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Turkey cookies are super-cute and they’re perfect for Thanksgiving. With their candy corn tail feathers, candy eyes and butterscotch chip beak, they’re instantly recognizable as our favorite autumn bird. These whimsical little treats also have a pumpkin cream cheese frosting inside, just like a kind of sweet stuffing. So, consider making these cute Thanksgiving turkey cookies this year to thrill and impress your dinner guests, especially the kids.
Everyone loves macaron-based turkey cookies. They’re easy to make and you can gift them to loved ones or make them as an activity so everyone decorates their own.
Also consider white chocolate cranberry cupcakes or pumpkin shaped cinnamon rolls. For a savory bite, make a hot turkey sandwich.
Why You’ll Love It
Oh so cute: Cookies are always best when they’re homemade and the combination of candy corn, candy sprinkles and butterscotch chips or pumpkin chocolate chips makes these a delight to look at, and of course a delight to eat.
Simple to make: Although it might look like there are lots of different steps in the recipe, there’s nothing difficult in the list of directions. Since the cookies are macarons, read the recipe through carefully first before you start making them.
Ideal for your dessert table: Since these turkey sugar cookies look so good, they can take pride of place on your Thanksgiving table and draw many admiring glances!
Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Almond flour and powdered sugar: Make the smooth base for the macaron shells. Blue Diamond (here) is perhaps the best choice or Costco almond flour (second choice. Both of these almond flours are already finely sifted and provide the best texture for the macarons.
Cinnamon: Adds warm fall spice to the shells.
Egg whites and cream of tartar: Create the meringue that helps the shells form their delicate texture.
Granulated sugar: Sweetens and stabilizes the meringue.
Pumpkin puree, butter, cream cheese: Combine into the creamy pumpkin buttercream center.
Brown sugar and spices: Enhance the pumpkin flavour with cinnamon and pumpkin spice.
Powdered sugar: Thickens and sweetens the buttercream filling.
Garnishes: Use butterscotch chips, candy eyes and candy corn to decorate each cookie to look like a turkey.
Food coloring: Gel food coloring is what’s recommended for making macarons. You can also use powdered food coloring. You can add the food coloring at the end of the meringue process or when doing the macaronage process (when you are mixing the meringue with the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture). I recommend for a darker shade of green doing it during the macaronage process. Don’t add too much food coloring or it can cause the macarons not to bake properly. I was able to add 7 drops of gel food coloring during the macaronage process.
How to Make a Turkey Cookie Recipe
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the macaron mixture: Sift the almond meal, powdered sugar and cinnamon in one bowl and beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in another then add the white sugar to the egg mixture.
Finish the macaron batter: Mix half the powdered sugar and almond meal into the egg whites and then add the rest in, along with some food coloring.
Pipe the macaron batter: Pipe the batter onto a silicon baking mat lined baking sheet, let them sit for a while and then bake them.
Make the buttercream frosting: Strain the excess water off the pumpkin puree, then mix it with the other frosting ingredients.
Add the frosting to the macarons: Sandwich together pairs of macarons with the frosting between them.
Decorate the turkey cookies: Melt a few of the butterscotch chips and use it to stick the candy eyes on to the turkey cookies, then add the rest of the butterscotch chips as beaks and use candy corns for the tails, with the candy corn facing the longest edge outwards like in the photos.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten free option: These are already gluten free if your decorations and additives are gluten free.
Different colour shells: Use orange or red food colouring for a pumpkin‑themed twist.
Filling flavours: Swap part of the pumpkin puree for sweet potato or cinnamon apple butter.
Decoration ideas: Try mini candy pumpkins or edible markers to draw turkey faces. Use different kinds of candy for the candy turkey cookies decorations if you like, or white frosting with a little blob of black frosting or melted chocolate in the center if you don’t have candy eyes (here).
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Enjoy these brie cranberry bites.
Main course: Serve your Thanksgiving turkey with sheet pan roasted carrots or gouda cream cheese corn and some mashed potatoes.
