Learn How to Decorate Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Icing

Thanksgiving themed sugar cookies decorated with buttercream icing

Decorate Sugar Cookies Just Like the Pros

You can learn to beautifully decorate sugar cookies just like you see on social media and I can teach you how! Whether you like to learn from pictures and text or videos and words, I've got you covered! I have created photo Cookie Cards and a Video Tutorial so that you can choose your method of instruction.


*This tutorial is provided for those that have purchased my annually offered Buttercream Icing Thanksgiving Cookie Decorating Kit. If you are creating the cookies and icing on your own, I decorate with American Buttercream. 

Thanksgiving Cookie Cutters

Cookie Cards: Sugar Cookie Decorating Guides

Use my Cookie Cards below as a guide to decorate your Thanksgiving sugar cookies. Step by step photos plus written instructions give you all the details that you need to create beautifully decorated sugar cookies of your own.

Decorate a Pie Slice Cookie

with Buttercream Icing

  • Pipe large dots of icing to create the cherries, leaving space at the top for the crust.
  • Pipe an outline around the edge of the top crust section. Fill in using a back and forth motion.
  • Pipe three thick diagonal lines on top of the cherries for the lattice crust.
  • Repeat three thick diagonal lines on the other side, perpendicular to the first set of lines.
  • Pipe vertical zig zag lines on the crust section to mimic the scallops of the crust.
Step by step buttercream icing cookie decorating tutorial for a pie slice sugar cookie

 PRO TIP: For an alternate design, decorate this cookie as a traditional pie slice by filling the pie portion using a back and forth motion and add whip cream in the center.

Decorate a Turkey Cookie

with Buttercream Icing

  1. Pipe an outline around the head and neck of the turkey, piping scallops at the base of the neck.
  2. Fill in using a back and forth motion, creating horizontal lines of icing.
  3. Pipe an outline around the body of the turkey and fill it in using a back and forth motion. Leave space at the bottom for the feet and the top for the feathers.
  4. Alternating colors, pipe outlines for five feathers using the scallops of the feather section as your guide. Fill in each feather using a back and forth motion.
  5. Pipe a triangle for the beak.
  6. Pipe two vertical lines for the legs. Pipe two upside down v's for the feet.
  7. Add a candy eyeball sprinkle.
  8. Pipe a tear drop shape gobbler between the beak and the eye.
Step by step buttercream icing cookie decorating tutorial for a turkey sugar cookie

 PRO TIP: There are so many different choices for beautiful turkey feathers. For fluffier icing, try decorating the feathers using small circular loops of icing instead of a back and forth motion.

Decorate a Tree Cookie

with Buttercream Icing

  • Pipe a skinny triangle 3/4 of the way up in the center of the cookie for the tree trunk. 
  • Fill in the trunk using a back and forth motion, creating horizontal lines of icing.
  • Alternating colors, pipe outlines for five tear drop shaped branch sections using the scallops of leaf as your guide. Fill in each section using a back and forth motion.
  • Pipe branch lines in the center of each tear drop section.
  • Add leaf sprinkles.
Step by step buttercream icing cookie decorating tutorial for a tree sugar cookie

 PRO TIP: For an alternate design, decorate this cookie as a traditional leaf. Fill in the entire cookie one color using a back and forth motion and pipe a small stem at the bottom,

Step by Step Sugar Cookie Decorating VIDEO Tutorial

Visual Learner? Let's Decorate Cookies Together!


Follow along to my step by step video tutorial. Learn how to decorate Thanksgiving Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Icing including a Tree, Turkey and Pie Slice. I break down the decorating process into easy to follow steps and give you helpful tips along the way.

Helpful Cookie Decorating Tools:

Scrbe tool

Sprinkle Tweezers

Candy Eyeball Sprinkles

Leaf Sprinkles


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Want to Learn More?!

Looking for more inspiration? Check out my Royal Icing Thanksgiving Sugar Cookie Decorating Tutorial. Learn to decorate the same Thanksgiving cookies with royal icing in different designs that can also be translated to buttercream icing.