How to Make Delightful Turkey Cookie Treats for Thanksgiving

The holidays are a wonderful time to bake festive cookies with family and friends. If you’re looking for a fun, creative cookie project, try making turkey cookie treats! These clever cookies transform ordinary sugar cookies into adorable turkeys perfect for Thanksgiving. With a few simple ingredients and easy decorating techniques, you can whip up a batch of turkey cookies that will impress your guests.

Get Your Ingredients Ready

Making turkey cookie treats starts with gathering the right ingredients. You’ll need:

Sugar cookie dough, homemade or store-bought
Assorted food colorings (orange, yellow, green, red)
Candy corn
Chocolate melting wafers
Mini chocolate chips
Pretzel sticks

Basic sugar cookie dough works best as it holds its shape well when cutting out the cookies. If using pre-made dough, let it soften at room temperature before rolling it out.

Food colorings in fall colors like orange, yellow, red, and green add festive decoration to the cookies. Mini chocolate chips and melting chocolate help attach the candy corn “feathers.”

Shape and Decorate the Cookies

Once your ingredients are assembled, it’s time to shape and decorate the cookies:

Preheat oven and prepare cookie dough: Heat oven to 375°F. Prepare sugar cookie dough according to package instructions.
Roll out dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1⁄4 inch thickness. Use turkey shaped cookie cutters to cut out dough.
Bake cookies: Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire racks.
Make candy corn feathers: Cut yellow ends off candy corn with kitchen shears. Cut ridges off white sections; discard or eat centers.
Attach feathers: Melt chocolate wafers following package instructions. Use melted chocolate to attach rows of candy corn feathers to cookies for tails. Let chocolate set before moving cookies.
Add chocolate chip eyes Use dots of melted chocolate to attach two mini chocolate chips as eyes Let set
Create beaks: Cut orange candy melts in triangular shape for beaks. Attach to cookies with melted chocolate.
Make feet: Cut pretzel sticks into 1-inch pieces. Use melted chocolate to attach pretzel “feet” to bottom edge of cookies.
Draw on legs and wattles: Use food coloring gels to draw legs and red wattles on cookies.

And your turkey cookies are ready to gobble up! Kids will love helping decorate these fun treats,

Decorating Tips and Tricks

Follow these tips for making your turkey cookies look their best:

Use bright food colorings for vivid details like legs, eyes, and wattles. Gel-based colors work better than liquid.
When attaching candy corn feathers, place them close together in neat rows for a realistic feathered effect.
Draw the legs on while the chocolate sets to prevent smearing.
For stability, attach the pretzel feet close to the cookie edges.
Make sure all decorations are completely set before moving finished cookies.
Work over wax paper or parchment to easily collect fallen sprinkles, chips, etc.

Creative Variations

The fun doesn’t stop with basic turkey cookies. Try these creative twists:

Add some Pilgrim hats

Cut out small circles from black fondant or gum paste. Drape over the top of frosted cookies to make pilgrim hats, securing with a dab of frosting.

Give your turkeys plumage

Use coconut flakes dyed in fall colors to mimic feathers. Attach along the cookies’ edges with frosting for a feathered effect.

Craft turkey gift boxes

arrange cookies in paper muffin cups folded into boxes. Tie with baker’s twine and add a “Gobble Gobble” gift tag.

Make turkey place cards

Glue a lollipop stick to the back of each cookie to use as Thanksgiving place cards. Write guests’ names on the sticks.

Surprise with hidden pumpkin faces

Before decorating, use a pumpkin-shaped cutter on half the cookies, removing the center. Hide a candy pumpkin face inside.

Fun Ways to Serve Turkey Cookies

Turkey cookies make a festive addition to any Thanksgiving dessert spread. Here are creative ways to present them:

Arrange cookies on a tiered cookie stand for a stunning centerpiece.
Place cookies inside a large cornucopia basket with fall garnishes.
Stack cookies on a large wood cutting board surrounded by fruit.
For kids’ place settings, serve cookies with glasses of milk in turkey-shaped mugs.
Package cookies in cello bags tied with raffia and send home as favors.
Display cookies on a three-tiered cake stand with pumpkin pies for a colorful dessert presentation.
Set out turkey cookies along with pie and hot cider at a Thanksgiving cookie exchange.

Storing and Freezing Cookies

Properly stored, your decorated turkey cookies will stay fresh for about 1 week at room temperature. For longer storage, freeze baked cookie base shapes, undecorated, for up to 3 months. Thaw before decorating and serving.

For best texture, store frosted or decorated cookies in single layers separated by wax paper in airtight containers at room temperature. You can also freeze decorated cookies for 2-3 months; thaw overnight before serving.

Kid-Friendly Turkey Cookie Recipe

Making turkey cookies is a fun project for kids. Try this easy no-bake recipe using graham crackers and icing:

Ingredients:

Graham crackers
Icing:
1 1⁄2 cups powdered sugar
1⁄4 cup milk
Food colorings
Candy corn
Pretzel sticks
Mini chocolate chips

Break graham crackers in half. Spread icing on half and place together as the “body.”
Decorate with candy corn “feathers,” pretzel “feet,” and chocolate chip “eyes” like regular turkey cookies.
Let icing set before serving.

Gobble Up Those Turkey Treats!

With their adorable turkey designs and autumnal colors, these cookies are sure to brighten your Thanksgiving dessert table. Kids will have as much fun decorating as eating them! Whip up a batch using sliced sugar cookies, candy corn, melting chocolate, and other festive touches. Personalize your turkey cookies with pilgrim hats, faux feathers, hidden pumpkin faces, or other creative options. However you choose to gobble them up, these turkey treats never fail to delight, Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving.

how to make a turkey cookie

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using a hand mixer) until creamy and well combined. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until fluffy. Mix in the milk. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Blend together until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Form the dough into golf-sized balls. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes or until just slightly browned. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney
Remove them from the oven and flatten the tops with a drinking glass. Make sure to do this while the cookies are hot or else you will not be able to flatten them as easily. You need a flat surface in order to adhere the decorations properly. The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

How To Make A Turkey Cookie How To With Kristin

FAQ

Can I make a turkey on a cookie sheet?

Stop hunting for that roasting pan you never use! This Thanksgiving turkey with a simple gravy made from the drippings requires nothing more than a trusty rimmed baking sheet and a wire rack that fits inside.

What cookie cutter can you use to make a turkey?

For these Thanksgiving turkey cookies, any round scalloped cookie cutter will do the job. The one I used was from this Betty Crocker cookie cutter set. Before baking, cut out the shape from the dough and then trim off a bottom portion, as shown below.

How do you decorate turkey cookies?

Turkey Cookie Step-by-Step Fill in the base with brown medium icing using tip #2.5 and shake the cookie a bit to help the icing settle, or use a toothpick or scribe tool to smooth the icing out. Immediately pipe the red, orange and yellow lines on top of the tail of the wet brown icing, using tips #’s 2.5.