This recipe was created by Melissa Jones, an Accredited Practising Dietitian who works in the aged care and disability sector. Melissa has kindly volunteered her expertise and knowledge to help us bring healthy and nutritious recipes to people with musculoskeletal conditions.

Check out our full range of recipes here.

Reindeer chocolate cookies

Cookie dough ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups margarine, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch salt

Method:

1. Preheat over to 180oC.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then add in the vanilla.
4. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Fold in gently, until the mixture is just blended.
   *You can mix in any other fillings such as chopped nuts or choc chips at this point.
5. Place teaspoon-sized amounts of a lined baking tray with at least 3cm between each cookie.
6. Cook for 10 minutes and allow to cool until no longer warm.

Decorating (the fun part!):

I used premade chocolate frosting and applied a thin layer to the top of all the cookies.

You can allow your creative license to run free and use whatever you’d like to decorate! I used strawberry and cream lollies for the nose, broken pretzels for the antlers and white choc chips with melted milk choc for the eyes. Have fun and enjoy!