Reindeer brownies are the cutest Christmas bake you can make this year. The Rudolph brownies with pretzels for antlers, M&Ms for the red nose and sprinkle eyes are so easy to make and even easier to enjoy. Perfect for the whole family.
I love baking at this time of year and it’s always fun to decorate your treats, especially if you have some little helpers in your kitchen. These reindeer brownies were a huge hit with my friends and family so will definitely be making these again very soon!
Reindeer Brownies – Top Questions
What are the ingredients for brownies?
What is the trick to making brownies moist?
How do you keep brownies soft and chewy?
What makes a fudgy brownie?
What type of chocolate is best for brownies?
What tin do you need for brownies?
Why you’ll love this reindeer brownies recipe
This is a really simple brownie recipe. It’s easy to follow and you can sing Christmas songs while you bake. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer… brownies. That’s how it goes right?
You can decorate these reindeer brownies with pretzels, they create wonderful antlers!
If you’re having a big Christmas party, you can make these reindeer brownies bites to serve, cut them into little squares and they make brilliant brownie bites.
Reindeer Brownies Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
CHOCOLATE
For the rudolph brownies I used a mix of milk and dark chocolate to create some creamy gooey bites and some richer ones. If you only have one or or the other you can use milk or dark chocolate. If you’re feeling really fancy why not add some white chocolate chips too?
PRETZELS
To make your rudolph brownies antlers, use pretzels! I recommend salted pretzels for this simple reindeer brownies recipe. The salt really cuts through the sweetness of the chocolate and creates a beautiful dish.
M&Ms
The red M&Ms make perfect rudolph the red nose reindeer noses! It’s a bit of a pain to pick through the bag and find the red ones but it’s really worth it once you’ve decorated your reindeer brownie bites!
EYE SPRINKLES
No rudolph brownies would be complete without eyes to bring their little faces to life, along with the Rudolph noses and pretzel antlers. The eye sprinkles can be picked up in the baking aisle in any supermarket.
How to make reindeer brownies – step by step
Combine all your wet and dry ingredients together until they’ve come together. Your batter will be thick and gloopy.
Bake your reindeer brownies until a skewer in the edge comes out clean, the middle will likely still be gooey, I like gooey brownies but it’s up to you how you like your brownies.
Once your brownies are cooked, allow them to cool slightly and cut them into reindeer brownie bites.
Now it’s time to decorate! Use your pretzels, sprinkles and red noses to make the little reindeer brownies faces.
Reindeer Brownies Top Tips
If you’re out of M&Ms, any red sweet will work to make a Rudolph nose for your brownies. I’ve used skittles before and they worked well too!
Don’t forget to season your brownies. A pinch of salt and vanilla are key ingredients in your brownies. Scroll down for my simple brownie recipe.
Give your Rudolph the red nose reindeer brownies a personality by organising the decorations in different ways, I like moving the antlers around to give them facial expressions.
Serving Suggestions
I adore warm brownies, as soon as these brownies are cool enough I’ll pop one in my mouth, I call it quality control!
You can serve reindeer brownies, with a dusting of icing sugar or as they are. They make wonderful Christmas gifts and will make perfect party treats.
As these festive brownies are based on my simple brownie recipe they can be easily enjoyed on their own or dressed up.
If you want to make it more of a fancy dessert you can add a scoop of ice cream. Or even add a spoonful of cranberry sauce to add some juicy extra flavour.
As you can make cut the brownies to any size you want, you could have a giant reindeer or even slice them up smaller to make reindeer brownie bites.
Equipment
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- 9 inch x 12 inch cake tin (see notes for other size cake tins and cooking times below)
- Kitchen Scales
- Electric whisk
- Whisk
- Mixing bowl
- Greaseproof paper / baking parchment
Substitutions and variations for reindeer brownies
GLUTEN FREE BROWNIES
Swap your flour for your favourite gluten-free flour and follow the recipe as normal, you often have to reduce the amount of gluten-free flour for brownies so make sure to follow the advice on the packet.
REINDEER BLONDIES
Omit the cocoa powder, add a little more vanilla to your brownie mix, and create blondies. You can decorate your reindeer blondies and they’ll look like snow covered reindeer!
Check out my white chocolate blondies recipe to make them this Christmas.
