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Gobble Up Some Delicious Thanksgiving Cookies Decorated By Yours Truly!
Take your Thanksgiving cookie decorating to the next level with custom cookie shapes and homemade icing!
If you liked decorating cookies for Halloween, you’ll LOVE decorating cookies for Thanksgiving! While we often think of decorating cookies as a Halloween or Christmas activity, there is a sizable length of time between the two holidays that we think needs to be filled with sugar, spice, and something very nice! Decorating cookies is a great way to involve your kids in a holiday that’s famous for cooking and provide some family-friendly entertainment for participants of all ages. Plus, you’ll be guaranteed to have a tasty dessert if you have any room left in your bellies after scarfing down your Thanksgiving Turkey!
While we can (and certainly will) direct your attention to some easy Thanksgiving cookie decorating kits, you still have plenty of time to prepare to incorporate some of your own DIY and culinary skills into your Thanksgiving cookie decorating. For example, you may be able to make your own custom cookie cutter shapes, or use this as a learning opportunity to teach your children how to make the perfect icing for cookies. Or, if you don’t consider yourself a baker this is a fun chance to learn a new recipe that could become an annual Thanksgiving tradition!
The Icing:
Since pretty much every type of cookie can be made and decorated depending on your personal preference, it would be too hard to go through every possible cookie recipe out there. That said, we do recommend sugar cookies, as their light color makes it easy for you to decorate the cookies with any design you’d like! But since we won’t be going into great detail about the cookie dough, we’ll move right along to some tips for whipping up the perfect frosting or icing for your cookies. While you can get store-bought icing, making it at home is always more delicious and you’ll be able to use food dye to make sure the icing is colored for Thanksgiving.
Step 1: Decide what type of icing you need.
You will need to decide if you need decorator frosting, sugar cookie icing, royal icing, or a combination of all 3 so you know what you need to make. Decorator frosting is rather basic and easy to apply. Since it stays soft, it’s not a good choice for elaborate or intricate cookie designs because it may smudge. Conversely, sugar cookie icing is made with corn syrup that causes the icing to harden when it dries. Unlike decorator frosting, sugar cookie icing is perfect for more complex designs and culinary artistry.
The last type is royal icing. Royal icing is essentially a baker’s version of glue. Unless you are making a Gingerbread house or want to attach cookies together as part of your design, you probably won’t need this type of icing. However, it was worth mentioning on the chance you’ll be making a Thanksgiving version of a Gingerbread house or want to get creative with making your own cookie shapes.
Once you know what type of icing you need, you’ll also need to decide if it should be thick, thin, or somewhere in between. Thick icing is usually applied to add detailing after a layer of thin sugar cookie icing has already dried and hardened. As you may have guessed, thin icing is best for giving the cookie a smooth layer of color, which you can then accentuate and add details to later. Icing that falls somewhere between thick and thin is ideal for outlining areas you plan to flood with color via thin icing.
Ateco Pastry Bag Decorating Kit
No matter what type of icing you’re working with, you’ll likely need piping bags on hand to help you decorate your cookies. This durable piping bag kit comes with 2 durable nylon bags that can be used again and again, as well as 6 reusable stainless steel tips that can all be used for different purposes. For example, this kit has everything you need to make flowers, stems, dots, beads, stars, shells, write messages, and more with the frosting or icing of your choice!
$20
Buy Now!Step 2: Pick a recipe.
Once you know what type of frosting or icing you need to decorate, you can pick a recipe to help you quickly and easily make it at home. One of our favorite sugar cookie icing recipes is easy to make and only takes about 10 minutes to complete. All you need is 2 cups of powdered sugar, 2-3 tablespoons of milk, 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup, and a half teaspoon of vanilla extract. Combine the mixture with a large mixing bowl and whisk until it reaches the desired texture, while adding a half teaspoon of milk at a time as you mix.
Step 3: Add food coloring.
The last step of making your frosting is to mix in gel food coloring. Since it’s Thanksgiving, you’ll probably want to use Fall colors in your decorating, like red, purple, green, brown, and orange. While you may be able to purchase food coloring in these colors, you may also have to combine colors to make your own custom shades. Just keep in mind that frosting and icing can darken with time!
12 Color Tasteless Food Coloring Set For Baking
This awesome set of vibrant food coloring comes with 12 vibrant colors that are perfect for dyeing icing, frosting, or your cookie dough itself. The colors included are Lemon Yellow, Sunset Yellow, Grass Green, Violet, Grape Purple, Navy Blue, Sky Blue, Red, Brown, Pink, Green and Black. Since some of these colors are already suitable for celebrating Fall, you won’t need to spend much time (if any) combining colors to properly capture your Thanksgiving theme.
$12
Buy Now!The Cookie Shapes:
Deciding what shapes to make your cookies is another decision you and your loved ones will have to make while baking. Luckily, since there are plenty of shapes to choose from for Thanksgiving, you only need to buy new cookie cutters if you want to. For example, you could repurpose your pumpkin cookie cutters for Halloween, combine cookie cutters to make new shapes, or make your own DIY cookie cutters at home. If you need inspiration for Thanksgiving cookie shapes, consider making a variety of these:
1.) Pilgrim Hats
2.) Turkeys
3.) Pumpkins
4.) Fall Leaves
5.) Ear of Corn
6.) Scarecrow
7.) Pumpkin Pie Slice
8.) Cornucopia
9.) Acorn
10.) Fall Wheel Barrow or Harvest Truck
11.) Squirrel
12.) Fox
13.) Football
Fall Thanksgiving Cookie Cutter Set 7-Piece Set with Recipe Booklet
This cookie cutter set gives you the best bang for your buck by giving you 7 Fall-themed cutouts for only $15. The set includes a maple leaf, turkey, oak leaf, pumpkin, football, acorn, and squirrel that will delight your children and guests on Thanksgiving! In addition to cookie dough, these shapes can also be used with fondant, biscuits, brownies, cakes, or craft clay.
$15
Buy Now!Let’s Get Decorating!
Now that you’ve prepared your icing and your cookies, it’s time for the best part: Decorating! Get creative with colors, candy, sprinkles, stencils, and all kinds of decorations to make the perfect Autumn-themed cookies! While you’re having fun decorating with your loved ones, you may even find yourself feeling a little extra grateful as you share some special moments being creative with your family. And what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than partaking in a family-friendly activity that makes you feel gratitude for love and sugar?
Thanksgiving DIY Cookie Decorating Kit
If you’re looking for an easy cookie decorating kit that takes out all the effort so you can have fun, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. The Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving Kit comes with 12 pre-made cookies that are shaped like turkeys and fall leaves. It also includes Fall-colored icing and sparkling sugar sprinkles to decorate your buttery vanilla sugar cookies.
$70
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Happy Thanksgiving Cookie Stencils by Confection Couture
Stencils are a great way to make your cookies look professionally decorated with little to no effort. This Thanksgiving stencil contains 2 themed designs and 2 phrases, such as a pilgrim hat and “Happy Thanksgiving” in a nice font. When not decorating cookies, these stencils can even be repurposed to decorate other baked goods, artwork, or seasonal greeting cards.
$7
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Mystic Sprinkles Thanksgiving Sprinkles Mix
Buying in bulk typically saves you money, and sprinkles are no exception. Even though you’re buying just one container, you’re getting 4 different types of sprinkles for cookie decorating galore! The sprinkles feature a mix of pretty Thanksgiving colors and some are even shaped like Fall leaves!
$15
Buy Now!Get more great holiday inspiration and ideas for your home on Dabl! Check our Dabl TV schedule and find out where to watch Dabl TV.