These Rolo Pretzel Turkeys are really cute, so easy to make and they’re really tasty too.

These treats are a great blend of sweet and salty and the gooey caramel from the Rolos is a nice added touch. They are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving snack or dessert table.
Your kids can help you make these fun pretzels — they’ll love being able to feel like they’re a part of making Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family. When they’re done with those, you can have them set out these printable Thanksgiving riddles as placeholders at everyone’s seat — they’ll have fun choosing who gets which riddle.
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Fun Facts About Rolos
While you and your kids are making these turkeys, it’s a great time to talk. In case you need something to talk about, these fun facts about Rolo candy might be something your kids will enjoy learning about (they can show off what they learned later at dinner when they share these facts with your guests).
- Rolo candies were invented in England in 1937 by the British confectioner John Mackintosh. The Hershey Company has made the candy in the U.S since 1969.
- About 24.2 million pounds of Rolo candy is made every year, which is made up of at least 1.8 billion individually wrapped candies.
- The shape of the wrapped candy is referred to as a bell.
- This chocolate caramel candy is gluten free and nut-free.
- One of the most popular recipes made using Rolos involves melting a caramel chocolate candy over a pretzel and topping it with a pecan half for a sweet and salty treat. (This is very similar to this turkey treat recipe you’re making)
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You can see that these Rolo pretzel turkeys are really cute, but did you know these other great things too:
- Ready in under 30 minutes: In fact, these treats will be ready in just about 15 minutes, so you and your kids won’t have to wait long to sample one.
- Fun to make: You and your kids are going to have so much fun making these pretzel treats together. If they have any friends over during Thanksgiving vacation, it would be a fun activity to keep them occupied.
- Taste delicious: Chocolate and caramel candy, candy corn and pretzels — definitely a delicious sweet and salty treat.
If you want to try a similar recipe made with donuts instead of pretzels, try these turkey donuts.
🥘 Ingredients
You won’t believe how easy these pretzel turkeys are to make. You only need a few simple items to make them.
- Mini pretzel twists (1 for each treat): These serve as an edible base to hold all of the candy together.
- Candy corn (3 for each treat): The versatile candy is for the feathers of the turkey. It doesn’t matter what brand you buy and you can even vary the kind of candy corn you use to make it more colorful.
- Rolo caramel candies, unwrapped (1 for each treat): You’ll make the face of the turkey on the candy.
- Candy eyes (2 for each treat): Give your turkey a personality with these cute and edible eyes.
- Red or orange M&M’s (1 for each treat): This will be the beak of the turkey.
See recipe card for complete list of ingredients and quantities
🔀 Substitutions
If you don’t have the ingredients you need, see if you have these instead:
Mini pretzel twists: You can substitute with square pretzels if that’s all you have.
Candy corn: Use small jelly beans if you want a fall-themed candy but don’t like candy corn.
Candy eyes: If you don’t have these, try white chocolate chips with a small dot of black gel icing or melted chocolate in the center.
Red or orange M&M’s: Substitute with Reese’s Pieces or Skittles for different colors or flavors.
🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
You don’t really need very many things to make this recipe.
- Baking sheet: You’ll need to use this to bake the treats to melt the Rolo candy so you can press the eyes and beak into it.
- Parchment paper: This will cover the baking sheet so you can assemble the treats on it and keep the baking sheet clean (that will mean no dishes to wash).
🔪 How to Make Rolo Pretzel Turkeys
Not only do kids love to eat these tasty Rolo Pretzel Turkeys, they love to help make them too. These are so easy to put together, especially when you have an extra set of hands to help with assembly.
Step 1: Preheat Oven
Preheat oven to 300 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2: Add the Candy Corn
Lay the pretzels on the baking sheet. Balance 3 candy corn candies on each pretzel.

Step 3: Add a Rolo
Next, lay a Rolo candy on top of the candy corn on each pretzel.

Step 4: Warm in Oven
Carefully place the baking sheet in the oven so that the candies stay in place. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes but keep a close eye on them.
You want to warm them just long enough to soften the Rolos but not melt them completely.
Step 5: Remove From Oven
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and while the candies are still soft, press one candy-coated chocolate candy into each Rolo. Use orange to resemble the turkey’s beak or red to serve as the turkey’s wattle.
As you press the candy into the Rolo, the chocolate and caramel will push through the pretzel to attach everything together.
Step 6: Add Candy Eyeballs
Immediately press the candy eyeballs into place. A toothpick is the perfect tool for arranging and pressing the eyeballs without making a mess of the soft Rolo candy.

Step 7: Let Harden
Allow candies to harden to their unmelted state before serving. To speed the process, you can place the baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer.

Step 8: Serve or Store
Your Rolo Pretzel Turkeys are done. Either serve them, or store at room temperature or in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Make sure not to overbake the treats. The candy corn should just be slightly softened by the warmth of the oven.
You should also store the finished treats in an airtight container to maintain their freshness.
You can use silicone baking mats or lightly greased aluminum foil if you don’t have parchment paper. These alternatives will also prevent the treats from sticking to the baking sheet.
The quantity depends on how many pretzels and candies you use. For example, if you use 20 pretzels, 20 Rolos, and 60 pieces of candy corn, you’ll make 20 treats.
🙏 Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Rolo Pretzel Turkeys:
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📋 Recipe

Rolo Pretzel Turkeys
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Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- Mini pretzel twists 1 for each treat
- Candy corn 3 for each treat
- Rolo caramel candies unwrapped (1 for each treat)
- Small candy eyeballs 2 for each treat
- Red or orange candy-coated chocolate candies 1 for each treat
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lay the pretzels on top of the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Lay 3 candy corn candies on each pretzel.Mini pretzel twists, Candy corn
- Carefully place one Rolo candy on top of the candy corn on each pretzel.Rolo caramel candies
- Being careful not to displace any of the candies, place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for about 3 to 5 minutes, making sure the Rolos are warmed enough so they are soft but not melted.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and while the candies are still soft, press one candy-coated chocolate candy into each Rolo. Use orange to resemble the turkey’s beak or red to serve as the turkey’s wattle. As you press the candy into the Rolo, the chocolate and caramel will push through the pretzel to attach everything together.Red or orange candy-coated chocolate candies
- Immediately press the candy eyeballs into place. A toothpick is the perfect tool for arranging and pressing the eyeballs without making a mess of the soft Rolo candy.Small candy eyeballs
- Allow candies to harden to their unmelted state before serving. To speed the process, place the baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Serve the pretzel turkeys or store at room temperature or in the refrigerator in an airtight container.