For dessert: Pair your turkey cookies with apple pie jello shots and air fryer cornbread cake.
How to Store Macaron Turkey Cookies
Store: These will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Freeze: Freeze the turkey cookies for up to a month.
Thaw: Thaw them overnight in the fridge.
Top Tips
Flip baking sheets: You want to flip your baking sheets upside down. I know this sounds weird, but this helps provide better airflow to the macarons and more even baking.
Oven temperature: Having the correct oven temperature for macarons is critical. I recommend having an oven thermometer. If you have problems with cracked shells or spreading macaron shells, consider lowering the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. You could even pipe a few macarons on the mat to dry and test the oven temperature instead of doing a full pan.
Making the beak: For the beak, you can use butterscotch or caramel chips found in the baking section. Other ideas are melting some orange candy melts and piping on a beak or you could also cut orange Reeses pieces in half.
Turkey expressions: You could also take your turkey macarons to the next level by giving them expressions. Get a black edible marker and draw on a smiley face or even a scared face for fun! You could even give them eye brows. The fun you have decorating them can be a lot of fun!
Clean tools well: Vinegar wipe prevents greasy residue and helps shells rise.
Fold gently: Stop folding as soon as batter flows in ribbons to avoid overmixing.
Rest shells: Let shells dry before baking to prevent cracking.
Chill filling: A slightly chilled buttercream holds up better when piping and decorating.
Turkey Cookie FAQs
No, you need to use almond meal here because that’s one of the main ingredients in macarons and using regular flour won’t work here.
When baking, it’s very important to measure your ingredients accurately, which is why you need to use a digital scale and grams in order to be sure your macarons come out right.
Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies with Candy Corn
Thanksgiving Turkey Macarons
Equipment
- Spatula Large and Flexible
- Silicon Mats
- Pastry Bag with Round Piping Tip
Ingredients
For the Macaron Shells
- 140 Grams almond flour
- 125 Grams powdered sugar
- 1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 105 Grams egg whites
- ¼ Teaspoon cream of tartar
- 105 Grams granulated sugar
- gel food coloring, brown
For the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 Ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ Cup pumpkin puree
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ Teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 2 Cups powdered sugar, might need up to ½ Cup more
To Decorate
- ½ Cup butterscotch chips
- candy eyes
- 1 Bag candy corn
Other
- vinegar
Instructions
Wipe Equipment
- Before starting, wipe down bowls, attachments, spatulas, and baking mats with vinegar to eliminate any grease or residue. This is essential to help make sure your macarons come out correctly.
Make the Macaron Batter
- Sift together the almond meal, powdered sugar, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Set bowl aside.
- Add the egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on the stand mixer on low and mix the egg whites until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- With the mixer running, slowly start to add the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the stand mixer speed to medium speed and continue to mix until your meringue reaches stiff peaks. This takes around 5 to 6 minutes, but be sure to check it often to avoid over-mixing.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer.
Start the Macaronage Process
- Add half of the powdered sugar/almond meal mixture to the egg whites. With a large flexible spatula fold until combined. Then add the remaining mixture to the egg whites and fold in until incorporated.
- Once all the almond flour is added, begin adding the green gel food coloring. I added 7 drops to the batter to get color in the photos. Note: you can add coloring during the meringue process too, but adding it during the macaronage process helps to get a deeper color.
- Continue mixing by scraping the batter against the side of the bowl. The batter is done being mixed once the batter flows in ribbons off the spatula. Test the batter for doneness by trying to make a figure 8 with the batter while is it falling off the spatula into the bowl. It’s done if the ribbon does not break. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Line an upside-down baking sheet with silicon baking mats, preferably ones with circle templates for macarons.
Pipe the Macarons
- Fill a piping bag with a round piping tip with the batter. Pipe the batter on the baking mat following the template on the mat.
- Once done piping, carefully rap or bang the pan on the countertop to get rid of any air bubbles. Using a toothpick or scribe, pop any air bubbles. Quickly then top with the crushed fruity pebbles on the macarons.
