Today I’m going to show you how to make a fun Thanksgiving craft perfect for both kids and adults! These darling turkeys are made from candy and completely edible! They are a fun activity for holiday parties, family nights, or just for fun. I’m also going to show you how to make a great little pilgrim hat at the end as well.
Ingredients/Supplies needed for candy turkeys:
Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
Candy Corn
Whoppers
Mini peanut butter cups
Chocolate frosting*
Yellow Frosting*
Optional: Red frosting*
Optional: black sprinkles for eyes
*For these kinds of things I love to use the little pre-filled tubes of colored frosting you can buy in the baking aisle. The chocolate is easy to make, and homemade actually works a little better because you can make it stiff. However, for the colored details like yellow and red, these little tubes are great. It doesn’t really matter what they taste like and they last forever (which is both cool and disturbing at the same time.) I’m using store-bought tubes for everything here purely for convenience- works great!
Step 1:
Grab a cookie. You don’t have to put frosting in there, but I like to because it holds in the candy corn a little better. Just give it a little squeeze of chocolate.
Then stuff in your candycorn. If you’re in some sort of candy corn shortage, you can cut off the white tips to use later for your beaks. I think the candy corn sticks in better with the tip so I leave it on. Go ahead and do all of the cookies through this step.
Step 2:
Next, put a dab of frosting on the opposite end of the cookie and secure it to the “base” cookie. It helps to place them next to a wall as they dry so they stay put.
While those are drying, unwrap your peanut butter cups. Take a sharp knife and cut a sliver off one end. (I don’t need to tell you what to do with the sliver, do I?) It helps to gently cut in a sawing motion so you don’t break the PB cup. (Although I wouldn’t have to tell you what to do with a broken one either, would I?) Cut it from the bottom like I show here:
Once those are ready, flip your cookies over, but you may find it’s easy to keep them next to the wall. My frosting was a bit soft, so they needed the extra support.
Place a dab of frosting on the peanut butter cup, and place it on the cookie like so:
Step 3:
Now those little guys will need heads, so glue a whopper on there with frosting as well. I put frosting on the side of the whopper that hits both the cookie and the PB cup. We wouldn’t want a turkey running around with its head cut off, would we??
While they’re still lying there, use a dab of frosting (I use yellow) and glue on the white tip of a candy corn for a beak. Put two yellow dots on for eyes, and for the black spots in the eyes you can use a dab of chocolate frosting, or a mini chocolate chip, or a little sprinkle like I’ve used. A sprinkle is really the perfect size if you have them.
Step 4:
Once the beak is secure, you can flip them over and draw on some little yellow feet. If you have red frosting too (usually comes in a set with the tube of yellow) you can add a little gobble gobble. Or whatever that thing is called. What is it called? I’m too lazy to google. Extra giveaway entry for the first person who can tell me. Okay not really but I’ll think you’re awesome.
And there you go, cute as can be!
These make really cute place card holders too, for either a kid, or adult table! How cute is my little turkey family?
Stick one on each plate and everyone will say “Awwwwwwe….” If you have kids old enough to handle making them, it’s a fun project for them to be in charge of.
They’re also darling combined with pilgrim hats.
Those are just marshmallows dipped in chocolate and placed on a fudge strip cookie. Use yellow frosting to make the buckle. (Pretty much the Thanksgiving version of the Halloween witch hats seen in this post!)
Hope you enjoy these fun little things! Happy Friday!
Questions & Reviews
OK Lisa told you what they are called, but not until comment #68!! WOW!!!
They “Gobble gobble” is called a wattle. 🙂
Thanks for sharing the idea! Also thanks to the commentor who suggested the wilton cup mold for peanut-free chocolate cups. I was thinking of trying rollos but they are indeed smaller than the mini peanut butter cups. I might try something like that! Very cute.
these are so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love them! by the way a gobble gobble is a waddle! we just made these and i cant wait to try these at thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!
CUTE!!!!!
So cute! The grand kids and I had fun!
These little thanksgiving turkeys are absolutely adorable. Thanks for the great step by step instructions too, very helpful. Took 12 to work today and everyone raved over them. Will be making more to use at our family dinner on Thanksgiving day…. Soooo cute!
You answered my questions and made me laugh. Thank you!
These are great. I can’t wait to make them. Thank you so much for the instructions.
Very cute!
I just made 15 of these for my son’s preschool class’s snack today. Mine didn’t turn out nearly as cute because I didn’t have enough candy corn for the beak, and couldn’t find chocolate frosting for the glue, but I think they’ll like them!! Of course, the parents of the 15 children can NOT hold me accountable if their kids come home hyper from all the chocolate!! haha!! Thanks for posting this 🙂
these are really cute and i made them… but i wanted to do it with my kids. NOT KID FRIENDLY AT ALL!! they were also messy and difficult to put together, but still cute… and delicious!
These are adorable. I love how you broke it down step by step.
OK … I just finished making 17 turkeys. They are in the refrigerator and I am hoping the frosting will harden a bit. The cookies do not want to stay together. I got yellow tube frosting in small tube and it is way too clear … the pupils of the turkey do not show on it … so I am leaving off the eyes on the rest. Hoping the beaks will stick. If they will stay together they are adorable. I did get the double filling and then made a hole with an ice pick so the candy corn would have a place to go down easier.
The red thing is called a Waddle.
VERY cute!!! I have spent an hour searching the web for something fun to do w/ my two sweet grandboys. They will LOVE this!! And if for some reason we can’t make it look just right it will be delicious to nibble anyway! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanks for this CUTE idea!!!
Robin, Solvang, California
Making these for my daughters class! And I do believe it’s called a woddle lol (spelling?)
The Gobble Gobble is called a beard and the longer the beard the bigger the prize when Turkey hunting (: I will have to make these…they are adorable! thx for sharing
Ohhhhh I love these! Totally pinned! I heard you speak at TOFW here in Denver! Hoping to get your cookbooks! Great stuff!
My daughter and I will be making these for our holiday cookie exchange party. They are adorable. Keep up the good work.
Great idea and so simple to make. I’m making these this thanksgiving. My kids will love them, I did.
Love the little turkey name tags!! I will be making these for our Thanksgiving dinner table!! Thanks!
I loveee these and want to make them for my daughter’s preschool party, however I can’t use pant peanut products. Any suggestion for a replacement for the pb cup? Thanks!
These are so adorable and easy! Just got done making them for my troop’s Thanksgiving party!