Red Nosed Reindeer Cake Pops –  fun, festive chocolate cake pop decked out with chocolate antlers and a bright red nose. A tasty 4-ingredient edible Christmas treat everyone will love.

It’s not too late to make a fun, festive treat for friends, family or neighbors for the holidays. These reindeer chocolate cake pops are super easy to make and only take 4 ingredients (chocolate cake is one of them).  With the newest member of our family arriving in December of last year, Christmas treats had been put on hold until we found a routine with the little miss.  With these fun Christmas-y cake pops, we were still able to give out super cute, delicious goodies in no time.

If you like this treat you may also like these other recipes:

• 3-Ingredient Jingle Bell Fudge
• Reese’s Copycat Peanut Butter Ball
• Instant Pot Eggnog Cheesecake
• Easy 3-Ingredient Peppermint Crunch Fudge

What 4 ingredients do I need to make these reindeer cake pops?

1. Chocolate cake
2. Chocolate frosting
3. Melted  chocolate
4. Sixlet chocolate candy balls (I bought the red, green, and white variety which was perfect for the eyes and nose). You’ll need about 20 red and 40 white.

Yes, we love chocolate around here… can you tell?

How do you make the eyes and antlers for these reindeer cake pops?

To make the eyes I used the white Sixlets and chocolate.  I did this by melting chocolate chips in a Ziploc bag then dot the white Sixlets to make the eyes.

Next, the chocolate antlers. These were easy and quite fast to make.  Pipe the melted chocolate using a small round tip and a piping bag.  Pipe it right onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper.  Don’t forget the waxed or parchment paper.  If you do, the chocolate will stick and you won’t be able to remove the antlers from the sheet.  To help the antlers be more stable, make sure to do thick lines of chocolate and make them short.

I found the antlers to be more stable when I made them look like a heart with a short point at the bottom.  To make them even more sturdy you can also fill the heart part in with chocolate.  I would recommend filling the heart in with chocolate if you plan on wrapping them otherwise the antlers will be more likely to break if bumped.

How do you make the cake pop center?

Making the cake pop center is easy and so fun if you have kids to help.  The centers are made out of a cooled chocolate cake and a can of chocolate frosting. If you love baking and have a preferred chocolate frosting recipe, go ahead and use it.  You’ll need about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of frosting and 1 9×13 or 2 8 to 9 inch round cakes.

First, you’ll break the cake down to crumbs then added the can of chocolate frosting.  My kids love helping me “squish” the cake. Any time I let them “play” with their food, they’re all in.  Haha.  Once the frosting is stirred in you form the mixture into large balls, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.  We were able to make 18-20 pop centers.  Once they’re formed pop them into the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to become hard.

After the cake pop centers are chilled, dip the tip of the sucker sticks into melted chocolate then push them into the center of the cake pop.  As the melted chocolate on the stick cools because the cake pop center is cold, it will harden and secure its self.

How do I finish and decorate these cute red nosed reindeer cake pops?

The finishing touches are the best part of these reindeer cake pops and they come together VERY quickly.  With this last part, you’ll want to make sure you work quickly because the chocolate will set quickly because the centers are cold. 

Dip the entire cake pop into the melted chocolate (see above).  Working quickly, insert 2 chocolate antlers at the top of the chocolate covered cake pop.  Then stick on two eyes and a red candy nose.  The chocolate will fully set within 30 seconds or a minute depending on how chilled the cake pops are.

Viola! That was it.  Dip and repeat.  You’ll have a whole set of cute red nosed reindeer treats to give to family, friends, and neighbors before you can sing,

“You know Dasher, and Dancer, and
Prancer, and Vixen,
Comet, and Cupid, and
Donder and Blitzen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all….”

Aren’t these Reindeer Cake Pops so much fun?!  All your little reindeer will love them!

If I want to give these cake pops as a fun holiday edible gift, how do I wrap them?

Wrap these cute red nosed reindeer cake pops in a loose clear treat bag (size 4×6″ work great) with a ribbon, string or twist tie.  Make sure not to hit the antlers as they will break if you do.  These little cuties are sure to bring some Christmas cheer and everyone will be singing…

“Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you’ll go down in history!”

What’s your favorite Christmas treat?

I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment. 🙂

Reindeer Cake Pops Recipe Card:

Originally Published: 12.22.2017                     Updated: 03.05.2024