Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

Rather than purchasing special cookie cutters, these turkey cookies are decorated on simple circles. When dry, wrap them in cellophane bags with matching ribbon for a Thanksgiving party favor or as a sweet gift for friends.

Supplies

cookie dough (my go-to cookie recipes)
royal icing
circle cookie (about least 3-inches in diameter)
food coloring
5 decorating bags
4 couplers
assorted decorating tips (sizes “2,” “3,” and “4”)
rubber bands
toothpick

Check out my easy tutorial for basic instructions on decorating cookies.

Directions

Step 1: Bake your cookies.

Roll out chilled cookie dough, cut out circles and bake according to the recipe. Let cool.

Step 2: Prepare your icing.

Prepare royal icing, divide and tint your colors: Black, brown, red, orange, and yellow. Prepare four decorating bags with couplers and tips, fill with black, red, orange and yellow, and close tightly with rubber bands. Cover and reserve the brown icing.

Step 3: Decorate your turkeys.

Pipe an outline of the turkey as shown with the black icing fitted with a size “3” tip. Let the outline set about 15 minutes.

Thin brown icing by stirring in water, a few drops at a time, until the consistency for flooding (a spoonful of icing overturned should take about 10 seconds to disappear into the rest of the icing).

Fill an empty decorating bag, snip the tip about 1/4 inch from the tip, and flood the turkey with brown icing, encouraging the icing as needed with a toothpick to completely fill the turkey body and head. Let set well, several hours at least.

Pipe to fill the feathers, using red, orange and/or yellow icing fitted with size “4” tips.

Change the tip on the yellow to size “3.” Pipe the beak and the legs.

Change the tip on the black to size “2” and pipe the eyes and wings. Change the tip on the red to size “3” and pipe the waddle. Let the cookies dry well, preferably overnight.