Steps

• Preparing the shortcrust pastry for these delightful reindeer cookies is really simple. You just need to keep in mind a few small tips and your cookies will be super fragrant and perfect to put in a bag or a tin box ready to gift.
  First, make sure the butter is very cold.
  On a pastry board, create a well with the sifted flour and vanillin, then add the butter in pieces. Work the ingredients quickly with your hands until you get a sandy mixture. (If you prefer, you can use lemon zest or ground cinnamon instead of vanillin).
  At this point, add the sugar (you can also use powdered sugar) and the room temperature egg.
  Knead quickly to prevent it from heating up and form a dough.
  Let it rest in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 1 hour. I recommend about 1 hour and a half.
  After the time has passed, take the dough out and, to make the pastry more elastic, break it and rework it slightly. Make sure it doesn’t warm up, do it quickly!
  Roll out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
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  Form the cookies using a round cookie cutter and bake them in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 10/15 minutes, then cool on a cooling rack.

• To decorate the reindeer cookies, melt the dark chocolate well in a double boiler (if you don’t like it, use milk chocolate).

  Meanwhile, break the pretzels in half to create antlers and prepare eyes and red noses.

  Glaze the top of each cookie one by one, then, using kitchen tweezers, place the antlers, eyes, and red nose. Cool well so the chocolate solidifies and holds all the elements.

  Use them as gifts or for Christmas snacks, and see how cute they will be.