Reindeer Track Cookies Food

REINDEER MASK COOKIES

Steps:

• For the dough: Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat together the egg and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Reduce the speed to low again and slowly pour in the egg mixture; beat until combined. Add the flour mixture, in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide into 2 even pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• To roll, cut and bake the cookies: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust another sheet of parchment paper with flour and put 1 piece of the dough on top.
• Dust with more flour and top with another sheet of parchment. Roll the dough out between the parchment sheets into a square about 1/4-inch thick and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
• From 1 piece of rolled dough, cut out 8 cookies with a 2 1/2-inch cutter and 4 cookies with a 2 1/4-inch cutter. Make the masks by placing 2 of the larger cookies on the prepared baking sheet next to each other so they are barely touching. Place one of the wooden sticks in the middle of the cookies. Place one of the smaller cookies on top of the stick to secure the pieces together. Repeat with remaining cookies, placing each mask about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Refrigerate while you cut the remaining cookies. Reroll any scraps of dough and repeat the freezing, cutting and refrigerating process until all the dough is used.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a wire cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, for the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons water and the vanilla and whip with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes (adding up to 1 tablespoon more water if needed). The white will be your muzzle, so it needs to be very stiff so that it holds a textured shape.
• Fit 3 pastry bags with a small tips - 2 with small round tips and 1 with a small closed star tip. Remove 1 cup of frosting and place in the piping bag with a small closed star tip.
• Put 1/4 cup of the remaining frosting into a small bowl. Add 12 drops of the dark brown food coloring and whisk until combined. This will be used to outline the cheeks and to draw the mouth, so it needs to be thick but not as stiff as the white. (The food coloring should be enough added liquid but add a drop of water if it is still too thick.)
• Add 7 to 9 drops of the light brown food coloring to the frosting still in the mixer. Add a few drops of water. Beat until combined and loose, adding more water if necessary. This will be the flood color for the cheeks, so it needs to be loose but not watery.
• Pipe a line of the dark brown icing around the outer edge of each cheek (the large cookies). This will be the rim that contains the light brown flood so make sure there are no gaps or holes. Repeat with remaining cookies. Once you have finished the edges of all the cookies, check to make sure the first cookie is dry. If not, wait 5 to 10 more minutes until the edges are dry. Then flood each of the cheeks with the light brown frosting. Allow the cookies to dry for 10 to 15 minutes before continuing to decorate (depending on how fast you are, this might be as long as it takes you to flood all the cookies). Once the cheeks are dry, fill the center circle with piped white swirls. Place a red gummy candy halve in the middle of each circle just above the center. Lastly, pipe a mouth onto your mask - starting at the candy nose, pipe a small line down that curves out into hooks in opposite directions. Repeat with remaining noses. Let the cookies dry completely before serving and wearing.

CHOCOLATE REINDEER COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Place butter, brown sugar and water in a large saucepan; cook and stir over low heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Stir in eggs and extract. Stir in flour mixture. Let stand until firm enough to shape, about 15 minutes., To freeze dough, shape level tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; flatten each to 1/4-in. thickness. Place in a covered container, separating layers with waxed paper; freeze until firm. (May be frozen up to 3 months.), To bake, preheat oven to 350°. Place frozen dough portions 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake until set, 12-14 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely., Spread cookies with frosting, reserving a small amount for mouths. Decorate faces with candy eyes; add peanut butter cups for snouts, pretzels for antlers and M&M's for noses. Pipe mouths with reserved frosting.

REINDEER TRACKS COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. In large bowl, beat butter and both sugars with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until blended. On low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until blended. Stir in baking chips, peanut butter cup candies and pretzels.
• Onto cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

EASY REINDEER COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, leaving foil overhanging at 2 opposite sides of pan; spray with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, mix cookie mix, softened butter, cream cheese and egg with spoon until soft dough forms. Spread dough in bottom of pan. Bake 19 to 23 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour.
• Remove bars from pan by lifting foil; peel foil away. Spread frosting over top. Cut into 27 triangles as follows: Using sharp knife, cut into 3 horizontal rows. Cut each row into 9 triangles so each triangle has about a 2-inch wide base, cleaning knife with paper towel after each cut to keep frosting clean of crumbs. (See diagram below.) Set aside end pieces for snacking.
• For each reindeer: Press 2 halved pretzels on top corners of cookie triangle for antlers, 2 candy eyeballs in center for eyes, 1 brown candy on tip of triangle for nose (use photo as guide). Repeat with remaining cookie triangles. Store covered in airtight container in single layer.

REINDEER COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. With hands, shape roll of cookie dough into triangle-shaped log. (If dough is too soft to cut, place in freezer 30 minutes.)
• With thin sharp knife, cut dough into 32 (1/4-inch-thick) triangular slices; on ungreased cookie sheets, place 2 inches apart. Place 2 pretzel twists on each triangle near corners for antlers.
• Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until set. While warm, lightly press 2 chocolate chips into each cookie for eyes and 1 cherry half for nose. Remove from cookie sheets. Let stand until chocolate chips are set, about 15 minutes. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.
• Candy-coated chocolate candies or gumdrops may be substituted for the cherry nose.

REINDEER TRACKS COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
• In medium bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.
• In large bowl beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla until blended.
• On low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until blended.
• Stir in baking chips, peanut butter cup candies and pretzels.
• Onto cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until lightly browned.
• Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cookie rack.

EASY REINDEER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat the cookie mix, oil and egg until well combined. Shape into a 7-1/2-in. roll; securely wrap roll in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Unwrap and cut into 1/4-in. slices. , Preheat oven to 350°. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using thumb and forefinger, squeeze each cookie slice at the equator, making a slight indentation on each side of the cookie. Press in pretzels for antlers. , Bake until light brown, 9-11 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. Place melted chocolate chips in a piping bag or resealable bag; cut a small opening at the corner. Adhere eyes and noses to cookies using small amount of melted chocolate. Pipe mouth and eyebrows using melted chocolate; allow chocolate to set before serving.