows in half crosswise. Insert one mini chocolate chip, pointed-side down, into the flat, cut side of each marshmallow piece.

Part 3: Assemble Your Adorable Reindeer Herd

Step 1: Cut each of your cooled, round brownies into 8 equal triangles.

Step 2 (The Fun Part!): To make the antlers, use the tip of a paring knife to poke two small holes in the top, wide side of each brownie triangle and gently insert a mini candy cane into each hole.

Step 3: For the ears, gently press one of your candy chew “ears” onto each corner, just below the antlers.

Step 4: Press two of your mini marshmallow “eyes” next to each other in the center of each brownie.

Step 5: Finally, gently press one of your cookie “noses” onto the sharpest point of each brownie triangle.

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Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

These Christmas Reindeer Brownies are the ultimate make-ahead party treat!

• Make-Ahead: You can bake the un-decorated brownie bases up to 3 days in advance and store them, well-wrapped, at room temperature.
• Storage: Store the finished, decorated brownies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)