Our 28 Best Thanksgiving Desserts

By Food & Wine
Updated November 22, 2019
Justin Chapple
Whether you prefer pumpkin or apple pie, dessert may be the best part about Thanksgiving. From apple crisp to a salted-caramel cheesecake, any one of these stunning desserts will be a beautiful, well-loved addition to your holiday table.Related: Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide
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Lattice-Topped Apple Pie

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Greg Patent likes to use an assortment of tart and sweet apples in this dense, apple-packed pie. Some varieties to look for are Greening, Cortland, Winesap, Braeburn, Jonamac and Granny Smith.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin-Ginger Cupcakes

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These supermoist, gluten-free cupcakes have terrific pumpkin flavor and an irresistible topping of fluffy, creamy frosting and golden caramel sauce.

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Harvest Mousse with Spiced Almond Tuiles

Maura McEvoy
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This fluffy mousse could just as easily be made with fresh or canned pumpkin. Serve the leftover candied squash as a topping for vanilla ice cream.

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Quince Tarte Tatin

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Chef Michael Tusk uses fresh quinces from California to make this twist on the classic French upside-down apple tart. Quince is more dense than apple, so it retains a bit of firmness even after it's cooked.

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Buttermilk Cake with Riesling-Poached Pears

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“We get these crazy organic pears that are ugly as sin,” says Tory Miller of the Moon-glow variety he uses throughout the cold winter months. Peeling them, though, reveals a fruit so beautiful and juicy that he prefers a minimalist approach, either serving them raw or poaching them in wine, such as the Riesling he uses here.

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Vanilla-and-Cider Panna Cottas with Spiced Ginger Cookies

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Shawn McClain tops his cinnamon-and-vanilla-flavored panna cotta with an elegant apple-cider gelée. He equates the dessert to a Creamsicle because it successfully combines creamy and tangy flavors.

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Apple Tart with Almond Cream

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The thin, crisp pastry shell is filled with a layer of almond cream made from both finely ground and coarsely chopped nuts that give the tart layers of texture. The thinly sliced apples on top caramelize as the tart bakes.

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Pear Tarte Tatin with Red-Wine Caramel

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Instead of apple pie, Shawn McClain ends his Thanksgivings with this stunning tarte Tatin. Because the recipe calls for store-bought puff pastry, it’s quite easy to prepare.

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Salted Caramel Cheesecake

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Pastry chef Michael Moorhouse sprinkles crunchy bits of fleur de sel on his moist, intensely flavored cheesecake topped with thick, golden caramel.

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Lemon-Cranberry Pie Bars

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A beautiful alternative to the classic Thanksgiving pie, this sweet and tangy bar has a simple press-in crust and a lemon curd filling swirled with cranberry puree.

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Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel

John Kernick
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This genius bread pudding is made with melted vanilla ice cream, eliminating the need to make a custard.

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Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Brownie Crust

© William Meppem
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Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tip: The baked cheesecake can be refrigerated in the springform pan for up to 4 days.

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Apple Brown Betty

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Michael Symon usually doesn’t make dessert for holidays. Still, his version of this classic is great after a big meal because it isn’t too sweet or too heavy. He layers brioche bread crumbs with sliced apples and a cinnamon-citrus sugar, baking everything together so it becomes wonderfully soft.

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Pumpkin Cake with Caramel-Cream Cheese Frosting

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In this fun variation on traditional pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake spiced with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves gets frosted with a slightly tangy, super-caramelly frosting. It's delicious served cold or at room temperature.

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Apple Crostada with Brown Butter Streusel

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Ginger and Pear Upside-Down Cake

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Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tip: The unmolded cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

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Apple Crisp with Sweet Ginger and Macadamia Nuts

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To make chopping macadamia nuts easy, Greg Patent suggests, put them in a resealable plastic bag and breaking them up with a rolling pin.

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Pear-and-Fig Pie-in-a-Jar

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Three Babes Bakeshop in San Francisco offers this fun, portable pie: They bake the pastry in a jar, then fill it with fig-and-pear syrup, mascarpone cream, fruit and toasted walnuts.

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Pumpkin-Gingersnap Tiramisù

© Lucy Schaeffer
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Pumpkin pie meets tiramisù, with layers of pumpkin-mascarpone custard and gingersnaps brushed with Calvados syrup. In the freezer, the flavors and textures meld to form a deliciously creamy dessert.

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Pear-Cranberry Hand Pies

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These flaky little pies may be the ultimate grab-and-go dessert.

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Caramelized-Apple Custard Tart with a Rye Crust

© John Kernick
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This tart features silky-smooth, rich custard and caramelized apples in a tender, earthy rye-flour pastry crust.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Caramel Swirl

© Alexandra Rowley
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These decadent chocolate-crusted bars are topped with a homemade caramel that sinks into the pumpkin cheesecake batter during baking.

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Apple Cake with Toffee Crust

© Anna Williams
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This moist cake is served with butterscotch sauce, caramelized apples and ice cream.

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Pumpkin-and-White Chocolate Mousse Pie

Con Poulos
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This reimagined pumpkin pie from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco has an ethereal pumpkin-and-white-chocolate-mousse filling and a stellar, crunchy crust.

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Apple Pie à la Mode 
Ice Cream Sandwiches

Eva Kolenko
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Get all the flavors of apple pie in an innovative, fun-to-eat ice cream sandwich, made with apple pie-spiced vanilla ice cream and snickerdoodle cookies.

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Purple Sweet Potato Pie with Coconut and Five-Spice

Christopher Testani
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Add some color to your Thanksgiving dessert table by swapping regular sweet potato pie with this gorgeous purple one.

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Pumpkin Layer Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

© Con Poulos
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Ditch the pumpkin pie and try out this moist, creamy pumpkin layer cake, which swaps plain old vanilla buttercream for a mascarpone frosting.

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Sweet Potato and 
Coffee Cream Pie


Justin Chapple
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With this unique sweet potato pie from pastry chef Angela Pinkerton, of Theorita in San Francisco, you won’t even need to offer your guests after-dinner coffee. (Although a cappuccino does sound like it would go really well with a slice.)

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