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Thanksgiving DIY Cookie Train

How adorable is this Thanksgiving DIY cookie train? This delightful Thanksgiving centerpiece will delight both the youngsters and the young at heart.

This Thanksgiving train will have your child “toot tooting” all through Thanksgiving day! The project is not only fun to make, it’s a great kids Thanksgiving dessert idea too.

For other fun Thanksgiving dessert ideas, check out my Rice Krispie turkey pops, pilgrim hat cookies, and these candy corn turkey cupcakes.

I love sharing gratitude by cooking treats for my loved ones, and these recipes are all a delight to make. Let’s get started on this DIY Thanksgiving cookie train which could serve as desert or decor!

This Thanksgiving DIY Cookie train will delight the kids and the young at heart at your holiday gathering. It is fun to put together and to eat! alwaystheholidays.com

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Here comes the Thanksgiving cookie train, all set to delight your holiday guests!

The decoration is very easy to put together. A few food supplies all held together with some chocolate frosting will have this decorating your table in no time flat.

Decorating a table for Thanksgiving usually involves a pretty tablescape, but what about the kids? They like a pretty table too that is more in their age range.  This train is perfect for that purpose and is edible, too.

For another edible table decoration, check out these Thanksgiving turkey cookie place card holders.

Most of the supplies can be found at your supermarket or online at Amazon.com. But check your local Dollar store first. It is my go-to place to get supplies for fun food craft projects like this and the stores are well stocked this time of the year.

To make the project you will need the following supplies: My amounts are for four box cars, but you can make as many as you would like.
Supplies for the Thanksgiving train

  • chocolate wafer cookies – I used 16 of them to make four box cars.
  • butterscotch candies – once again, you will need 16 of them – four for each car.
  • Rice Krispie treats. My Dollar Store had packages of long strips that made two cars from each package.
  • Wilton leaf sprinkles
  • pumpkin candies
  • 6 stick pretzels – one for each car plus 2 extras to cut in half for some joiners.
  • chocolate frosting – to hold everything together

Seriously…the hardest part of this project is being patient. These box cars are just adorable and I wanted to get that train assembled RIGHT NOW.

But patience is a virtue, especially if you want your butterscotch train wheels to stay attached to the cars! The frosting has to harden a bit for it all to stay stuck together.

Start by trimming your Rice Krispie treats and wafer cookies.

For me, that meant cutting my blocks of Rice Krispies in half, trimming the two wafer cookies to match the long sides and then trimming two more to match the lengths of the ends.  Trim your Rice Krispie treats and wafer cookies.

I used the chocolate frosting to attach the wafers to the Rice Krispie treats. Depending on your wafer, you may need to add a bit of frosting to the inside to keep them together as well.

Not all wafer cookies are created equal, I have found!

Add a bit of frosting to the back of each butterscotch candy and attach to the long sides of the box cars.

I found it best to allow this two set after this step while I made the additional box cars, since this is the part that needs to rest a bit for the frosting to harden.Make the box car sides and wheels and allow them to harden

To do the top, I used a long tooth pick to make a small hole, and then trimmed a pretzel to length and stuck it into the hole.

Three dabs of frosting under the pumpkin candies help them to stick to the Rice Krispie Treat.

Sprinkle the top of the box cars with the Wilton leaf sprinkles and allow them to set for a while. (They stick well to the Rice Krispie treat.)Finished box cars

The last step it to assemble the Thanksgiving cookie train the way you would like it to sit on your table and to add a dot of frosting between each car and add some joiners for the box cars.

Join the box cars with small pieces of pretzels and frosting

I just love the way this centerpiece turned out! I added a few faux gourds and pumpkins as a focal point and a Dollar Store place mat with a fall motif under it to set the mood. Fun fact – pumpkins are one of the main symbols of Thanksgiving!

The kids are just going to love this. They will be itching for dessert so they can eat it! Now I just have to keep my young at heart husband out of it!

Thanksgiving DIY cookie train

Just think how cute this tree would be snaking around my fall tree towers with colorful autumn leaves. It’s a match made in heaven!

Don’t forget to add a bowl of my Thanksgiving snack mix nearby with the framed blessing printable to remind the kids what to be thankful for this year.

The idea for this Thanksgiving cookie train has been adapted slightly from one that I found on Party Pinching. The original idea used shredded wheat, but I wanted to keep the sweetness in the body and also, Rice Krispie treats are sticky and help to keep it all together.

Do you like to have fun with food? Check out my pilgrim hat appetizers. They make the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer.

What fun food project have you done as a centerpiece for your holiday table? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Yield: 1 Train

Thanksgiving DIY Cookie Train

Thanksgiving DIY cookie train

This Halloween cookie train is as much fun to make as it is to eat. The kids will love to help out in the DIY project

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Difficulty easy
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • 16 chocolate cookie wafers
  • 16 butterscotch round candies
  • 4 Rice Krispie Treats
  • Wilton Leaf Sprinkles
  • 12 Pumpkin Candies
  • 7 stick pretzels
  • chocolate frosting
  • OPTIONAL DECOR
  • Leaf placemats
  • faux pumpkins

Tools

  • Sharp knife
  • Tooth pick

Instructions

  1. Use the sharp knife to trim the wafer cookies to fit the sides of the Rice Krispie Treats. You will have two long sides and two short sides on each box car.
  2. Attach the wafers to the Rice Krispie Treats with frosting
  3. Attach the butterscotch candies as wells on each box car. Allow the box cars to set and harden a bit before continuing.
  4. Use a toothpick to make a hole near the front of the Rice Krispie Treat. Insert a toothpick for a steeple.
  5. Attach the remaining pretzels to join the box cars into a train shape.
  6. Place a dollop of frosting on each pumpkin candy and place them in the box cars.
  7. Sprinkle the Wilton leaf sprinkles over the train.
  8. OPTIONAL: place the leaf place mats under the train and decorate the table with faux pumpkins.

Share on Social Media

DeAnn

Friday 16th of September 2016

I'm making this for the kid's Thanksgiving table but will be using mini cheese sandwich crackers for wheels.

Carol

Monday 19th of September 2016

That sounds cute DeAnn. Hope the kid's enjoy the decoration. Carol

Heather

Monday 16th of November 2015

What a great idea! I bet the kids in the family will love this!

Evelyne

Monday 16th of November 2015

Ahhha! So cute! What a great idea for a fall dinner. Love it!

Renee Fuller

Thursday 12th of November 2015

What a fun idea for the kids table at Thanksgiving!

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