How to Decorate Delicious Turkey Cookies for the Holidays

The holidays are a magical time filled with joy, laughter, family, and of course, delicious food. What better way to get into the holiday spirit than decorating festive turkey cookies? These fun turkey cookies are sure to impress and be the perfect addition to your holiday cookie trays.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about decorating the most beautiful turkey cookies to celebrate the holidays in style.

Pick the Perfect Turkey Cookie Recipe

The first step to decorating great turkey cookies is choosing the right cookie recipe. The cookies should have a slightly dense, sturdy texture to support the icing and decorations without crumbling. A basic sugar cookie or gingerbread cookie recipe works well.

For example, the Pecan Pumpkin Spice Cut Out Cookies from Sweetopia are deliciously spiced with a bit of crunchy pecan texture. The cookies hold their shape well after cutting and baking, making them ideal for decorating.

When rolling out and cutting the cookies make sure they are evenly thick around 1⁄4 inch. Chill the cut out cookies before baking so they retain their shape. Bake until set but not browned around the edges. Let cool completely before decorating.

Master Royal Icing for Decorating

Royal icing is the key ingredient for decorating cookies. It dries hard and provides a bright white base for adding color.

The royal icing recipe from Sweetopia is easy to make and provides the ideal consistency for decorating and piping details.

It’s important to get the thickness of the icing right. Icing that is too thin will run and bleed. Icing that is too thick will be hard to pipe smoothly. Refer to Sweetopia’s royal icing guide for tips on achieving the perfect midpoint consistency.

Prepare several piping bags fitted with small round tips to easily pipe the icing, Keep the bags covered when not in use so the icing doesn’t dry out,

Paint On the Base Colors

Start decorating your turkey cookies by outlining the basic shapes with brown icing using a round tip. Trace around the edge of the cookie to outline the turkey body, feathers, head, and feet.

Next, flood inside the outlines with brown icing to cover the cookie. Hold the piping bag at a 45 degree angle and squeeze out the icing, then use a toothpick to help guide it into the edges

Repeat this process to fill in other areas, like the head and feet, with orange and yellow icing. Allow the iced cookies to dry completely before adding details.

Pipe On Creative Feather Details

Here is where you can get really creative with colors and textures to make the turkey feathers come to life.

Load several piping bags with different icing colors like red, orange, yellow to mimic turkey feathers. Pipe short lines, dots, squiggles, and other designs within the feather outlines.

Try marbling colors by piping on two wet icing colors next to each other, then dragging a toothpick through them. This blends the colors with a feathered look.

Add fun accents like stripes, polka dots, or even plaids if you want to get extra fancy. The feathers are a great place to show off your decorating skills.

Add Facial Details

Finish off your turkeys with charming facial details like eyes, a beak, wattle, and snood. These facial features really bring the turkey cookies to life.

Use black or brown icing to pipe on oval shaped eyes, a triangular beak, a red wattle dangling under the neck, and a red snood over the beak.

Add some white highlights in the eyes to make them sparkle. Draw or pipe on feathered texture on the snood and wattle.

Create Fun Accessories

Take your turkey cookies up a notch with whimsical accessories and props. Some fun ideas include:

• Mini pumpkin or pie slices
• Fall leaves
• Acorns
• Wood grain skewers or toothpicks as drumsticks
• Chef’s hat
• Neckties
• Pilgrim hat
• Feather bowtie
• Feather pen
• Cartoon talk bubble

Let your imagination run wild designing turkey scenes. Kids will have fun helping out and coming up with silly accessory ideas.

Display Your Turkey Cookie Creations

Once your turkey cookies are decorated, it’s time to proudly display them for all to enjoy!

Arrange them artfully on a platter or tiered cookie stand. Scatter some fall leaves, acorns, or nuts around the cookies to complement the theme.

Or package them up in cellophane bags tied with raffia or ribbon to give as holiday gifts to neighbors, teachers, or family. Add a “gobble gobble” gift tag for a cute touch.

However you choose to present your decorated turkey cookies, they are sure to impress and delight everyone who sees them.

Turkey Cookie Design Ideas and Inspiration

Need a little inspiration for your decorated turkey cookies? Here are some creative ideas and examples:

• Traditional turkeys with red wattle, snood, and colorful fanned tail feathers

• Turkeys wearing pilgrim hats, neckties, or chefs hats

• Turkeys posing with fall fruits and vegetables like pumpkins, pies, and ears of corn

• Turkeys playing sports or music instruments like football, guitar, drums

• Baby turkeys with oversized heads and bright feathers

• Wild turkeys with iridescent blue and green feathers

• Groupings of turkeys like families or flocks

• Turkey legs or just the head and wings

• Turkey holding a “Thankful” or “Gobble Gobble” sign

Check out Sweetopia’s Instagram and Pinterest for tons of inspiring turkey cookie ideas and designs. Let the creativity flow!

Turkey Cookie Decorating Tips and Tricks

Here are some helpful turkey cookie decorating tips to help you master these festive treats:

• Chill the iced cookies between steps to help the icing dry harder.

• Use a rotating cake turntable to easily rotate and decorate the cookies.

• Start outlining with thicker icing, then use thinner consistency for details.

• Keep icing in piping bags covered with a damp paper towel when not piping to prevent drying out.

• Use toothpicks or scribe tools to guide icing into outlines and smooth surfaces.

• Mix gel food colors into icing a day ahead to allow flavors to blend.

• Pipe icing on wet icing for blending colors and marbled effects.

• Allow icing borders to dry before flooding inside sections to prevent bleeding.

• Store decorated cookies between layers of parchment or wax paper in an airtight container.

Celebrate with Delicious Turkey Cookies

Decorating whimsical turkey cookies is a fun way to celebrate fall, Thanksgiving, and the holidays. Unleash your creativity piping on feathers, colors, patterns, and accessories.

Follow the decorating tips and inspiration in this guide to make turkey cookie creations you’ll be proud to display and gift to family and friends this season. The delicious cookies are sure to gobble up quick!