Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

I've watched my mom make the Thanksgiving turkey for many years now. Sadly, I'm not sure I could tackle the turkey making by myself. Instead, these are the turkeys I make each year and they seem to be a bigger hit with the younger generation at the table:

For a soft and flaky layered sugar cookie, you can use my recipe here. I use a flower cookie cutter for the turkey shape and cut two petals off to make a flat bottom:
Pipe the turkey's feathers first. I keep it simple using Ziplock bags filled with frosting and snip a corner. Cleanup is as easy as tossing the bag out when the frosting is gone. I made my aunt's buttercream frosting for these cookies, but feel free to just buy a can of vanilla and chocolate frosting in the baking aisle. I use Pillsbury Funfetti frosting all the time. In fact, I just emptied 56 of the lids filled with sprinkles into a bowl. Those are the sprinkles I use for eyeballs in most designs. Colors of frosting to prepare: yellow, red, orange, green, white, brown (chocolate). This year, I layered the feathers for more depth:
Then pipe the body with chocolate frosting (oval for the body, circle for the head and connect with a small strip for the neck).
Add a beak and legs/feet with yellow frosting, a waddle with red frosting, eyes with white frosting and add a small sprinkle circle for the eyeballs.
To keep soft, I store in an airtight container with wax paper between the layers. You can also freeze. Try out different feather designs and make each turkey at the table as unique as the turkeys gathered around your table.

For more fall themed cookies, click here.