Nutty Reindeer Rice Cakes with Hazelnut

Two rice cakes. A minute of microwaving. Suddenly you’ve got reindeer.

Why You’ll Love These Nutty Reindeer Rice Cakes

Takes five minutes flat. No bake, no oven, no waiting around. Hazelnut and almond bark together — creamy and nutty in a way that works. Kids can build them. Mess is contained. Everything is edible. Holiday snacks that don’t feel like you’re scrambling last-minute, but also aren’t some whole thing. Pretzel ears stay crunchy even after the hazelnut rice cake coating sets.

What You Need for No Bake Holiday Snacks

Almond bark. Two tablespoons. The white or milk chocolate kind, doesn’t really matter. Hazelnut spread. Two tablespoons. The thicker stuff holds better than runny versions. Plain rice cakes. Two of them. Not the flavored ones — they fight with the hazelnut. Mini pretzels. Four total. Two per cake for ears. Smaller is better; they don’t look goofy that way. Candy eyes. Two. The little edible balls you find in the baking aisle. Dried cranberries. Two. One per reindeer nose. Fresh berries work too, but they leak.

How to Make Hazelnut Rice Cake Treats

Grab a microwavable container — mug, small bowl, anything. Dump in the almond bark and hazelnut spread together. Microwave for 50 seconds. Stop at 20 seconds, stir, look at it. Stop at 40 seconds, stir again. At 50 seconds, pull it out. Smooth. Shiny. No lumps.

If there are still grainy bits, give it three more seconds. Don’t overcook it. The mixture should move when you tilt the bowl but not slosh around.

How to Get Reindeer Rice Cake Decorations Right

Spread about a tablespoon on each rice cake — thick enough that stuff sticks, not so thick it oozes off the edges. Work fast. The coating cools quick, and tacky coating won’t hold the decorations as clean.

Press two pretzels into the top for ears. Just press. Don’t push hard enough to crack the rice cake itself. They’ll stay. Stick the candy eyes below, space them wide apart — makes them look like they’re actually looking at something instead of cross-eyed.

One dried cranberry at the center bottom for the nose. Red works best. Bright.

Room temperature is fine. Sits there for maybe five minutes, gets firm enough to eat without the whole thing sliding around. If you’re impatient, fridge for 3 to 5 minutes. Check it though. Don’t forget and let it sit there cold for 20 minutes or the rice cake gets weird.

No Bake Holiday Snacks Tips and Fixes

Pretzels snap? Pretzel sticks work. Cereal. Small pieces of whatever crunchy thing you’ve got.

No candy eyes sitting around. Dot some melted chocolate where eyes should be. Or just skip them and let the pretzels be enough.

Coating too runny when you spread it. Let it cool for a minute, it thickens up. Or chill the whole container for 60 seconds before you start assembling.

If hazelnut spread looks separated and oily on top — that’s normal. Just stir it back in. Doesn’t affect how it tastes.

Rice cakes themselves are fragile. Handle them gentle. Assemble on the counter, not in your hands.

Nutty Reindeer Rice Cakes with Hazelnut

By Emma

Prep:

5 min

Cook:

5 min

Total:

10 min

Servings:

2 servings

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp almond bark
• 2 Tbsp hazelnut spread
• 2 plain rice cakes
• 4 mini pretzels
• 2 candy eyes
• 2 dried cranberries

Method

1. Melt Mix
2. 1 In a microwavable container, combine almond bark and hazelnut spread. Heat for 50 seconds, checking every 20 seconds to stir and break lumps. Stop heating when mixture is smooth, shiny, and just fluid enough to spread — no graininess or too hot spots. You want melting sounds and soft bubbling but no scorching or separation. Use gentle stirs to keep heat distributed evenly.
3. Assemble Faces
4. 2 Spread about a tablespoon of the melted mixture on each rice cake, thick enough to hold decorations but not dripping off edges. Work swift; when coating gets tacky, it won’t hold things well.
5. 3 Place two mini pretzels near the top of each cake for ears. Press lightly but don’t puncture the rice cake surface.
6. 4 Position candy eyes below pretzels, spacing wide for expression.
7. 5 Add one dried cranberry at lower center for a bright red nose. Alternate: use a small berry or even candy-coated chocolate for different punch.
8. 6 Let sit at room temperature to firm up. If impatient, pop in fridge for 3-5 minutes; check often to avoid cold sweat forming. Avoid acid-based nitpicking on rice cakes which may get soggy if left too long.
9. 7 Snick crunch meets creamy hazelnut, sweet almond bark in every bite. Watch out for melty hands if too warm.
10. 8 Imperfect shapes add charm. Pretzels crack or break? Use small breadsticks or cereal sticks easily swapped. No candy eyes? Use small dots of darker chocolate or tiny icing dots piped.
11. 9 Coating can be thickened by chilling for a minute before spreading to avoid sliding or falling apart. Keep an eye on mixing temperature to avoid butterfat separation in hazelnut spread.

Nutritional information

Calories

250

Protein

3g

Carbs

25g

Fat

15g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Rice Cake Treats

Can you make these ahead? Yeah. Make them, let them set in the fridge, stack them on parchment paper in a container. Two days easy. Three if the rice cakes don’t get stale first, which is the actual problem.

What if hazelnut spread is too thick? Microwave it for like 15 seconds on its own, let it loosen. Or just mix it in with the almond bark longer. More stirring breaks it down.

Can you swap the almond bark for something else? Chocolate chips work. Melt them the same way. Takes maybe 10 seconds longer because they don’t melt as smooth. White chocolate, milk chocolate, doesn’t really matter. Dark chocolate tastes too strong and makes it bitter.

Do the candy eyes stay on? If you press them into the coating while it’s still tacky, yeah. If you wait until it’s totally set, you’re basically gluing them on with nothing. Press them in while the mixture’s still a little soft.

Why dried cranberries for the nose? They don’t leak. Fresh berries do. Cranberries are tart, which balances the sweet almond bark. You could use a chocolate chip or a red candy. Just cranberries look better and taste less cloying.

How long do these actually take to set? Five minutes at room temperature if you’re patient. Two to three in the fridge. They don’t really need to be rock-hard to eat — tacky is fine.