Chocolate Reindeer Sandwich Cookies (Vegan GF)
These Chocolate Reindeer Sandwich Cookies are rich and chocolatey and so fun to make. They have two chocolate wholesome cookies with a ginger cream cheese frosting filling and a dark chocolate reindeer face.
I just love anything with a reindeer face this time of year, and I wanted to make these a little special. So rather than just regular chocolate cookies, these are chocolate sandwich cookies with the best gingerbread cream cheese frosting in the middle. They are rich and chocolatey, so luscious and festive and will be so fun to friends and family to make and share together. The faces take these little cookies to the next level and they use simple ingredients like glacé cherries, pretzels and icing sugar for the eyes.
Why will I love these?
These cookies are so good:
- Chocolate, gingery and rich
- Luscious, crunchy, tender and delicious
- Easy to make in a few steps
- Made with whole-food ingredients
- Naturally vegan, egg-free, gluten-free and dairy-free
- Easily nut-free
- Have two gingerbread chocolate baked cookies
- Spread with gingerbread cream cheese frosting
- Dipped with creamy hazelnut chocolate
- Decorated with reindeer faces
- Great to make with little ones
- Perfect for the holidays (and all year round, minus the festive faces)
- Ideal to prepare the day before
If you already love the sound of these cookies then skip ahead to the recipe card below. or, first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.
What ingredients do I need?
You can find the ingredients by weight in the recipe card and see my favourites in the “shop the recipe” section.
For the cookies:
- Olive oil: use light olive oil for a milder flavour or extra-virgin olive oil for a richer flavour. I have not tried this with coconut oil but I can imagine it would work, simply melt it first and allow to cool slightly.
- Plant-based milk: any dairy-free milk like oat, almond, soya or coconut (from the carton) will work.
- Maple syrup and molasses: the first adds sticky sweetness and the second also adds a rich gingerbread flavour, but if you don’t have any molasses, you can swap it for more syrup. Also, try agave syrup for an easy swap.
- Plain or GF plain flour: this keeps the cookies light and easy to handle. If using gluten-free flour, use your preferred 1:1 flour ideally with xanthan gum in to help bind the cookies, or add ¼ tsp xanthan gum yourself.
- Oat flour: grind up oats in a blender to reach a fine oat flour.
- Cocoa powder: for the rich chocolatey goodness.
- Gingerbread spices: these cookies have ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to add a delicious gingerbread flavour to the chocolate cookies.
- Raising agents and salt: for a little rise and flavour.
As for the filling:
- Vegan butter: allow the butter to soften slightly before whipping it up.
- Vegan cream cheese: I love adding cream cheese to frosting as it makes it less sweet. I use the NUSH or Cocos dairy-free creamy cheese spreads.
- Icing sugar: to make the frosting thick and sweet.
- Plant-based milk: to thin it out slightly. Any dairy-free milk is great here.
- Ginger: to make the filling a little more gingerbread-y.
And to decorate:
- Dark chocolate: I use the dark hazelnut chocolate from Divine which is amazing as it tastes like Nutella.
- Reindeer faces: glacé cherries make great noses (or try other red small fruits or large sprinkles), icing sugar for the eyes, more chocolate for the middle of the eyes and some pretzels for the antlers. You can improvise though, depending what you have.
Are these nut-free and gluten-free?
Yes these are easily nut-free, as long as all of your ingredients are nut-free (like butter, cream cheese and chocolate). To keep these gluten-free, use gluten-free plain flour and make sure your oats are gluten-free.
How do I make them?
These are easy to make:
- Make the cookies:
- Stir together the wet ingredients
- Add in the dry ingredients
- Chill for 30 minutes
- Roll out the dough and cut out shapes
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes until crisping at the edges
- Make the frosting:
- Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth
- Add in icing sugar, the ginger and milk and beat again until fluffy
- Beat for a bit more to make it really soft
- Melt the chocolate and make the faces:
- Spread half the cookies with the frosting and sandwich together with a second cookie
- Spread the top with melted chocolate
- Add on the reindeer faces
How long will they last?
These will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container, although the faces will lose their “sparkle” after a few days, so it’s best to decorate them before serving.
What else can I make?
If you are looking for more festive ideas:
- Gingerbread Cream Cheese Cookies
- Peppermint Candy Cake Brownies
- Christmas Tree Chocolate Cupcakes
- Christmas Chocolate Snowman Caramel Slices
- Easy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Reindeer Sandwich Cookies (Vegan Gluten-Free)
These Chocolate Reindeer Sandwich Cookies are rich and chocolatey and so fun to make. They have two chocolate wholesome cookies with a ginger cream cheese frosting filling and a dark chocolate reindeer face.
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 3 tbsp (45ml) olive oil
- 3 tbsp plant-based milk
- 60g coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 125g plain or gluten-free plain flour, plus extra
- 100g oat flour
- 20g cocoa powder
- Spices: 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
For the Filling:
- 30g vegan butter, softened
- 20g vegan cream cheese
- 150g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp plant-based milk
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
For Decorating:
- 60g dark chocolate
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 24 pretzels
- 12 glacé cherries
- White icing
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough: stir together all of the ingredients to a sticky ball of dough. Shape into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180ºC and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
- To shape the cookies: lightly dust a sheet of parchment with flour and place the dough in the middle. Lightly dust with more flour and roll out the dough between a second sheet of parchment to ½ cm thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out your cookies, lifting them carefully onto the baking trays. Re-roll scraps as necessary so you have about 24 cookies. Leave a small gap between each cookie.
- To bake: place in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes, turning the trays around halfway through.
- Allow to cool fully on the trays.
- Make the frosting: in a bowl or freestanding mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, milk and ginger until really fluffy and creamy.
- Make the cookie sandwiches: spread half of the cookies with the frosting and sandwich together with a second cookie. Chill in the fridge.
- For decorating: chop the chocolate small and melt together with the coconut oil. Remove the cookies from the fridge and spoon the chocolate over the top.
- Decorate with pretzel antlers, glacé cherry noses and then set in the fridge again. Once the chocolate has set, pipe on some white icing eyes with a dot of chocolate for the middle.
- Enjoy straight away or keep in a sealed container for 3-5 days, in the fridge overnight. The cookies and pretzels will soften over time. You can make the round cookies in advance, and freeze for 1 month, wrapped well. Allow to defrost before filling and decorating.
Shop the recipe
Stay in touch
I look forward to hearing what you think of these Chocolate Reindeer Sandwich Cookies so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review above. If you do make these, I’d love to see so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With reindeer cookies of love x
Skip to Recipe