Today, I’ve got the most adorable reindeer topped Christmas scotcheroos for you. Super simple to make with some additional holiday spices thrown in there and no oven required. The perfect treat for both kids and adults!
Scotcheroos are one of my all time favourite treats so I knew I needed to made an adorable Christmas version. These Christmas scotcheroos have cinnamon and allspice added in to give them that festive taste although you can skip them if you prefer. As these are a no bake treat, they’re an easy thing to make when your oven is tied up with a turkey, etc. or if you’re celebrating Christmas in July and really want to avoid your oven on a hot day.
These Christmas scotcheroos are also great to put on any kids table as they’re super adorable but so easy to make. I’m not an artistic person, although I wish I was, and I can still create these. I’ve made reindeers here but you could also use white chocolate and make little snowman or whatever you like!
For some other easy no bake Christmas treats, try my no bake peanut butter oat bars, my peppermint fudge which can be made in the microwave or my peanut butter crunch bars.
Decoration Options
So you can really do whatever you like for these Christmas scotcheroos. For incredibly easy options you could put little Christmas sprinkles or mini gingerbread men sprinkles or cookies.
If you want a different handmade decoration, you can make little swirly Christmas trees with pretzel sticks and white chocolate and lay them flat or you could pipe snowmen with white chocolate. Just make sure you pipe these prior to the chocolate setting. To get an idea of what the white chocolate looks like on top, check out my ghosteroos. They are a similar recipe but decorated for Halloween with white chocolate ghosts.
Christmas Cookie Boxes
If you’re looking to cut these smaller for a cookie box, you can try making the reindeer with mini pretzels, small candy eyes and mini M&M’s. If that’s still too big then I suggest using mini gingerbread man sprinkles or just Christmas sprinkles. Then you can cut them however you like.
Chill Time & Storage
Getting the chocolate to fully set on top can take a couple of hours so I usually pop these in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process. Once you’ve cut them, store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Servings
I made these with 15 servings, but they are quite big servings this way. You can try making reindeer that are smaller with halved mini pretzels and mini m&ms. Or, just do the reindeer in random spots and then you can cut it more like a bark, at angles, to get more servings but still have a some reindeer on each piece.
Gluten Free Christmas Scotcheroos
If you want these to be gluten free, you’ll need to make sure you use gluten free rice Krispies. As well, ensure your decorations are all gluten free. So you would need gluten free pretzels, or you could pipe white chocolate antlers onto the squares instead. Generally candy eyes are gluten free but confirm on your packaging, same with whatever candy coated chocolates you use for the nose.
As a side note, if making anything gluten free for someone with an allergy, ensure you thoroughly wash any equipment, jars or utensils. Any contact with flour may trigger an allergy. I like to say any baking I do in my own home is gluten friendly as I am using flour often and cannot guarantee there’s been no cross contamination.
Baking Tips
- Make sure you gently press down when putting the rice krispie mixture into your pan. The harder you press down, the tougher they’ll become.
- The easiest way to make the reindeers that I know of is with candy eyes, candy coated chocolates like M&Ms and pretzels that have been broken in half.
- I create my recipes based off weights so I recommend measuring by weights if you own a scale. It’s actually so much easier and makes for much less cleanup. I wish I had baked by weight from the beginning, I could never go back now.
More Christmas Bakes
Today’s song is perfect for a hot Christmas in July day and will give you all of the beautiful island vibes. Here is Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. Happy Baking!! **Disclaimer: Liv’s Little Muffins owns no rights to this song.
Don’t forget to leave a STAR REVIEW if you try my recipe! Follow me on Facebook or tag me on instagram @livslittlemuffins. Find more ideas on my Pinterest or Whisk.
Christmas Scotcheroos
Ingredients
- 6 cups (205g) Rice Krispies (or any puffed rice cereal)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (340g) corn syrup
- 1 1/3 cup (300g) peanut butter
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice (optional)
- 1 1/4 cup (200g) semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cup (200g) butterscotch chips
Decoration
- 30+ candy eyes
- 15+ red m&m's
- 15+ pretzels
Instructions
- Line or spray a 9×13 baking pan. Set aside. Pour the rice krispies into a large heat proof bowl, set aside.
- In a large pot, add the sugar, corn syrup, peanut butter, ground cinnamon and ground allspice if using. Heat over a medium low heat while stirring every 30 seconds or so. Heat until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and pour over rice krispies.
- Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir the peanut butter mixture gently into the rice krispies until combined. Then pour the rice krispies into the 9×13 pan.
- Press the mixture down gently so it's flat and even in the pan. DON'T press down too hard or you'll make the scotcheroos tough and hard to bite.
- In a heatproof bowl, add the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Heat in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted. Pour over the rice krispies and use a spoon or spatula to spread evenly around.
- Make your reindeers on top by breaking a pretzel in half. Use each half as an antler and then place 2 candy eyes underneath. Place a red m&m under the nose. Try to have an idea of how many reindeer you're going to make so you know how to space them. I made 15 but they were quite large pieces.
- Allow everything to fully cool for a few hours or pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy!
