12 Days of Christmas {Goodies}: Reindeer Cookies (Soy and Fish-Free, Can Be Milk, Egg, Nut and Wheat-Free)

Welcome to the twelfth and final day of

The 12 Days of Christmas {Goodies} link-up,

brought to you by Natural and Free and Glued to My Crafts! 

TODAY is the last day of our link-up (And what a cool date, right? 12-12-12)! I can hardly believe it's been 12 days!  Thank you to all those who have submitted posts and made this link-up a success! :) 

You have until tonight to link-up, so please, keep linking up your crafts and goodies and tell your friends!  Remember, there is no limit to how many Christmas-y posts you can link-up and each post you submit is a chance to win the $12 gift card to Starbucks (courtesy of Stacey at Glued To My Crafts).  We are also featuring our TOP Five Favorites (that's up to 10 entries, in case you're wondering) tomorrow as well as having another giveaway, so stay tuned!

If I haven't stopped by to check out your submission(s), I'll be there ASAP! :)  I can't wait to see what you've shared!  What a hard task it's going to be to choose only 5 favorites!  So many yummy recipes to choose from!  (Sorry, folks who linked up crafts, but I'm only featuring food since this is a food blog, but Stacey will be featuring some crafts, so don't lose hope! :) )

 ***

And now *clears throat and begins singing loudly to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas for the last time*:

On the twelfth day of  The Christmas {Goodies} link-up, Natural and Free gave to me:

12. Easy and fun Reindeer Cookies!

11. Some yummy (cooked) Eggnog!

10. Traditional Swedish Tea Rings!

9. Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies!

8. Delicious Peppermint Mocha!

7. Cranberry Apple Salad!

6. Cinnamon Sugar Apple Pie! 

5. Granny's Favorite Gingerbread!

4. Chocolate-Covered Pretzels!

3. Yummy Peppermint Fudge!

2. Cute and festive Pine Cones!

and

1. A recipe for Candied Pecans!

When I saw this recipe by Bakergirl, I knew it would be PERFECT for this link-up...I would just need to modify it to be more allergy-friendly.  This is the result. 

This recipe is soy (if you use all soy-free ingredients) and fish-free, and can be milk, egg, wheat and nut-free (see variations).  I hope you enjoy it! :)

Reindeer Cookies

1 egg

1 Cup soy-free, smooth, natural peanut butter (I recommend Smucker's or Jif Natural)

1 Cup white sugar

soy-free, mini twist pretzels (I recommend Snyder's) (You'll need at least 60 pretzels.)

soy-free chocolate chips (I recommend Enjoy Life which are also dairy-free, but you can use any chocolate that fits your allergen needs)

soy-free red jelly or jam (strawberry, cherry - flavor doesn't matter as long as it's red and not too lumpy)

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF.
      
2. Beat egg, peanut butter and sugar together until dough forms. (You can do this by hand with a wooden or metal spoon, or you can use an electric mixer.)
     
3. Shape the dough into small, oblong shapes that resemble reindeer faces (i.e. an oval with a rounded point on one end).  (Note: The easiest way to do this is to roll the dough into a ball and then pinch one end until it looks "reindeer-esque". :) )
      
4. Place cookies on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.
      
5. Bake for 10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE.
      
6. Remove them from the oven and decorate them on the cookie sheet (this will give them time to cool) by pushing 2 pretzels into the wider top portion of each cookie for antlers, use 2 chocolate chips face down beneath that for the eyes and then put a dot of jelly or jam underneath that for a nose (see picture for more detail).  (Note: I put the jam/jelly in a decorator's bag and used the smallest round tip to make the nose, but you could use a plastic bag with a very small hole cut out of it if desired, too.)
     
7. After they are decorated, carefully move them to waxed paper, brown paper (paper bags cut to lay flat is what I use) or a wire rack to cool.

This recipe makes around 30 reindeer cookies, depending on size.

Variations:

• Milk-Free: Use a dairy-free chocolate chip such as EnjoyLife for the eyes.
     
• Egg-Free: Use one of the egg substitute ideas listed here for the egg.
     
• Nut-Free: Use a seed butter or a tree nut butter (if you can have tree nuts) in place of the peanut butter.
   
• Wheat-Free: Use a gluten-free mini twist pretzel in place of the regular pretzels for the antlers.
  

Whatever substitutions/variations you use, please make sure they fit your individual allergen needs. 

These make me want to sing, "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer...Cookie"! :)

***

Now it's your turn!



Grab your badge here!

<a href="http://NaturalAndFree.blogspot.com/ "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJFwkUGBJCeKZEsY2Ax12uJyhMvIeRv1kRGu0cs0a0GW-TNV1jkg_3iX6z7dOKsDY6w3NjtJIuzYrwirqYTWgThZRO5l8bWYETvk5AE0ZQ8LdnCgyWFzitmiPO0bsFUe7H-HS-0uK1rE/s144/Goodies%2520icon.jpg" height="144" width="144" /></a>

(This recipe was originally posted on my original site, Natural and Free.)