Whether you’re looking for the perfect Thanksgiving dessert or just need a project to keep the kids busy, there’s no better pursuit than a batch of homemade cookies. Just grab some ingredients from the pantry, follow a few simple steps and before you know it your kitchen will smell absolutely amazing. There are lots of fun, festive recipes in this roundup but these spiced sugar cookies are one of our favorites. They’re easily made in the food processor, much like pie dough, but with softened butter. We pulse the sugar first to finely grind it, which gives the cookies their tender and crunchy texture. Once the cookies cool, kids of all ages will have fun decorating them.

These festive sugar cookies decorated with mini cornucopia (AKA corn snacks) are the perfect addition to the Thanksgiving dessert table and much easier than making a pie. The dough requires no chilling or rolling out. Simply drop scoops onto the baking sheets for tender, not-too-sweet cookies that are fun for the whole family to decorate.

Giada's sweet mini turkeys are easy enough for kids to assemble and will make an adorable addition to any Thanksgiving dessert spread — no baking required!

If sweet potato is your pie of choice then these cookies are for you: They channel all the flavor of that Southern favorite in a fun two-bite package. The crust comes together quickly and gets pressed into a mini-muffin tin, no rolling necessary. We bake the crumble topping separately to keep it crisp and easy to put on the cookies after they come out of the oven. Any extra would be great on ice cream, yogurt or fruit — or make a double batch and keep it on hand for a quick topping for a future baked dessert.