Easy Thanksgiving Desserts That Take Less Than 30 Minutes

Chewy Black Licorice Chocolate Brownies
Photo: John Kernick

Try these fabulous fast Thanksgiving dessert recipes for a wine custard, bread pudding, brownies, or cake to fill out the dessert table in a half hour.

01 of 09

Sweet Wine Sabayon with Berries

Sweet Wine Sabayon with Berries
© Frances Janisch

This super-light wine custard is wonderful after a hearty meal. Simply whisk together eggs, sugar, and wine, then cook over a bain marie, continuing to whisk, until doubled in volume. It's ready to eat after a brief chill.

02 of 09

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding
© Deirdre Rooney

This gooey bread pudding made with caramel-like dulce de leche from Latin America is so much more than the sum of its five parts. To add even more flavor, throw in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries before baking.

03 of 09

Gale Gand's Sugar-Dusted Vanilla Ricotta Fritters

Sugar-Dusted Vanilla Ricotta Fritters
© John Kernick

Gale Gand got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Vita Seidita; the fritters are also good sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or dipped in jelly.

04 of 09

Honey-Baked Figs with Ice Cream

Honey-Baked Figs with Ice Cream
© Bobbi Lin

Use purplish-black Mission figs, green-skinned Calimyrnas, or both for this great-tasting dessert. Give the figs a gentle squeeze to check for ripeness; they should be quite soft.

05 of 09

Molten Chocolate Cake

Molten Chocolate Cake Recipe
Jennifer Causey

File this easy-peasy molten chocolate cake under: things you never knew were so easy to make.

06 of 09

Chewy Black Licorice Chocolate Brownies

Chewy Black Licorice Chocolate Brownies
John Kernick

In one dessert, Gail Simmons’ black licorice brownies bring on the salt, the sweet, the fudge, and the chew.

07 of 09

Coconut Flour Butter Cookies

Coconut Flour Butter Recipes
©Kristen Stevens

Kristen Stevens' coconut flour butter cookies are chewy, dense and delicious ⁠— and they only take 20 minutes.

08 of 09

Mascarpone-Stuffed Dates

Mascarpone-Stuffed Dates
© Francesco Lagnese

A dusting of unsweetened cocoa adds an appealing bitterness to this simple one-bite dessert from Maurizio Quaranta.

09 of 09

Dark Chocolate Fondue

Chocolate Fondue
© Evi Abeler

Food photographer Evi Abeler offers dark chocolate, hazelnut, and white chocolate variations of this simple and crowd-pleasing dip for anything from fruit to artisanal bread that may already be at the table.

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