Oh my goodness! How is it November already?! This year has been flying by WAY too fast. I’m starting to think about Thanksgiving – and I’m beginning to stress a little about Christmas. When the holidays approach, I often get a “how am I going to get everything done” feeling before I really even know what I actually need to get done. LOL What a weirdo, right?

Like most years, I’ve made a vow to try and get started a little earlier this year with the planning, decorating and baking, so things won’t seem so overwhelming. Lucky for you, you’re coming along with me for the ride. 🙂 I hope you do follow along with me the next couple months, because we’re going to have some fun. Crafts, food, silliness, even some fashion! Whaaatt? Yep, true dat.

Okay, so today, we’re having some silly turkey fun! Preparing for the holidays HAS to include some FUN FOOD, and these Tom Turkey Cupcakes are just that!

What I’m sharing today is more of a tutorial than a recipe. You know why I love that? All you need to worry about here is decorating. Now, I did bake the cupcakes in my kitchen, but I’ll admit. . .it was a boxed cake mix. Feel free to use your favorite cupcake recipe along with your favorite chocolate frosting recipe. Buy boxed and canned, or make your own. The choice is yours!

So, let’s get started on this cute and crazy turkey! Here’s what you’re going to need to make your own Tom Turkey:

Ingredients & Materials:

• Frosted cupcake (use chocolate frosting)
• Chocolate frosting
• Nutter Butter cookie
• Mega M&M candy (cut in half)
• Two candy eyes
• Twizzlers or piece of red licorice
• Striped cookie
• Oreo sandwich cookie (cut in half)
• Airheads bar (orange)
• 5-6 candy corns
• Sprinkles (Jimmies) – brown and yellow
• Toothpick (not shown)

I figured you all would have some questions on how I made the legs for the turkey. I used an Airheads orange flavored candy bar. Airheads are great for food crafts because they’re moldable and easy to shape. I used a knife to cut out two longer rectangles from the bar and then actually used a small, “clean” flathead screwdriver to cut the toes (or claws) for each foot. After I cut the shape out of the candy, I just used my fingers to shape them a bit to give them a more realistic look.

The legs are really the most time consuming part of the project. So, when you’re done with those, it’s smooth sailing after that. If you have teenagers who can help with cutting out and shaping the legs, get them into the kitchen! They’ll have fun with it too, I promise. And hey, just between you and me, if you want to forego the legs altogether, we’re still friends. Personally, though, those legs just make the bird, don’t you think?!

Alright, so let’s start making this cupcake into a terrific turkey!! I’m going to take you through it all, step by step.

1. Decorate both halves of the Oreo cookie with the yellow sprinkles. Set aside.
2. Add the brown sprinkles to the frosted cupcake. Set aside.
3. Dip the toothpick into the frosting and adhere the eyes and a half of M&M (for the nose) to the Nutter Butter cookie.
4. Cut off a thin piece of Twizzlers candy and use frosting to adhere it to the right side of the nose on the Nutter Butter cookie. Set aside.
5. Frost the top half of the striped cookie and adhere the five candy corns to act as the turkey feathers. Set aside.
6. Use a knife to cut a slit into the back of the cupcake.
7. Insert the striped cookie into the slit you just cut. Cut a slit into the middle of the cupcake and insert the Nutter Butter. Finally cut slits into each of the sides of the cupcake and insert an Oreo cookie half into each side.
8. Insert the turkey legs into the front of the cupcake (in front of the Nutter Butter).
9. Sit back and admire the cutest creation ever!!

I mean, seriously, I dare you NOT to smile at this crazy turkey! Notice that mine has two different sizes of pupils? Josh, my hubby, thinks it makes him even more goofy looking. I would have to agree with that one! LOL

He’s almost too cute to eat, right? Get over it. He’s going to be delicious – just like that beautiful roasted turkey we all look forward to on Thanksgiving. Have I ever mentioned how juicy and delicious my Mom’s turkeys are? Oh my goodness. The entire family looks forward to her Thanksgiving meal each and every year.

If you want to make these turkey cupcakes for Thanksgiving and plan to make them the night before, just make sure you have a container that’s tall enough to store them so all of the “pieces” of the turkey are kept fresh.

If you’re thinking about serving these to children, have them join in on the creation of the cupcakes! Give each child a frosted cupcake along with a little cup with all of the “pieces” and a plastic knife (or have an adult help cut the slits for the pieces) and guide them through the process. I think this would be so much fun for scouts, church groups, etc. They would have such a cute cupcake to take home to their parents! I know if my kids brought this cupcake home, I would be completely impressed! Have fun making yours!

Tom Turkey Cupcakes

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The cutest Thanksgiving dessert that will grace the table this year! These cupcakes make great projects for the classroom or at home!

• Yield: 1

Ingredients

• Frosted Cupcake (chocolate frosting)
• Chocolate frosting
• Nutter Butter cookie
• Mega M&M (cut in half)
• Two candy eyes
• Red licorice
• Striped cookie
• Oreo sandwich cookie (cut in half)
• Airheads bar (orange) shaped into two turkey legs (check out post for detailed instructions)
• 5 candy corns
• Sprinkles (Jimmies) – brown and yellow
• Toothpick

Instructions

1. Decorate both halves of the Oreo cookie with the yellow sprinkles. Set aside.
2. Add the brown sprinkles to the top of the frosted cupcake. Set aside.
3. Dip the toothpick into the frosting and adhere the eyes and a half of M&M (for the nose) to the Nutter Butter cookie.
4. Cut off a thin piece of Twizzlers candy and use frosting to adhere it to the right side of the nose on the Nutter Butter cookie. Set aside.
5. Frost the top half of the striped cookie and adhere the five candy corns to act as the turkey feathers. Set aside.
6. Use a knife to cut a slit into the back of the cupcake.
7. Insert the striped cookie into the slit you just cut. Cut a slit into the middle of the cupcake and insert the Nutter Butter. Finally cut slits into each of the sides of the cupcake and insert an Oreo cookie half into each side.
8. Insert the turkey legs into the front of the cupcake (in front of the Nutter Butter).
9. Sit back and admire the cutest creation ever!!

Notes

• Detailed instructions on creating the legs are included within the post.

Nutrition

• Calories: 1484
• Sugar: 148
• Sodium: 562
• Fat: 31
• Saturated Fat: 17
• Unsaturated Fat: 10
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 232
• Protein: 66
• Cholesterol: 159

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