Keep Calm and Gobble On: Nutter Butter Turkey Cupcakes!

These little gobblers are fun Thanksgiving treat for kids, using Nutter Butter cookies, licorice wattles and candy corn fantails!

 I saw these cute Nutter Butter Turkey Cupcakes

on the cover of Family Circle Magazine!

These little gobblers are fun to make with Thanksgiving on the way!

I had some left over candy corn and Wilton Candy Eyes in my Halloween stash,

along with orange chocolate covered sunflower seeds

 used to make my Happy Owl-oween Cookies.

The turkey faces take a little time assembling but go

pretty fast once you gather your supplies together.

You can make the turkey faces in advance and store in an airtight container

until ready to assemble and serve your cupcakes.

Use the cupcake recipe of your choice.

I used the cake mix and soda can method for quick and easy cupcakes!

It’s ideal when you’re in a hurry (or running low on eggs) and requires only two ingredients

. . . a 12 ounce can of soda and a boxed cake mix.

The possibilities are endless for your cake and soda combinations.

I used a spice cake mix and a can of ginger ale for these gobblers for a little Thanksgiving spice flavor.

Follow the directions on the box mix for baking and they test done with a toothpick.

My cupcakes baked in about 12 minutes.

Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack before adding the frosting of your choice.

To assemble the turkey faces you’ll need:

Strawberry Twizzlers, or red licorice

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Wilton edible candy eyes (I found mine at Target)

Orange candy-coated sunflower seeds (I found mine at HomeGoods)

Candy corn (6 – 8 per cupcake)

Wilton Food Safe Brushes, available where cake decorating supplies are sold (I found mine at Michaels)

 In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 – 3 teaspoons of water,

 until you have the right consistency to make a “glue” to apply

the candy features to the Nutter Butter cookies.

I used a food safe brush (Wilton) to brush on sugar mixture to attach the candy.

 With kitchen shears, cut Twizzlers into small wattle shaped pieces.

Use candy corn to make the tail feathers, 6 – 8 pieces per cupcake.

Here’s a cautionary tail :) -> don’t add them until right before serving since the candy corn

will begin to dissolve in the frosting and your turkey will lose his tail feathers prematurely!

Allow the faces to set up after the candy features are “glued” in place.

I assembled mine and checked on them in 30 minutes and they were ready to go.

I made a small slit in the top of the frosted cupcake with a knife before pushing the turkey/ Nutter Butter cookie down in the cupcake.

The recipe in the magazine called for baking jumbo size cupcakes,

but I baked regular size cupcakes and filled my cupcakes liners with a little extra batter,

so the cupcakes would bake a little taller and there would be more cake to hold the cookie in place.

It also called for cutting part of the bottom of the cookie off before

adding it to the cupcake but I used the whole cookie.

Print Recipe

Nutter Butter Turkey Cupcakes

These little gobblers are fun Thanksgiving treat for kids, using Nutter Butter cookies, licorice wattles and candy corn fantails!

Prep Time1 hour hr

0 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy corn, cupcakes, kid's dessert, Nutter Butter cookies, red licorice, Thanksgiving, turkeys

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Equipment

• food safe brush (I used Wilton, available where cake decorating supplies are sold)

Ingredients

• 24 Cupcakes baked, cooled and frosted
• 24 Nutter Butter Cookies 1 per cupcake
• 2 - 3 Strawberry Twizzlers
• ½ cup confectioners' sugar
• Wilton edible candy eyes 2 per cupcake
• Orange candy-coated sunflower seeds 1 per cupcake
• Candy corn 6 – 8 per cupcake

Instructions

• With kitchen shears, cut Twizzlers into small diagonal pieces to make turkey wattles
• In a small bowl, whisk confectioners' sugar and 2 – 3 tsp water, creating a thick frosting to “glue” candy features.
• Using a food safe brush, attach eyes, a candy-coated sunflower seed for the beak and a Twizzlers piece for the wattle to each Nutter Butter using confectioners' sugar mixture. Allow candy to set 30 minutes.
• When ready to assemble, make a small slit in the top of each frosted cupcake with a knife before adding the turkey cookie.
• Right before serving add the candy corn tail feathers (6 or 8 per cupcake). Adding candy corn too soon will cause the candy the dissolve in the frosting.

Notes

• Make Nutter Butter turkeys a day ahead, storing in in airtight container after candy has set, until ready to assemble.
• Add additional batter to cupcake liners for cupcakes to bake taller with more cake to hold the cookie in place, or trim bottom of cookie if needed if cookies won't stand upright in cupcake.
• Use the cupcake and frosting recipe of your choice. For a quick and easy cupcake recipe see: Easy 2-Ingredient Cupcakes.

Find 20+ Thanksgiving Recipes You’ll Want to Gobble, HERE.

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