Turkey Cupcakes For Thanksgiving

These adorable turkey cupcakes have become one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions with Amy and Bradley. There's something so fun about turning regular chocolate cupcakes into cute little turkeys with candy decorations!

I still remember the first time I made these for Amy's kindergarten Thanksgiving party three years ago. She was so proud watching me arrange the candy corn feathers, and now at 8, she's my official turkey cupcake decorator. Bradley pretends these are "too babyish" for him at 14, but I always catch him sneaking extras when he thinks I'm not looking!

What I love most about these turkey cupcakes is how they bring the kids into the kitchen without any stress. The chocolate cake base is seriously moist thanks to the pudding mix trick I learned years ago, and decorating them feels more like craft time than baking. John says these always disappear faster than any other dessert at our Thanksgiving gathering, and honestly, he's right.

If you're looking for more fun Thanksgiving treats the whole family will enjoy, you'll want to try my easy Thanksgiving turkey cookies that are always a hit with kids too.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These Turkey Cupcakes
• Ingredients For Turkey Cupcakes
• How To Make Turkey Cupcakes
• Storage And Reheating For Turkey Cupcakes
• Tips And Variations For Turkey Cupcakes
• Frequently Asked Questions About Turkey Cupcakes
• Recipes You May Like
• Conclusion
• Turkey Cupcakes For Thanksgiving

Why You'll Love These Turkey Cupcakes

• Super easy to make - The cake uses a box mix base with my secret pudding mix addition that makes them extra moist and delicious
• Kid-friendly decorating - Amy can handle most of the decorating herself, which makes this a perfect family activity
• Ready in about an hour - From mixing to decorated cupcakes, you're looking at just over an hour total
• Crowd-pleaser guaranteed - I've never had these NOT disappear at parties and gatherings
• Works for any Thanksgiving event - School parties, family dinners, or just a fun weekend baking project
• Uses simple store-bought ingredients - Everything comes from regular grocery stores, no fancy baking supply runs needed

Ingredients For Turkey Cupcakes

For The Cupcakes:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 3.9 oz package Jell-O Instant Chocolate Fudge Pudding (this is my secret weapon!)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups mini chocolate chips

For The Turkey Decorations:

• 1 batch chocolate buttercream frosting (homemade or store-bought works fine)
• 168 candy corn pieces (about 7 per cupcake for the feathers)
• 48 candy eyes (2 per cupcake)
• 24 Reese's Pieces (for the beaks)
• 1 cup chocolate sprinkles

The pudding mix is what makes these cupcakes stay moist for days. I figured this out after my first batch years ago turned out a bit dry, and I've never skipped it since!

How To Make Turkey Cupcakes

Preparing The Cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line your cupcake pans with paper liners. I usually make all 24 at once since they go so fast.
2. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in your stand mixer bowl - the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, milk, vanilla, salt, and mini chocolate chips. Beat everything together until it's well combined and smooth. Don't worry about overmixing here!
3. Fill each cupcake liner with about ¼ cup of batter. I use an ice cream scoop for this because it makes them all the same size, which Amy appreciates when she's decorating.

4. Reduce your oven temperature to 350 degrees F before you put the cupcakes in. This little temperature trick helps them bake more evenly.
5. Bake for 18-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. My oven usually needs the full 22 minutes, but start checking around 18.
6. Remove from the oven and transfer the cupcakes to cooling racks right away. Let them cool completely before decorating - trust me on this one, I learned the hard way when frosting melted everywhere!

Decorating Your Turkey Cupcakes

7. Prepare your chocolate buttercream frosting while the cupcakes cool. You can make it from scratch or honestly, a good store-bought frosting works perfectly fine. No judgment here!
8. Pipe a generous swirl of frosting onto each cooled cupcake. I use a large star tip for this, but Amy just uses a zip-top bag with the corner cut off and it looks great.
9. Pour your chocolate sprinkles into a small bowl and gently dunk each frosted cupcake into them. This creates the turkey's body texture and makes them look so much cuter!

10. Add a small dollop of frosting on top of the sprinkled area to create the turkey's head. This is where things get really fun.
11. Place 2 candy eyes on each head and add 1 Reese's Piece sideways to make the beak. Bradley always makes his turkeys look goofy with crossed eyes, which actually makes everyone laugh.
12. Arrange 7 candy corn pieces around the back of each cupcake to create the colorful turkey feathers. Fan them out in a semi-circle - this is Amy's favorite part!

Storage And Reheating For Turkey Cupcakes

Store your decorated turkey cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. They'll stay nice and moist thanks to that pudding mix!

If you need to keep them longer, pop them in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just bring them back to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving so the frosting softens up again.

Here's what I've learned - if you're making these for a party, bake the cupcakes up to 2 days ahead and store them unfrosted in an airtight container. Then decorate them the day you need them. The candy decorations stay much prettier this way, and honestly, decorating them fresh is half the fun anyway!

I don't recommend freezing these once they're decorated because the candy can get weird when it thaws. But you can totally freeze unfrosted cupcakes for up to 3 months if you want to get really ahead of things.

Tips And Variations For Turkey Cupcakes

Don't skip the pudding mix! I can't stress this enough. It's what makes these cupcakes incredibly moist and keeps them that way for days. Regular box mix cupcakes can dry out fast, but not these.

Use room temperature ingredients for your batter. I take my eggs and sour cream out about 30 minutes before I start baking. Everything mixes together so much better this way.

Want to switch up the cake flavor? Yellow cake or vanilla work great too! Amy actually prefers vanilla sometimes, and we just use vanilla pudding mix to match. You could even try spice cake for a more fall-flavored turkey cupcake.

Can't find candy corn? No problem! I've used orange and yellow M&Ms arranged in a fan shape, and they looked adorable. You could also use fruit slices cut into triangles.

Make it a decorating party! Set up all your toppings in little bowls and let everyone decorate their own. This is what we do for Amy's class parties, and the kids absolutely love it.

Want them extra chocolatey? Add an extra ½ cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter. Bradley approves of this modification.

Worried about the candy being too much? You can totally tone down the decorations. Sometimes I just do the eyes and beak with a few candy corn feathers, and they're still super cute.

Pro tip for perfect frosting swirls - if you don't have a piping bag, use a large zip-top bag with about ½ inch cut off one corner. Works perfectly every time!

Frequently Asked Questions About Turkey Cupcakes

Recipes You May Like

• Nutter Butter Turkey Cookies - Another fun turkey treat that's even easier to make with the kids
• Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies - Perfect fall cookies that pair beautifully with these cupcakes at your Thanksgiving dessert table
• Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes - For when you want an impressive chocolate dessert that's still family-friendly

Conclusion

These turkey cupcakes have become such a special part of our Thanksgiving traditions. I love how something so simple can bring so much joy to the kids and make the holiday feel extra festive.

The combination of that super moist chocolate cake with the fun candy decorations just works. Amy talks about making these for weeks before Thanksgiving, and honestly, they're easy enough that we sometimes make them "just because" during November.

Give these a try for your next Thanksgiving gathering! They're perfect for bringing to school parties, serving at family dinners, or just making at home for a fun weekend activity with your kids. I promise they'll disappear fast, and you'll have everyone asking for the recipe.

Make sure to save this recipe to your Pinterest board so you can find it easily when Thanksgiving rolls around. These turkey cupcakes are too cute not to make every year!

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