These adorable gingerbread turkey cookies are such a fun and silly way for kids to celebrate Thanksgiving! Adults and children alike will love every part of this activity – from the baking, to the decorating, to the eating!

My kids and I were inspired to make these funny 3D gingerbread turkey cookies after strolling the aisles of Trader Joe’s getting groceries the other day. We saw a turkey kit on the shelf and thought, we don’t need a store-bought kit! We could totally make our own from scratch! And I was right. It was fun and not too complicated. Read on to find out what you need to make your own!

Gingerbread Turkey cookieS Template

First of all, you will need to use my printable template: Turkey Template to create the turkey cookie pieces. Or if you choose to freehand it or make your own template, here are the parts you will need:

Base
Feathers
Body
Head
Feet (optional)
Support post (optional)

How to make the dough for your gingerbread turkey cookies

Gingerbread recipe – I modified the gingerbread house recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction for this activity. You will find the recipe at the bottom of this post.
Assemble the dry ingredients – In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground allspice. Then set aside.
Beat the wet ingredients together – Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat softened butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl for about 2 minutes, or until smooth and creamy. Next, beat in the egg, molasses, and water on high speed until fully combined. Then, on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and beat until well combined. The dough will be really thick.
Divide the cookie dough – Divide the dough in two equal parts and create a flattened disc. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (and up to 3 days).
Preheat the oven – Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Cut the shapes – Remove each ball of dough from the refrigerator and roll out in between two pieces of parchment paper (the dough is sticky, and the parchment paper helps tremendously!). Then roll it to 1/4 inch thick. Next, place a turkey part on top of the rolled out dough and using a sharp knife, carefully cut out the shapes.
Arrange the shapes – Carefully lift up your pieces and arrange on the baking sheets, at least 3 inches apart. If the pieces lose their shape, remold the parts carefully on the baking sheet.
Baking times – Finally, you will need to bake your turkey pieces. First, bake the feathers and base for 18-20 minutes and bake the body and head for 12-13 minutes. You want the edges lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow the parts to cool completely, on a flat surface. A flat surface is important to keep the parts from curling up on the sides.

how to make icing for your gingerbread turkey Cookies

Royal Icing Recipe – I used the Royal Icing Recipe from Food.com. It was very easy and worked perfectly for this activity. I’ve included it in the recipe below, but if you have another recipe you love, use that one instead!
Ingredients – You will only need confectioner’ sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar for this recipe.
How to make it – Combine the confectioner sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a large bowl. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer to high and beat unit thick and very white. The mixture should hold a peak and will take at least 7 to 10 minutes on high speed.
Don’t let your icing dry out – Because royal icing dries out quickly and will form a crust on top, you will need to cover it with plastic wrap. You’ll need your icing very smooth to pass through the icing bag.

Constructing your gingerbread turkey cookies

Arrange turkey pieces. First, lay out the turkey pieces on a flat surface. You should have a base, feathers, body, and a head. You could add feet and a support beam in the back, if desired.
Decorate. Next, use an icing bag with a small hole cut in the bottom to squeeze the icing out of. Begin by outlining the feathers, body, and head of your turkey with a thin line of icing. Then use the icing on to attach various candies, sprinkles, and googley eyes to decorate all the parts. We used googley eyes, Reese’s Pieces, and candy corn to decorate our turkey, but the options are endless! Then ice and decorate the base, keeping the base hole clear of icing. Lay each part flat, and allow the icing to dry before moving on.
Assemble turkey parts. Once your icing and decorations have dried, you’ll need to put the cookie parts together to make your turkey. First, cover the back of the circular body with icing. Place on top of the feathers, icing side down, with a small piece left exposed on the bottom to fit into the hole base. Once that has dried, cover the back of the head with icing, and with the beak pointing down, place on top of the body. Once the icing dries, fill the base hole and its edges with icing and place the bottom of the circular turkey body into the hole. You will need to hold it still for several minutes until it dries and you may even need to reinforce it with a triangular shaped support in the back.
Enjoy! Finally, after your gingerbread turkey cookie is finished, let it set for at least 4 hours. And then you could either eat it right away (what my kids wanted to do!) or keep it. We kept ours on display through Thanksgiving. You may want to discard the cookie though, if it is left out longer than three days, because it will grow stale.

How to Make Gingerbread Turkey Cookies

Yield: 1 large 3D cookie

Prep Time: 1 day

Active Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 1 day 2 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Estimated Cost: $10

Materials

For the cookie dough: all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, butter, brown sugar, 1 large egg, dark molasses, water
For the icing: 3 egg whites, powdered sugar, cream of tartar
Other: Turkey Template, and assorted candies for decorating

Tools

scissors
baking sheet
parchment paper
plastic wrap
stand mixer
rolling pin
small knife
cutting board
icing bag
large plate or tray to display turkey

Instructions

Cut out turkey cookie shapes with the printable template. Set aside until ready to use.
Make your gingerbread dough using this recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
6 tablespoons salted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark molasses
2 tablespoons water

Directions

-Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice together in a large bowl. Set aside.
-In a large bowl using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, molasses, and water on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
-On low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined. The cookie dough will be very thick.
-Divide the cookie dough in half, flatten into discs, and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 3 days.
-Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 1 large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
Cut out turkey cookie shapes: Remove each disc from the refrigerator and roll each out in between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Lightly flour the underside of gingerbread house template shapes. (The dough is sticky and the paper may stick to it otherwise.) Using a small knife, carefully cut the dough into the gingerbread turkey template shapes. If you have extra dough, you could use it for gingerbread cookies or cut out other shapes to add to your turkey.
Bake the turkey cookie shapes: Carefully arrange the turkey shapes onto the baking sheet, and straighten edges, if they lost some of their shape when transferring to the baking sheet. Bake the feathers and base for 18-20 minutes. Bake the body and head for 12-13 minutes. You want the edges lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow the parts to cool completely, on a flat surface. A flat surface is important to keep the parts from curling up on the sides. Cooled gingerbread house pieces can be made up to 1 week in advance, cover tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature before using.
Make the royal icing using this recipe:

Ingredients

3 large egg whites
4 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

-In a large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer at medium speed.
-Add powdered sugar in small amounts (1/2 cup at a time), mixing well on high speed after each addition.
-After all the sugar has been added, beat on high speed for 4-5 minutes or until mixture thickens and creates peaks.
-Refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.
Assemble turkey:

-Lay out the turkey pieces on a flat surface. You should have a base, feathers, body, and a head. You could add feet and a support beam in the back, if desired.
-Decorate the turkey by putting royal icing in an icing bag with a small hole cut in the bottom to squeeze the icing out of. Begin by outlining the feathers, body, and head of your turkey with a thin line of icing. Then use the icing on to attach various candies, sprinkles, and googley eyes to decorate all the parts. Then ice and decorate the base, keeping the base hole clear of icing. Lay each part flat, and allow the icing to dry before moving on.
-Once your icing and decorations have dried, you'll need to put the cookie parts together to make your turkey. First, cover the back of the circular body with icing. Place on top of the feathers, icing side down, with a small piece left exposed on the bottom to fit into the hole base. Once that has dried, cover the back of the head with icing, and with the beak pointing down, place on top of the body. Once the icing dries, fill the base hole and its edges with icing and place the bottom of the circular turkey body into the hole. You will need to hold it still for several minutes until it dries and you may even need to reinforce it with a triangular shaped support in the back.
Once your gingerbread turkey cookie is finished, you could either eat it right away or keep it. The cookie should be eaten within three days or it will grow stale.