Made with just 4 ingredients, these Pilgrim Hat Cookies are quick and easy to assemble without any oven, plus super cute! Such a fun little Thanksgiving treat to add to your holiday celebration.
While you’re at the store, grab some Hershey’s kisses and Nilla wafers to make some chocolate acorns, too!
Fun & Easy Thanksgiving Cookies
If you’re looking for something fun and easy to make for Friendsgiving or a Thanksgiving menu, look no further than these pilgrim hat cookies! This no-bake treat is made with striped cookies (like Keebler’s) topped with a rolo candy and decorated with M&Ms in autumn colors.
This is a great little recipe to make with young kids, since they’re so simple to put together without any special skills needed, plus no oven. They can help lay out the cookies, dip the rolos, and put on the M&Ms.
Ingredients Needed
Here are the 4 ingredients you’ll need for these no-bake Thanksgiving cookies.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Striped cookies – I used Keebler Striped Cookies but you can use any brand you’d like.
- Candy melts – I made these with orange and yellow candy melts. You can switch up the colors to make your own unique pilgrims’s hat.
- Rolo caramel candy – While the gold foil packaging would look festive, you definitely want these unwrapped!
- M&Ms – You can also use decorative icing or another small candy if you prefer.
TIP! Candy Melts vs. White Chocolate Chips
Recipe Variations
Here are a few ways to customize your Thanksgiving pilgrim hat cookies.
- Change up the cookie that you use as the base of the hat. While the striped cookies give the cleanest hat result, you can use any round, flat-based cookie with similar results. Try using fudge-covered Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, or even Ritz crackers, plain or covered in chocolate.
- Use a variety of colors. You can make pilgrim hats with orange, yellow, or brown candy melts. Make a whole tray of hats with different band colors, either matched with M&Ms or varied.
- Decorate the hats. You can decorate the hats with a variety of sprinkles, frosting, or Thanksgiving candies for more elaborate pilgrim hats. This is a great way to let the kids individualize them.
How to Make Pilgrim Hat Cookies
Here’s how to make this easy Thanksgiving treat. Absolutely no baking required!
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Melt the chocolate. Melt the candy melts in the microwave according to package directions until melted and smooth.
- Add the “hat” to the cookie. Dip the rolo’s bottom into the candy melts. Place on the center of a cookie.
- Add the M&Ms. Add the M&Ms on the candy melt band. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
- Let set. Allow the pilgrims’ hats to set for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
Proper Storage
These Pilgrim Hat Cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2 weeks, as long as they’re in an airtight container or bag so that the cookies don’t get soft or stale. They will keep longer if you choose to refrigerate or freeze them, but the chocolate and cookies harden and should be brought back to room temperature before serving.
More Easy Thanksgiving Desserts:
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Pilgrim Hat Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 package (11.5 ounce) striped cookies
- 1/2 cup orange candy melts
- 1/2 cup yellow candy melts
- 24 Rolo caramel candies , unwrapped
- 24 orange and yellow M&Ms
Instructions
- Place the cookies upside down on a large, parchment lined baking sheet so that the solid chocolate bottom is facing up.
- Pour each set of candy melts into a shallow, microwave safe bowl and melt according to package directions until melted and smooth.
- Dip each rolo candy bottom into the candy melts to coat the bottom and just a bit up the side.
- Allow any excess to drip off and then place the rolo on the center of a cookie, creating a pilgrim’s hat.
- Place one M&M, m side down, on the candy melt band and then repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Allow the pilgrim hats time to set completely, about 15-30 minutes, before serving. (You can transfer to the fridge so they set quicker, but the cold chocolate is not as pleasant to eat.)
