These fun Thanksgiving cupcakes include instructions on decorating pumpkins, pilgrim hats, pie, and turkey cupcakes!

These fun and festive Thanksgiving cupcakes include tutorials on decorating different Thanksgiving and fall themed cupcakes. With only a few simple ingredients and frostings, you can decorate your own homemade pumpkin cupcakes, turkey cupcakes, and more!

They are a fun dessert the whole family can enjoy making. Plus, they’re a great way to use up leftover Halloween candy!

Ingredients and Tools

For all methods of cupcakes you’ll need the following:

Cupcakes: you can use your favorite cupcake recipe. Chocolate, yellow cupcakes, red velvet, spiced cupcakes, etc. Whatever flavor you want totally works.
Frosting: You can use your favorite buttercream frosting recipe such as American, Swiss Meringue, Italian Meringue, or Ermine colored with gel food coloring for more vibrant colors. Chocolate buttercream also works great for the brown frosting.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Cupcakes and Orange Frosting
Piping Bags with Tip (Wilton 1M and/or 1A or 2A)
Stems: you can use melted and cooled chocolate, pretzels, Rolo candies, etc.

Here are two different version of easy decorated pumpkin cupcakes:

For the tall pumpkins use a Wilton 1 M tip and orange frosting and pipe a swirl onto the cupcake and add a stem. For the flat pumpkins, use a large or medium round tip such as a Wilton 1 or 2 A and piped curved lines, working from the outside inward. Then, add a stem and optional green frosting for leaves or vines and you’re done! You can also mix up the tips for different effects.

Turkey Cupcakes

Cupcakes
Brown Frosting
Feather: You can use candy melts, candy corn, or colored candy like M&Ms.
Turkey Head/Body: Using brown frosting, mini candy bars, or regular or mini Reese’s cups, Nutter Butter Cookies, etc.
Candy Eyes: You can also use white and black frosting.
Nose: Any type of orange candy – half of an orange M&M or Skittles, cut up pieces of candy corn, etc.
Turkey Waddle (optional): Red frosting, red royal icing, or red gel icing such as this

There are so many different ways to decorate turkey cupcakes! You can really use your imagination. Here are some fun and easy ones:

Candy Melt Turkeys

Melt yellow, red, orange, and brown candy melts according to the instructions on the package. While melted, use a spoon or offset spatula to spread the melted chocolate in the shape of a ghost on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Let dry.

Pipe a bit of brown frosting onto a cupcake. Then, you can add either more frosting or unwrapped mini chocolate candy such as mini Reeces, or Nutter Butter Cookies for the turkey head. Using a bit of frosting as glue, add the eyes, nose, and optional turkey waddle to the turkey head.

Candy Corn Turkeys

These are my favorite turkey cupcakes and super easy! Add a bit of brown frosting to the top of a cupcake and then lay the cupcake frosting side down on a piece of parchment. Put in the fridge or freezer until the frosting is hard, about 15-20 minutes. While the cupcakes are in the freezer, cut the mini Reese’s peanut butter cups in half.

When firm, gently remove the cupcakes from the parchment. Using a bit of frosting as glue, add on the halved peanut butter cup to the bottom half of the cupcake. Surround the peanut butter cup with candy corn so it looks like feathers. Using more frosting as glue, add on eyes, a nose, and an optional turkey waddle.

Pilgrim Hat Cupcakes

Frosting: Brown, Cream, White, or Orange
Full Size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or Chocolate covered cookie such as this
Mini Reese’s
M&Ms, Skittles, or other small candy

Pipe colored frosting on a cupcake. Then, top with a Reese’s peanut butter cup, cut in half horizontally, or a cookie such as this. Add a bit of frosting to the middle and add a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup. Pipe frosting around the bottom of the mini peanut butter cup, and add an M&M.

Pumpkin Pie Decorated Cupcake

Orange Frosting
Cream/Light Brown Colored Frosting
White Frosting
Ateco or Wilton 44 Tip

Using the same method as the flat turkey cupcakes, add a bit of brown frosting to the top of a cupcake and then lay the cupcake frosting side down on a piece of parchment. Put in the fridge or freezer until the frosting is hard, about 15-20 minutes. While the cupcakes are in the freezer, fill a pastry bag with cream colored frosting fitted with a small, flat basketweave tip such as a Wilton or Ateco 44.

Once it’s firm gently remove the cupcakes from the parchment. Using the cream colored frosting, pipe a boarder around the edge of the cupcake, gently moving back and forth slightly so it looks like a pie crust. Finish with a dab of white frosting in the middle to look like whipped cream.

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Thanksgiving Cupcakes