Am I the only mom who loves cute displays for the holidays? I’m certain I’m not! Why, because you are here and you are checking out my Thanksgiving Turkey OREO Cookie Balls Recipe Tutorial. They say birds of a feather flock together so, “Welcome! I am so glad you are here!”

Now, if you lived down the street we’d gather up our own little turkeys and have them ride their bikes together around the neighborhood, we’d have playdates over coffee (or tea), and we’d swap recipes like we are right now. Isn’t the internet amazing? We can share recipes from thousands of miles away. WOOT!

Download Your 12 FREE Turkey Tails

Now, I made these birds awhile ago and I can’t find the paper tails anywhere. Shoot. So, I created some for you. To get them, all you have to do is sign up below. I think the new tails are even fancier. Feel free to trim with some white around the tail, or trim right up to the edge of color. Either way – they’ll look really pretty. And you can even use my tails to write a name in the center. What a way to welcome guests to the Thanksgiving table!
 
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Thanksgiving Turkey OREO Balls Recipe

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The base of these adorable turkey treats is a combination of OREO cookies and cream cheese.

Thanksgiving Turkey OREO Balls Recipe

• Special Equipment

  • Double boiler – to melt the chocolate without scorching it.
  • Frosting dispenser To dispense chocolate in a controlled fashion.
  • Cake pop stand – If you’d like a smooth finish.
  • Food Processor – To make the cookies usable for this recipe.

• Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened – I used 2 packages
  • 36 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups) – I used the family size
  • 4 pkg. (4 oz. each) semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted (or you can opt for colored chocolate-flavored candy melt)

• Add-on Ingredients to create colorful Thanksgiving-styled OREO Cookie Balls

  • 12-14 Chocolate Cupcakes – already made
  • Starburst Candies
  • Candy Eyes
  • Vegetable Shortening (optional – in case you like a thinner chocolate – add only 1 tsp at a time)
  • Turkey Cupcake Toppers
  • Frosting Dispenser – to create the green grass on top of the cupcake

Turkey Cupcake Topper

Candy Eyeballs

Frosting Dispenser

Directions to create these Thanksgiving Turkey OREO Balls Recipe

1. Grind up cookies in a Food Processor – it will make about four cups of powdery mix that looks a bit like coffee grinds.  Do not disassemble the cookie. Both the cream and hard cookie should be ground up in the food processor.I used a food processor to grind the cookies into a fine texture.
2. Soften the cream cheese. You can microwave it to soften it or leave it out for an hour before you start this project.
3. Mix the powdery cookie mix and cream cheese together.  
4. Form OREO cookie balls from the creamy/powdery mix. For this recipe, my cookie balls were about 2 – 1/4 inches in diameter. My mix yielded 14 OREO cookie balls. I put my OREO cookie balls in the freezer for 45 minutes. If you try to coat them in chocolate before you cool the mix, the weight of the chocolate will cause your OREO cookie ball to fall apart. There is no need to rush to coat in chocolate. Use the time to make the beak and beard candy toppers.
5. Create the candy topper for your ornaments. The top of the OREO cookie ball candy turkey includes two colors of soft starburst candies in red and orange. It also requires cady eyes and a paper topper.
6. Melt your chocolate. I highly recommend a Double Boiler. It will help you control the heat on your chocolate. If you need to, you can add one teaspoon at a time of vegetable shortening to the mix. I wouldn’t add more than two tablespoons. It will help you achieve a smoother viscosity in your chocolate.  DO NOT add food coloring or water to the chocolate – it will cause the chocolate to seize up. It’s a bit like oil and water.  If you clean your double boiler in-between chocolate colors, make sure to dry it thoroughly. Add any form of H2O to this mix and it will be ruined.
7. Coat the OREO Cookie Balls in melted chocolate. By now your chocolate has melted and your OREO balls have been sitting in the freezer for 45 minutes or so. Now you can coat the OREO balls. I do not recommend rolling the balls in the chocolate. Instead, use a spoon or cupped spatula to pour chocolate onto the OREO Cookie Ball. A fork is effective at holding the cookie ball. Rotate the ball as you pour chocolate over it. 
   
8. Dry the Coated OREO Cookie Balls. Once coated, placing them to dry can be tricky. If you don’t mind an edge around the bottom you can try threading the fork through wax paper carefully off the edge of your counter – you’ll need both hands. The whole process is quite messy if you do not own a Cake Pop Stand. 
   
9. Add decorations. Candy eyes, Starburst candy in red and orange, and a paper turkey tail complete the turkey. I used a cupcake frosting dispenser to add some green grass to the top of the cupcake.

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What’s your favorite way to spruce up Thanksgiving?

What are your family’s holiday meal and memory-making traditions? Have any favorite recipes to share?  I’d love to hear about your favorite Thanksgiving Day recipe! Please leave a comment below and join the conversation. I love hearing from my readers.

Happy Holidays!

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