Who wouldn’t love to take a bite into these adorable Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving? Chocolate cupcakes, chocolate buttercream, chocolate fondant, and candy accents make these Thanksgiving cupcakes come to life!
Turkey Cupcakes Recipe
Thanksgiving is coming, friends! What do you typically serve as a dessert for Thanksgiving? For years upon years, it’s been mostly pies here. (Is that any surprise?) While I’ve got a few traditional Thanksgiving pies that I like to make, namely my Southern Ambrosia Coconut Apple Pie, Layered Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Pie with Pecans, and Raspberry Pie, this year I thought to myself… self… what are you going to do with all this leftover Halloween candy? (FOR REAL THO.) I mean, err, uhh, what about making something fun and festive? Pies are deeeelicious, but what if I made something goofy and fun that kids would adore? Hello, adorable Turkey Cupcakes! I heart you.
Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes
This Thanksgiving, let’s turn the dessert table on its head and let’s fill it with fun and festive chocolate cupcakes shaped like turkeys. Why not, you know? Who doesn’t love chocolate? Especially when it’s decorated in an adorable way just like these Turkey Cupcakes!
Simple Turkey Cupcakes Recipe
Choose your favorite chocolate cupcakes recipe or boxed mix for this recipe, yes! If you’ve got a favored chocolate cupcake recipe that comes out perfect time and time again, then go for it! I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here, I love to stick with what works and works well, and make all our recipes (dinner or otherwise) easy to create and recreate again and again.
Turkey Cupcakes Recipe for Thanksgiving
For this Thanksgiving dessert recipe, I’m whipping up our foolproof chocolate buttercream recipe, which we can’t stop using because it works wonderfully every time! You could go with a store-bought frosting if you truly wanted to, especially if you’re in a pinch for time, but I haven’t found a store-bought frosting that compares to the ease of decorate-ability (I made that word up btw) to this no fail buttercream recipe. It’s a must use for me! I think you’ll love it, too!
Easy Turkey Cupcakes Recipe for Kids
Get the kiddos involved in this one, this is entirely too much fun to decorate! Just be sure if you involve the whole family on this one, you’ve got extra candy on hand! If they eat all the decor, then you’re gonna need more candy! So be sure to provide “snacking candy” alongside the candy
Tips to Make Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving
- Using a Wilton Roll and Cut Mat to roll out and cut the chocolate fondant is THE BEES KNEES. I advocate using it every time I have to work with fondant, it just makes it incredibly easy to have a perfect work surface for rolling, cutting, and decorating desserts. If you don’t have one, consider it! 🙂
- I also 100% advocate for the use of a wire cooling rack to cool the cupcakes down completely and thoroughly. With the frosting, fondant, and candy that’ll sit on top, if the cupcakes are still too warm, the icing will slide off, the fondant will not stay, and the candy could potentially melt and not stay put either. Completely and thoroughly cooled cupcakes are a must when decorating them!
How to Make Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving
To make these deliciously adorable Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving, you will need to gather the following ingredients to have on hand:
- Your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe or favorite chocolate cake mix plus their ingredients
- Chocolate rolling fondant (or white fondant with brown gel food coloring)
- Softened butter
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Milk
- Candy eyes
- Candy corn
- Orange M&Ms or orange candy-covered chocolates
- Red decorating frosting
You will also need the following tools:
- Mixing bowls (you will need 2)
- Whisk
- Electric mixer
- Cupcake pan/s
- Cupcake liners (either disposable or reusable)
- Wire cooling rack for cooling the cupcakes
- Rolling pin or Wilton Fondant Roller
- Wilton Roll and Cut Mat
- Circular Cookie Cutter
- Offset spatula
- Piping bag
- Wilton piping tip #12
- Wilton piping tip #5
Preheat your oven and prepare your favorite chocolate cupcakes according to the directions for your chocolate cake mix or recipe.
Pour your chocolate cupcake batter into disposable or reusable cupcake liners and bake according to the directions for the recipe/mix. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack before decorating.
Using a rolling pin or Wilton Fondant Roller, roll out the chocolate fondant on the Wilton Roll and Cut Mat until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick. Using a circular cookie cutter about 2.5 inches in diameter, cut out 24 fondant circles. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the ingredients to make your buttercream frosting – softened butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk. Use an electric mixer to beat your ingredients together, start on low speed and gradually increase the speed to high.
The buttercream is complete once all ingredients are well-combined, smooth and form semi-stiff peaks. Use an offset spatula to frost a thin layer of chocolate buttercream on each cupcake.
Press one fondant circle on each frosted cupcake.
To assemble one turkey cupcake, one at a time, pipe out a dot of chocolate buttercream on the back of each candy corn using a piping bag and the Wilton #12 tip.
Assemble two rows of candy corn arches at the top of the cupcake. About 4-5 for the top arch and 3 for the bottom. Scoop the remainder of the chocolate buttercream into a candy corn using a piping bag with the Wilton #12 piping tip attached. Frost out a dollop of chocolate buttercream just underneath the candy corn rows. Add two candy eyes on the chocolate buttercream dollop you just created.
Create the “beak” by taking one orange M&M candy and turning it onto its side and insert it just underneath the two candy eyes. Using the Wilton piping tip #5 attached to your red decorating frosting bottle, pipe out a strip of red right next to the orange beak to make the turkey’s “snood.”
Repeat with all of your cupcakes! Yay! I hope you enjoy these!
Will you make these turkey cupcakes for your family for Thanksgiving this year? I hope they love it just as our family does! 🙂
Turkey Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- Chocolate cake mix plus the ingredients needed to make 24 cupcakes
- 12 ounces Chocolate fondant or white fondant with brown gel food coloring
- 2 sticks Softened butter
- 4 cups Confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tbsps Cocoa powder
- 4-6 tbsps Milk
- 48 Candy eyes
- 180+ pieces Candy corn
- 24 pieces Orange M&Ms or other orange candy-covered chocolates
- 1 tube Red decorating frosting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven and prepare your favorite chocolate cupcakes according to the directions on the mix or recipe to prepare.
- Pour the chocolate cupcake batter into disposable or reusable cupcake liners and bake according to the directions for the recipe/mix. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
- Using a rolling pin or fondant roller, roll out the chocolate fondant on the Wilton Roll and Cut Mat until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick.
- Using a circular cookie cutter about 2.5 inches in diameter, cut out 24 fondant circles. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ingredients to make your buttercream frosting – softened butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk.
- Use an electric mixer to beat your ingredients together, start on low speed and gradually increase the speed to high. The buttercream is complete once all ingredients are well-combined, smooth and form semi-stiff peaks.
- Use an offset spatula to frost a thin layer of chocolate buttercream on each cupcake.
- Press one fondant circle on each frosted cupcake.
- To assemble one turkey cupcake, one at a time, pipe out a dot of chocolate buttercream on the back of each candy corn.
- Assemble two rows of candy corn arches at the top of the cupcake. About 4-5 for the top arch and 3 for the bottom.
- Scoop the remainder of the chocolate buttercream into a piping bag with the Wilton #12 piping tip attached.
- Frost out a dollop of chocolate buttercream just underneath the candy corn rows.
- Add two candy eyes on the chocolate buttercream dollop you just created.
- Create the “beak” by taking one orange candy and turning it onto its side and insert it just underneath the two candy eyes.
- Using the Wilton piping tip #5 attached to your red decorating frosting bottle, pipe out a strip of red right next to the orange beak to make the turkey’s “snood.”
- Repeat with all of your cupcakes!
- Serve and enjoy 'em!