Thanksgiving Cookie Inspiration and Tutorials!

Oh my goodness I've been a busy Lizy B! Turkeys and pumpkins and turkeys and leaves and turkeys! (and some lovely Hanukkah cookies mixed in too)

Since we're all furiously making recipe piles and grocery lists for Thanksgiving dinner,  I thought I'd bring you a collection of sweet treats for the big day!
There are a few here from me, and even more from some of my favorite bloggers and bakers  from around the cyber world.  
Happy Planning!


Autumn Leaf Cookie Tutorial

Turkey Cookie Tutorial

Turkey Cookie Sticks 

by The Decorated Cookie

Easy Turkey Cookie Platter

by Sweet Sugarbelle

Turkey Nugget Cookies

by The Bearfoot Baker

Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

by Lilaloa

Thanksgiving Cookies 

by The Baked Equation

Thanksgiving Pie Cookie Tutorial

by Cookie Crazie

Thanksgiving Cookies

by Oh Sugar!

These are a few of the ladies that inspire me everyday.

I hope you find something that inspires you!!!

Thanksgiving cookies...Make a Wish!

A few days ago I was in Target,  wandering around aimlessly enjoying a peppermint mocha  intently focused on my shopping list, when a super cute greeting card caught my eye.


I didn't quite get it at first... then about ten steps later I started giggling and had to go back!

It's a wishbone!!!



Too cute.
I had to turn it into a cookie!

Then I shipped them off to my cousin Laura and her family.
Because I miss them.
And I wish they were here.

If you like this post, you'll also like:

Turkey cookies!

Pumpkin or Chocolate?

Christmas cookies...finally!

Turkey Cookie Tutorial!

Oh those Turkeys! Who knew so many people wanted to make them? Because you asked...here you go!

Oh!  And I have a new shopping button!!!
It's over in the sidebar...its pretty and navy blue and says "Lizy B's Favorite Things"!
It links to an amazon store where I've put together items I used in my tutorials.
Does that sound good? I get lots of 'where did you get that' emails, so I thought it would help!

Let's make Turkeys! (Just a warning....there's a lot of pictures.) You can pipe this little guy's body freehand if you'd like. I use some guides because I hate dislike piping circles and ovals. I have the worst time trying to keep them even.

  I use a boo-boo stick (or a toothpick), a circle cutter, an oval cutter and a regular sized decorating tip.

Oh yeah...and a cookie.  This turkey is really a seashell.

My oval cutter is about half as large as my cookie...1 1/2 inches.

Place it in the middle, almost at the bottom.

Don't forget to leave space for the little turkey toes.

Trace around the inside of your cutter with the boo-boo stick.

You've got a turkey body!

If your cookie is on the soft side you could just push on the cutter

and make a little indentation.

But then sometimes this happens.

Ouch.

Grab a decorating tip and place it where the head would be.

Make sure to overlap the circle and oval a bit.

Push down and rock back and forth (gently) to make an impression.

Almost there!

I use a 2 1/2 inch circle cutter for the tail....

...and trace inside with the boo-boo stick.

Yes...there will be lots of crumbs.

Brush them all off with a soft brush!

There he is!!

Hmmmm...Tom's looking a little pale though.

Time for some color!

(all colors are Americolor gels)

With light brown piping icing 

(a little chocolate brown + a drop of gold + a drop of black)

and a number 2 tip...

1. outline the oval

2. outline the top of the circle

3. outline the bottom curve of the tail

With dark brown piping icing

(a lot of chocolate brown + a little black + a little gold)

and a number 2 tip

1. outline the middle curve on either side of the head

2. outline the outer edge of tail.

Let that all dry.

For the tail feathers I used flood consistency icing in squeeze bottles 

1. dark brown (see above)

2. dark red (super red + maroon + a little chocolate brown)

3. orange (orange + terracotta)

4. ivory 

But use any colors you like!

Flood tail with dark brown and immediately pipe colored stripes.

Drag a toothpick through all three stripes, starting at the outer edge.

I like to start at the 'valley' of each little scallop.

Let it dry.

Don't touch!

Fill in the body with light brown flood.

