RUDOLPH COOKIE BUTTER BALLS

Nellie — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 18:50:31 +0000

Rudolph Cookie Butter Balls are fun no-bake treats made with cookie butter and crushed Nilla wafers, decorated to look like your favorite reindeer! Easy holiday treats made with less than 10 minutes of prep time!

We love no-bake cookies and have made quite a few over the years. Many no-bake cookie recipes have oats, nuts, or cereal as a main ingredient. The main ingredient in these cookies is crushed vanilla wafers. Now, why didn’t I think of that before?

Rudolph Cookie Butter Balls

These little treats are so fun to add to holiday goody plates! They only take a few minutes to make, and they are so easy that kids can make them all by themselves. Finely crush Nilla wafers and mix them with cookie butter to form the cookie balls. Decorate them with pretzel antlers, chocolate chip eyes, and M&m noses to make them look like Rudolph!

What is cookie butter?

Cookie butter is a sweet spread made primarily from ground cookies, typically speculoos, which are spiced Dutch ginger cookies. This unique treat has a rich, caramel-like flavor and a smooth texture, making it an irresistible addition to a variety of foods. Its versatility allows it to be used as a spread on bread, pancakes, or waffles, or even as an ingredient in desserts.

Ingredients in Rudolph Cookie Butter Balls

Cookie butter – If you haven’t tried cookie butter, this is an excellent time to start! If you don’t want to use cookie butter, you could use a different nut butter as a substitute. Cookie butter is a bit thicker than most nut butter, so you will likely have to add more cookie crumbs to get the mixture to a consistency that is stiff enough to hold shape.

Nilla wafers – Add crushed Nilla wafers to the cookie butter to make the cookie balls. You will need about 30 Nilla wafers to make about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. The finer the crumbs, the better. It is easiest to crush the cookies in a blender or food processor.

Pretzels – You will need mini pretzels to break into antlers.

Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips – These will be used to make the “eyes” on the reindeer cookie balls.

Mini M&M’s – Use mini red M&Ms to make Rudolph’s nose. You can use brown M&Ms if you want to make other reindeer. Make sure to use the mini ones – the regular ones will be too big!

How to make Rudolph Cookie Butter Balls

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

MAKE THE COOKIE BALLS

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the crushed Nilla wafers and cookie butter using a fork until it reaches a crumb-like consistency. (The best way to crush Nilla wafers into very fine crumbs is in a food processor or blender.)

Fill a one-tablespoon cookie scoop with the mixture and add to the cookie sheet.

Pop the cookie sheet in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, allowing the dough to firm up. You can speed this up by placing the cookie balls in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

DECORATE THE COOKIE BALLS

Break both of the outside pieces of the pretzels off to form antlers and then set aside.

Remove the dough and shape into balls by gently rolling each piece in your hands. Return to the baking sheet.

Place two mini chocolate chips for the eyes and a red mini M&M for the nose.

Gently add a piece of pretzel to each side for the antlers. Shape as needed.

After decorating the cookie balls, return them to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve.