Thanksgiving Hot Chocolate Bomb Turkeys

Serve your party guests a mug of hot milk and a Thanksgiving Hot Chocolate Bomb Turkey or use these cute chocolates as party favors that your guests can take home.

 These cute chocolate turkeys will surely make your dinner guests smile!

How cute are these turkey hot chocolate bombs?

I hand-painted colored candy melts into a plastic candy mold to make these sweet treats for Thanksgiving and I am so excited to show you how you can make them for your friends and family.

To make the bombs, you will need a turkey candy mold. Spinning Leaf sells molds that are typically used to make chocolate-covered OREO Cookies, but I love using them for hot cocoa bombs. I think the chocolates made using these molds are perfectly sized. Plus, they have so many cute designs including these cute turkey molds.

This post is not sponsored. I just love these molds!

These hot chocolate bomb turkeys are made by painting red, orange, white, black, and brown (light cocoa) Wilton Candy Melts into the candy mold. Candy Melts are compound chocolate and are made with palm kernel oil instead of cocoa butter. They are easy to use. You simply melt them, paint them into the mold, and they harden in the freezer.

If you don't have a lot of experience using colored compound chocolate (candy melts), you might want to check out my Chocolate Making Tips page for details.

When melted in hot milk along with homemade hot cocoa mix, they give the milk a very nice chocolate flavor.

VIDEO

I did not make a specific video for this recipe, but you can watch this Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs video to see the technique used to make these turkeys. Step-by-step instructions and pictures are below.
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="apAJiSYi" upload-date="2021-02-03T20:19:05.000Z" name="Conversation Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs" description="Conversation heart hot chocolate bombs make fun Valentine's day treats. Serve them in a hot steaming mug of milk and they'll melt into a delicious hot beverage. " player-type="default" override-embed="default"]

How to Make Hot Cocoa Bomb Turkeys

You will need:

Spinning Leaf Turkey OREO Cookie Mold - You can find the Turkey candy mold on the Spinning Leaf website. Occasionally they are available on Amazon.

orange, red, white, black, and light cocoa Candy Melts - You can buy a bag of white candy melts and color them using oil-based candy coloring or you can buy bags of pre-colored candy melts. See how to color candy melts and how to keep jars of melted candy melts warm all day!

mason jars, glass measuring cups, ramekins, or bowls - Melt your candy melts in small glass jars or bowls.

food-use-only paintbrushes - Use clean, dry, paintbrushes that have never been used for anything other than food crafts. I prefer to use paintbrushes that have plastic handles vs. wood handles because wooden handles splinter and peel after too many washes.

hot cocoa mix - You can use a store-bought hot cocoa mix or you can make homemade. You can find my recipe to make a homemade hot cocoa mix on my How To Make Hot Chocolate Bomb Recipe post.

dehydrated marshmallows - These tiny dehydrated marshmallows will hydrate once they are blended with hot milk or water. They will not get stale like traditional marshmallows will once they are exposed to air.

You can find these items on Amazon. I earn a small commission for any sales when you use the links below at NO extra cost to you.

Wilton Red Candy Melts Cand...Shop on Amazon Wilton Light Cocoa Candy Me...Shop on Amazon Wilton Candy Melts - White ...Shop on Amazon Wilton Black Vanilla Candy ...Shop on Amazon Wilton Chocolate - Compound...Shop on Amazon Testors 2 Flat & 1 Pointed ...Shop on Amazon FRUITEAM 4 oz 12 PACK Mini ...Shop on Amazon Sarah's Candy Factory Vanil...Shop on Amazon

1. Using a food-use-only paintbrush, dab a dot of black candy melts into each pupil cavity.
2. Dip another clean paintbrush into orange candy melts and dab it into the beak cavity, adding more as needed.
3. Freeze the mold for 3-5 minutes, just until the chocolate hardens.
4. Remove the mold from the freezer and allow the mold to warm up slightly and allow the frost (the white film) on the candy mold to disappear. This will take a few minutes.
   • If you try to paint the chocolate into a cold mold, the chocolate will harden too quickly.
5. Now, paint white candy melts around and over the black pupil to create the whites of the turkeys' eyes.
   • Make sure your white candy melts are not too hot or they will melt the black candy melts.
6. Freeze for a few minutes until hardened, then remove the mold and allow it to warm up for a few minutes.
7. Finally, paint red into the area on the top of each turkey and into the wattle cavity.
8. Freeze again for a few minutes, then let it rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes until it comes to room temperature.

Step 2 - Fill the mold with chocolate then fill the hot chocolate bombs.

1. Once the mold has warmed to room temperature, pour in about a tablespoon of melted light cocoa candy melts.
2. Use a paintbrush to brush the chocolate up the sides.
3. Freeze the mold for 5-10 minutes just until the chocolate hardens.
4. If needed, paint another layer of chocolate on the sides of the mold.
5. Spoon in enough dehydrated marshmallows to cover the bottom of the mold.
6. Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of hot cocoa mix over top.
7. Spread the hot cocoa mix into an even layer so that you have ⅛-inch of room at the top.
8. Brush any cocoa off the top edge of the mold. The edge needs to be free of powder so that the melted chocolate can attach to the chocolate that's in the mold.
9. Pour chocolate over the top of the hot cocoa mix and spread it into an even layer.
10. Freeze for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate hardens.

Step 3 - Un-mold the hot chocolate bomb turkeys.

1. Remove the turkeys from the freezer.
2. Place your hand or a cutting board over the chocolates.
3. Turn the mold upside down and allow the chocolates to fall out.
4. Let the chocolate turkeys warm to room temperature for at least 15 minutes before shaving off any excess chocolate along the edge using a sharp knife.

Step 4 - Serve your hot cocoa bomb turkeys. 

1. Bring a cup of your favorite milk (or water) to a boil.
2. Place one hot chocolate bomb turkey into a coffee mug.
3. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate bomb and allow it to begin melting.
4. Stir until melted and well blended.
5. Enjoy!

A note about the image above. 

I filled my coffee cup with some hot chocolate and stirred it until the hot chocolate dissolved. Then, I carefully placed the turkey hot chocolate bomb into the milk. As it began to melt, I snapped the pictures.

Optional Step 4 - Package in cellophane bags.

1.  Place one chocolate turkey in a clear cellophane bag and tie them with a ribbon.
2. Attach a label with instructions if giving as gifts or party favors to anyone who won't know how to use them.

Printable Labels

If you'd like to have labels to attach to your bags, you can click this link to gain access to printable hot chocolate bomb labels. There are 12 labels per page.

Print

Thanksgiving Hot Chocolate Bomb Turkeys

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

0 mins

 

Stir a hand-painted chocolate turkey filled with hot cocoa mix and dehydrated marshmallows into a mug of hot milk and allow it to melt into a delicious cup of hot chocolate.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy melts, chocolate, hot chocolate bombs, thanksgiving dessert, turkeys

Servings: 8

Calories: 185 kcal

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

• 2 ounces black candy melts, melted
• 2 ounces orange candy melts, melted
• 2 ounces white candy melts, melted
• 2 ounces red candy melts, melted
• 12 ounces light cocoa candy melts, melted
• ⅓ cup dehydrated marshmallows
• ¾ cup hot cocoa mix

Instructions

1. Paint dabs of black candy melts into the pupils in the turkeys' eyes.

2. Paint orange candy melts beaks.

3. Freeze for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate hardens.

4. Remove the mold from the freezer and let it rest at room temperature for five minutes.

5. Paint white candy melts over and around the black pupils to create the whites of the eyes.

6. Freeze until hardened, then let rest at room temperature for five minutes.

7. Paint a red wattle and head feathers.

8. Freeze until hardened, then let rest for 10 minutes.

9. Once the mold has warmed to room temperature, pour in about a tablespoonful of light cocoa candy melts.

10. Brush the candy melts up the sides of the mold.

11. Freeze for about 10 minutes just until the chocolate hardens.

12. Add a second layer of light cocoa candy melts around the sides of the mold if needed, then chill again.

13. Spoon enough dehydrated marshmallows to cover the bottom of each chocolate shell.

14. Spoon hot cocoa mix over top, spreading it into an even layer, leaving at least ⅛-inch over the top.

15. Brush any powdered mix that has gotten on the edges of the chocolate shell.

16. Pour a layer of light cocoa candy melts over the top of the hot cocoa mix and spread into an even layer, making sure the wet melted chocolate touches the hardened chocolate shell.

17. Freeze for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate hardens.

18. Remove the mold from the freezer, set your hand or a small cutting board over the candies, flip the mold upside down, and allow the hot chocolate bomb turkeys to fall out.

19. Serve in a mug of very hot milk.

Recipe Notes

• Store your hot chocolate bomb turkeys in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.
• You can package them in cellophane bags to give as gifts. 
• To serve, set one turkey hot cocoa bomb in a coffee mug. Pour 1 cup of very hot milk over the chocolate. Let it begin to melt, then stir until melted and well combined. 
• To make homemade hot cocoa mix, blend together:
  • 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla powder (optional)
  • 2 ½ cups dry milk powder
  • 1 cup finely grated dark chocolate

If you want more fun recipes to make for Thanksgiving, you might also like these food craft ideas.

Chocolate Rice Krispie Treat Turkeys

Peanut Butter Cookie Turkeys

Chocolate Turkey Truffles filled with Pumpkin Ganache

• Author
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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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