CHRISTMAS TREE BROWNIES
If you’re having a big Christmas party you can do a mix of reindeer brownies and these wonderful Christmas Tree Brownies. They follow the same recipe as below but you decorate them as cute little Christmas Trees.
Storing reindeer brownies / Making ahead of time options
These reindeer brownies with pretzels will keep in the cupboard or fridge in an airtight container for about 5 days to a week. They may start to get a bit dry but pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and they’ll soften up.
FAQS
What are the ingredients for brownies?
For brownies, you’ll need eggs, flour, butter & sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract. I also suggest adding a pinch of salt to your brownie to cut through the sweetness.
What is the trick to making brownies moist?
Not cooking your brownies too long will help them stay moist brownies and following a tried and tested recipe will also ensure you get the trick to making brownies stay moist.
How do you keep brownies soft and chewy?
Storing your brownies properly will keep them brownies soft and chewy. You should wrap them in tin foil and pop them in an airtight container.
What makes a fudgy brownie?
A high fat-to-flour ratio in your recipe will make sure your brownies are fudgy and delicious. A high quantity of butter mixed with the brown sugar will help make chewy brownies.
What type of chocolate is best for brownies?
You can use any chocolate for brownies but I think milk chocolate is best for brownies as it’s sweet and creamy but you can always use a mixture or your favourite!
What tin do you need for brownies?
Brownies cook best in a deep tin. You’ll need a tin with high sides for brownies as the mixture is quite wet so having a well structured tin will work best for brownies,
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Recipe
Reindeer Brownies
Equipment
- 9 inch x 12 inch cake tin (see notes for other size cake tins and cooking times below)
Ingredients
For the brownies
- 350 g (2 cups) Dark chocolate
- 250 g (1 cups) Unsalted butter
- 250 g (1 ⅐ cups) Light brown sugar
- 3 large (3 large) Eggs
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) Vanilla extract
- 120 g (4 ¼ oz) Plain flour
Optional Extras
- 150 g (5 2/7 oz) nuts, dried fruit or chocolate chips (walnuts or cranberries work really well)
Reindeer Decorations
- Pretzels
- Eye Sprinkles
- Red Chocolate M&Ms
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC Fan/ 180ºC/ 350 / Gas Mark 4 and grease and line your 9 inch by 12 inch tin with baking parchment/ greaseproof paper.
- Melt the 350g chocolate and 250g butter together in a pan on a low heat. Keep string to make sure it doesn't burn. When melted remove from the heat.
- Add the 3 large eggs, 250g light brown soft sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract into a bowl.
- Whisk with a hand mixer for 5 minutes until thicker and paler in colour.
- Add the now slightly cooled chocolate and butter mix to the egg mixture. Keep whisking as you go.
- Sieve in the 120g plain flour and using a hand whisk, whisk until the flour has been mixed in. Don't over-mix.
- Gently mix in the optional nuts or chocolate chips at this point.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes. (see other cake tin-size cooking time in the notes below).
- Let the brownies cool in the tin.
Decorating the Reindeer Brownies
- Remove the brownies from the tin and slice them into rectangles.
- Melt a little of the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave.
- Use the melted chocolate to stick the eyes and red nose on the brownies.
- You can use melted chocolate to stick the pretzels on or you can gently push them into the brownies so they stand up.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days.
Video
Notes
- The brownies will last 2-3 days if you don’t eat them all in a few minutes.
- 9 inch square cake tine will need to bake for 25-30 minutes.
- 8 inch square cake tine will need to bake for 35-40 minutes. As the brownie will be thicker it will need more time than cooking a thinner brownie in the 9inch x 12inch tin.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
I made these with the kids today and they were so easy and fun! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m so glad they were kid friendly. Merry Christmas.
Love this festive-themed brownies. Looks so good. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad, thank you so much.
I love these. They are so adorable, fun and festive!
So cute!
Outstanding recipe thanks so much! tasted so much good!
Thank you Suja, that is really kind.
So cute and so easy to make! The perfect holiday treat for the kids. Thanks for the great idea 🙂
You are most welcome. Merry Christmas.
So incredibly cute and such a simple idea for decorating but it looks really effective. My nephews loved them!
That is so lovely to hear!
I love these so much. My grandchildren were so thrilled to try Reindeer Brownies!
Only problem is, they’re so cute I’m not sure I could eat them!!!
You definitely could!