- Allow your macarons to dry for 40 to 45 minutes until a skin forms. This may take longer depending on humidity.
Bake the Macarons
- Preheat your oven to 300°F.
- Bake each tray separately for 13 to 14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow macarons to cool completely on the mat. Don't remove until completely cooled, 15 to 20 minutes.
Make the Buttercream
- While the macarons are baking, start preparing the pumpkin cream cheese buttercream.
- Take a few paper towels and use them to squeeze the excess moisture our of the pumpkin puree. You can do this over a bowl or sink. You may need to do this twice to remove all the moisture. Please note this is a critical step for making the frosting otherwise you are going to have too much moisture and will use a ton of powdered sugar to get a thick frosting.
- Add the pumpkin puree, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar to a bowl. Cream together for 2 minutes.
- Add the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add another cup of powdered sugar and mix until combined again. Add more powdered sugar as needed to get the desired consistency. You want a nice pipeable consistency for the macarons.
Sandwich the Macaron Halves Together
- Put the buttercream into a piping bag.
- Before filling the macarons, match each up into pairs similar in size.
- Add the buttercream filling to a shell and then sandwich together.
Chill Them
- I recommend chilling the macarons for at least an hour in the refrigerator before decorating. Please note that macarons need a full 24 hours in the refrigerator to mature, so you can even decorate the next day just bring them to room temperature so that you can add the candy corns to the frosting.
Decorate Them
- To decorate, melt about ¼ cup of the butterscotch chips in the microwave. I recommend doing this slowly in 15 to 20-second increments.
- Once the butterscotch chips are melted, use a toothpick to apply a small amount of the melted butterscotch to the back of the candy sprinkle eye and then attach it to the macaron.
- Once both eyes are placed on the macaron, use the toothpick to add some melted butterscotch to a single butterscotch chip and just below the eyes.
- Next take a few candy corns and place them in the buttercream frosting to create a tail. I recommend using 4 or 5 candy corns.
Notes
Oven temperature: Having the correct oven temperature for macarons is critical. I recommend having an oven thermometer. If you have problems with cracked shells or spreading macaron shells, consider lowering the temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. You could even pipe a few macarons on the mat to dry and test the oven temperature instead of doing a full pan.
Making the beak: For the beak, you can use butterscotch or caramel chips found in the baking section. Other ideas are melting some orange candy melts and piping on a beak or you could also cut orange Reeses pieces in half.
Turkey expressions: You could also take your turkey macarons to the next level by giving them expressions. Get a black edible marker and draw on a smiley face or even a scared face for fun! You could even give them eye brows. The fun you have decorating them can be a lot of fun!
Clean tools well: Vinegar wipe prevents greasy residue and helps shells rise.
Fold gently: Stop folding as soon as batter flows in ribbons to avoid overmixing.
Rest shells: Let shells dry before baking to prevent cracking.
Chill filling: A slightly chilled buttercream holds up better when piping and decorating.
Nutrition
Thanksgiving turkey cookies ingredients bring playful holiday style to a classic French dessert with sweet pumpkin buttercream and candy decorations. The almond‑flour shells paired with rich filling and candy tails make them perfect for Thanksgiving dessert tables or kid‑friendly holiday parties. You can prep shells or filling ahead and assemble the Thanksgiving macarons later for easy timing. They look charming, taste seasonal and provide a fun project to enjoy and share.
Other Recipes to Try
- Also try a Rustic Cranberry Galette, with a flaky crust and tart cranberry filling.
- Pumpkin S’more Cookies combine pumpkin, chocolate and marshmallow.
- Fun Thanksgiving treats: Rolo Pretzel Turkeys & Nutter Butter Turkey Cookies!
- A perfect blend of sweet and savory, this Pineapple Glazed Ham is so good!
- These Rice Krispie Turkey Legs are really cute!
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
My family loved this recipe so much!! I’ll make this again soon!