You know that in the Spring and Summer I'm all about rainbows and unicorns but during the winter months I like to let my imagination go with snowmen and reindeer and all things holly and jolly.

Just the other day my daughter's Elf on the Shelf (Candy Cane) brought my little girl some 'reindeer poop' chocolate mints. And while I thought they were cute and all, they weren't quite the magical poo that I had imagined Santa's reindeer to have. I mean... come on, they guide Santa's sleigh and fly around the world!

For some reason, I had it in my mind that Santa's famous reindeer would have something similar to what the unicorns do. Colorful, whimsical, and maybe even sparkly too! That's exactly what I set out to do.

Now, I had tried my hand before at rainbow unicorn poop cookies, and while they turned out 'alright' they were by no means perfect. This time around I made a few changes and ended up with a pretty amazing result!

These cookies are large (as big as my palm at least) and very soft sugar cookies that are really more of a cake-like cookie. Plus, they even managed to get my daughter's unrequited seal of approval. Which is pretty hard to do since she's a cookie snob through and through.

Santa's 'Magical' Reindeer Poop Cookies
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 24 • Size: 1 Cookie • Calories: 208 • Fat: 9 g • Saturated Fat: 2 g • Carb: 29 g • Fiber: 1 g • Protein: 3 g • Sugar: 9 g • Sodium: 87 mg

Ingredients:
5.3 Oz. Plain Fat-FreeGreek Yogurt
1 C. Butter Flavored Shortening
1 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Natural Baking Sweetener
2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 C. All-Purpose Flour
1 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
Food Coloring
Sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and like a couple of baking sheets with foil or silicone baking mats; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the 5.3 Oz. Plain Fat-FreeGreek Yogurt, 1 C. Butter Flavored Shortening, 1 C. Sugar, 1/4 C. Natural Baking Sweetener, and 2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract on medium speed.

Lower the speed and slowly add the 4 C. All-Purpose Flour, 1 C. Whole Wheat White Flour, 2 Tsp. Baking Powder, and 1 Tsp. Baking Soda.

Divide the dough evenly into bowls and color accordingly.

I left one bowl 'as is' and colored one of the remaining bowls with red and the other with green gel food coloring.

Scoop 1 Tbsp. of each color dough (if using 3 colors) and roll it out into long 'snake-like' pieces. Twist the pieces together carefully and continue to roll to combine and swirl together.

Curl the rolled out dough around to create your little piles of 'poo'.

Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and add sprinkles if desired.

Pro Tip: Be sure you separate the cookies quite a bit. I only put 6 on a baking sheet because these do expand quite a bit when baking.

Rinse and repeat for the remaining dough.

Bake in the oven for 9-11 minutes or until the tips are just starting to brown.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool and enjoy!

Store in an airtight container in a dry place.

Nutritional Claims: Low Sodium, Low Potassium, Kidney Friendly, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Egg Free, Peanut Free, Tree Nut Free, Soy Free, Fish Free, Shellfish Free, Pork Free, Red Meat Free, Crustacean Free, Celery Free, Mustard Free, Sesame Free, Lupine Free, Mollusk Free, Alcohol Free, Kosher