Give him a nice round tummy.

It might crater a bit, but I kinda like it.

Let dry.

Fill in sides a little less than the tummy.

(wanna guess what's next)

Let dry.

Fill in the head, make it nice and round.

Letting him dry well (I try to give him an hour with a fan) between steps

helps to create lots of dimension.

...and then it got dark and there were no more pictures...

so I'll walk you through the rest.

For the wings, use dark brown icing and a number 4 tip for the outer edge 

and build it up past the height of his middle section.

Then switch to a number 2 for the inside edge.

I've done the entire outline in a number 2, but sometimes the flood icing spills out.

Not good.

Flood with dark brown.

At this point, let him dry overnight.

The next morning, dress him up however you'd like!

Hat: black piping icing with a 2

Hatband, waddle and bow: red piping with a 1

Nose and toes: orange piping with a 1

Eyes: dark brown with a 1

Remember...no two turkeys look exactly alike,

so make them however you'd like!

Have a Happy Turkey Day Everyone!!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might also like:

Fall Leaf Cookie Tutorial

Let's Talk About Writing On A Cookie!

Royal Icing, Step-by-Step

Turkey Cookies!

I made these Turkey cookies last year.
I tried to make different ones this year.  
I really did.

But you know what they say...
you've seen one turkey....you've seen 'em all.

We'll just call these little guys leftovers and call it a day.




Time for thanksgiving cookies!

These gave me a bit of a headache, because really, when I think of a turkey, I think of dinner.

Pepperidge farm stuffing, some mashed potatoes, LOTS of gravy...

I don't think 'cookie'.....no, I don't....not so much.

So...I had never made a turkey cookie.  Never.  Hadn't even thought about it.

(of course, I did have a turkey cookie cutter, just hadn't used it.)

So here they are.....I'd like to introduce you to...

Tom

and....Tina?....Trish?....Tori?

is there a name for a girl turkey?

Tom and Teresa were made for each other....and decided to run away together!

(How scandalous!)

Teresa's Daddy heard about the plan and put a stop to it!!!

He brought his brothers, Todd and Ted.

So there you go....

Turkey cookies and some bad humor....

...at least I didn't use any fowl language.....

If you liked this post, you'll also like:
Pumpkin or Chocolate?
Thanksgiving
Thank You Notes

Pumpkin or Chocolate?

So which one are you?  Pumpkin pie lover or chocolate?  

My mom loves pumpkin pie any time of the year.  I've heard reports that cousin Craig just may get a little  grumpy if he doesn't end Thanksgiving with a slice of pie and a little cool whip on top (or was that a bowl of cool whip and a little pie on top....hmmmm).

I'll always take chocolate cream pie.  Really though, I'm happier if it has a graham cracker crust.  Not a big pie crust fan.

My husband, on the other hand, doesn't like either.  Know why?  Not enough crust.  Not even close!

For Joe, a proper pie needs: 

   1. A bottom crust  AND a top crust.

   2.  Some sort of fruit filling that looks a whole lot like apples....

   3.  It must be warm.

   4.  There absolutely must be, no doubt about it, don't even think of handing him the plate if there

        isn't, vanilla ice cream on top.

   5.  No whip cream.

He's not a picky eater....he just knows what he likes.

In other words, these cookies are not for him....

Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Cream Pie Cookies!!!

I'm certainly not the first to make these.  Ali Bee's Bake Shop did the first ones I saw a year or so ago.

Hers are ah-mazing, and I've wanted to try them ever since.

I wanted to do something a little different, a little unique, and since they still need to look like pies.....there's not too much wiggle room.

So I tried to think back to the last time I made a pie....

....that didn't help....

then I remembered my grandmother doing this when she'd make lemon meringue pie for my mom.

Did your grandmother do this?  The 'crimp the edges with a fork' thing on the edges?

No?  Oh.

Well, I'm pretty sure mine did.

This was before Martha came around and let us know we were supposed to be braiding and stamping and carving the edges into who-knows-what.

That's what her pies looked like!

So....which would you pick?

Pumpkin?

Or Chocolate Cream?

 Or some of each?

Thanks for stopping by,

Lizy B