Happy Thanksgiving y’all! I have been crazy cooking like most of you guys today, but as much as we all love pumpkin pie in our house, my five-year-old cannot have dairy and I wanted to make him something special for dessert. There’s been a running joke around our house that we should not cook any actual food and just have plates of dessert instead. So I decided to take that in a different direction! May I present… “I’ve got my plate” cupcakes!!
That’s right folks, these cupcakes may appear to be a traditional a Thanksgiving feast, but alas you have been fooled!
Listen, I’m going to be honest with you here… I don’t have time to make from scratch much on Thanksgiving. These cupcakes are straight out of a box (icing too!). They are easy enough to put together and look adorable. Once you have followed the directions on the box to bake the cupcakes, generously ice the tops and immediately apply the decorations. Then put them directly in the freezer to set them (only a few minutes though).
To make the turkey leg:
First, crush up whichever cookie you would like to use. I used Biscoff cookies, but you could use graham crackers or vanilla wafers. Put it in a small bowl and once you apply the icing immediately dip the top of the cupcake into the crumbs to coat it. To make the bone, take a pretzel rod and two mini marshmallows and coat them in melted peanut butter. Put them into the freezer to set. You could also use melted white chocolate if you wanted. I used peanut butter because I already had it melted for the next cupcake.
To make the mashed potatoes:
This one is the easiest (and I think the cutest). Once you’ve ice the top of the cupcake take a yellow starburst and push it into the top of the icing. Then drizzle melted peanut butter on top to resemble gravy. Immediately put this one into the cold so that the “gravy“ does not continue to run over the edges (though that would still be cute).
To make the vegetable medley:
OK, this one is probably actually the easiest! I just used yellow, green, and orange skittles and pop them on the top to resemble the vegetables. An alternative could be to take yellow and orange Starburst and cut them into small squares so they look more like carrots and corn. If you’ve got time for that, it’s probably more realistic and you are a better mom than I.
I hope that you and yours have a fantastic Thanksgiving and holiday season gets started off sweetly!
Check out a previous post I wrote with some great suggestions for Thanksgiving books for kids that could help you survive your holiday! 6 Thanksgiving books that will save your day