A Thanksgiving Treat

I have a little cupcake blog for you, and I'm sorry it's coming 7 hours before Thanksgiving. It is probably too late for you to make these for your Thanksgiving feast, but just in case you have been sitting around, wondering about a kid-friendly dessert for your family's Thanksgiving, I have your solution. And an added bonus - it's even good for people with peanut allergies.

How do I know? Well, I volunteered to do the dessert for Elizabeth's Thanksgiving party at preschool last week...not really thinking about how hard it might be to come up with a fun dessert that is safe for kids who are allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. Just in case you're wondering, every Thanksgiving sprinkle or colored sugar is processed in a plant that also processes peanuts and tree nuts. I searched. Oh, and in case you were planning to make little turkeys to give out to the kids, like these...

Courtesy of Our Best Bites

candy corn is processed in plants with peanuts and tree nuts too. Or at least, the two brands I found were. Apparently, the Kroger brand is not, so if you want to make those super cute turkeys, go to Kroger.

If you don't feel like going to Kroger, you can make these cute cupcakes with pilgrim hats on top. And it's pretty easy. I originally got the idea from Our Best Bites, but I adapted it for children (and grown people) who are allergic to peanuts and tree nuts.


You will need:
Yellow cake mix
Frosting (I used buttercream from a can. Gasp.)
Big marshmallows
Oreos
Baker's dipping chocolate (in the plastic/styrofoam round cup)
-depending on how many pilgrim's hats you want to make, you may need 2 or more cups
White decorating icing (I used Betty Crocker cookie icing)
Yellow decorating icing (I used Betty Crocker cupcake frosting in the aerosol type can)

Make the cupcakes according to the directions on the back of the box. After they cool, slap some frosting on them. Now, to assemble the pilgrim hats.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.

Next, heat the chocolate. Follow the directions on the Baker's chocolate cup to heat the chocolate. Follow them to the tee. If you overheat the chocolate, it will be ruined. I've heard you can add oil to the overheated chocolate, but I've never tried it and would advise that you try to avoid getting yourself into that situation.

Dip the marshmallows and Oreos in the chocolate. I'd do Oreos first, then marshmallows so that you can put the marshmallow on top of the Oreo as you go. Put them on the parchment paper after you dip them. When you've assembled as many as you would like to have, pop them in the freezer for a while, until the chocolate is good and hard.

When they are hard, use your white icing first to make a stripe around the brim of the hat. Then, use the yellow icing to make a buckle. They don't have to be perfect. Kids don't care. They just like fun treats. If they've been learning about the Thanksgiving story, they will just be excited to see pilgrim hats on their cupcakes.

Oh - and your kid may remark that they're all for boys because you only made boy hats. Simply explain that it's not easy to make girl hats on cupcakes and that even girls can eat boy hats. Enjoy!


I hope your Thanksgiving is full of friends and family and good food and that you take time to thank our Lord and Savior for all the many blessings He has poured out upon you. We have so much to be thankful for.