Thanksgiving Appetizer and Dessert Ideas

This sweet fruit turkey is a real showstopper! To make this bountiful bird, start with a honeydew melon. Add cheese and grape skewers and slices of apples and oranges for feathers. The head is a pear with raisins for eyes, a cheese beak and a bell pepper waddle! Give your feathered friend a "nest" by filling a tray with mini gourds and decorative leaves. Browse this gallery for more delicious and decorative ideas for Thanksgiving appetizers and desserts.

Put together chocolate kisses and wafer cookies to make "acorns" that are so adorable you'll want to squirrel some away for yourself! Use corn syrup or vanilla extract to attach the cookie to the chocolate kiss, then create the acorn "stem" by adding a chocolate chip. For display, choose a napkin with fall foliage on it and layer it on a richly hued serving tray.

Gobble, gobble, popcorn on the table! Keep the kids busy making these appetizing treat-filled cups decorated with turkey shapes and glitter glue. Your little helpers can fill the decorated cups with caramel corn and jelly beans – then take a tray around to serve their clever creations to all the guests!

A special meal calls for a special toast. For a turkey day twist on this traditional classic, drop a few cranberries into each flute and serve with Thanksgiving-themed beverage napkins. The finishing touch: present to your guests on an elegant tray that matches your decor and drinkware. Cheers!

Whip up your family's favorite pumpkin pie, only this year, try it in chic miniature. Make baby versions by baking the pie in cupcake tins, then create the "pie crust" by piping frosting on the top. Make a delectable display on a generous serving tray and watch as these trendy treats become the new Thanksgiving classic!

This colorful Thanksgiving confection will be the talk of the party! It's fun to share recipes and your dinner guests will love this one made from cookies, malt balls, candy corn, mini peanut butter cups and icing. Create a colorful dessert table display using an orange plate with a purple charger. Click here to learn how to make our turkey Oreo treats.

Here's a new way to make a delicious dessert with style. Gather Granny Smith apples, remove the tops and scoop out the core and flesh. Use the flesh to make a pie filling, fill each apple, lay pie crust strips across the top and bake – no tins needed – they cook in their own skin. Presented on elegant reflective chargers, these treats are almost too gorgeous to eat.

Finish off the festivites with a warm dessert drink served on a pretty beverage tray. To make this delicious adult sipper, blend fresh coffee and a shot of Irish whiskey and top with a generous dollop of whipped cream. The little ones in the family will enjoy a tray of hot chocolate or mulled cider – and don't forget Thanksgiving-pattern beverage napkins!

Whoopie pies are this year's dessert favorite.
To make a crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving version, sandwich cream cheese filling in between two pumpkin pie cookies. Present these satisfying treats on splendid Thanksgiving plates in autumn colors – but don't expect them to stay there for long! Click here for our pumpkin whoopie pie recipe.

Your guests are in for a tasty surprise when they realize that these "acorns" are delectable doughnut holes! To make them, dip each doughnut hole partway in melted chocolate, roll in sprinkles and add a small pretzel stick at the top to make the acorn stem. Scattered on a colorful leaf plate atop a bamboo charger, they add seasonal color to a fall-hued Thanksgiving appetizer table.

Make cute, colorful cookies that rival a bakery's – and have fun doing it! To make these, all you need is a turkey-shaped cookie cutter, some royal icing in fall colors and a piping tip to decorate. Arranged on festive plates, these cute confections will be appreciated at school, work ... and as guests of honor on Turkey Day.

Get ready for oohs and aahs when you add these pilgrim hat treats to your dessert table. All you need to do is put a dollop of frosting onto the center of a chocolate wafer, invert a mini peanut butter cup on top, and finish with a piped frosting hatband and buckle around the base. They'll tip their hats to you for a dessert well done!

These sugar cookies are so colorful and festive, your guests will thank you for your baking prowess! All it takes is leaf-shaped cookie cutters, icing in fall colors and sugar sprinkles. Simply frost sugar cookies with royal icing and cover generously with sprinkles while the icing is still wet. Have fun creating the perfect edible decoration!

Make guests smile with this clever fruit appetizer. To create the turkey, slice pears in half, remove the cores and thinly slice half the pear halves. Fan out the pear slices and some Clementine orange segments like plumes. Use raisins for eyes, apple for the beak and apple peel for the waddle. Place on colorful plates and this bird is ready to fly!

Decorating cupcakes is a fun activity for kids to do while they wait for dinner to be served. Set out some plain frosted cupcakes and let your little pilgrims add colorful sprinkles and fun picks with Thanksgiving style. Guests can take them home as favors if they don't have room!