Recipes Holidays + Events Thanksgiving Our 31 Best Thanksgiving Desserts By Food & Wine Editors Updated on August 24, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: © John Kernick Pies and tarts may be the tradition when it comes to Thanksgiving desserts, but don't forget to make room for cakes, puddings, and ice cream sandwiches. Pumpkin and apple are classic Thanksgiving flavors, and we've also got dessert ideas that include pears, cranberries, and chocolate. Thankfully, you can even make some ahead of time! Here's our roundup of simple and elegant recipes to give your Thanksgiving a sweet ending. 01 of 31 Cranberry Crumble Pie Gerard + Belevender Give your favorite side dish the dessert table treatment. Cranberry sauce fans will love this jammy fruit pie with the addition of warm holiday spices and a buttery crumble topping. Get the Recipe 02 of 31 Pear Sticky Toffee Cakes with Miso-Caramel Sauce Greg DuPree "When the weather turns colder and I start planning for the holidays ahead, this spoonable sweet is everything I need in the dessert department," says Gail Simmons. "In addition to the traditional dates, I like to add chopped pears to the batter, where they cook down as the individual cakes bake. I add miso to the toffee, which lends a salty savoriness that may sound gratuitous but exceeds expectations." Get the Recipe 03 of 31 Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Pepita Brittle © Con Poulos Silky chocolate panna cotta brings the richness of cold-weather favorite hot cocoa while the caramelized and spiced pumpkin seed brittle ties this dish in with the fall harvest. Both the panna cotta and the brittle can be made several days in advance. Get the Recipe 04 of 31 Sweet Potato Honey Beer Pie Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Heather Chadduck Hillegas The different components of this pie can be prepared on different days. Here's a suggested order of steps you might find useful, especially if you make it for Thanksgiving. Day 1: Roast sweet potatoes, reduce the beer, and prepare the pie crust, but don't blind bake (partially bake). Day 2: Blind bake the pie crust, prepare the sweet potato custard, and bake the pie. Of course, you can also do this all in one day. Get the Recipe 05 of 31 Apple Cheddar Rye Pie Gerard + Belevender Instead of a slice of cheese on top, this apple pie puts cheddar in the crust to provide a bit of tanginess that's balanced out by the addition of nutty rye flour. Get the Recipe 06 of 31 Vanilla and Cider Panna Cottas with Spiced Ginger Cookies © John Kernick Chef Shawn McClain tops his cinnamon and vanilla panna cotta with an elegant apple cider gelée and serves it with ginger cookies for a contrasting crunch. He equates the dessert to a Creamsicle because it successfully combines both creamy and tangy flavors. Get the Recipe 07 of 31 Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon © LUCY SCHAEFFER Give your holiday staple pecan pie a boost of both chocolate and bourbon with this recipe from Chez Panisse alum David Lebovitz. It's the perfect combination of cocoa, caramel, and crunchy pecans, all nestled into a decadent all-butter crust. Get the Recipe 08 of 31 Lemon-Cranberry Pie Bars © CON POULOS 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. elegantly topped with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Get the Recipe 09 of 31 Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel John Kernick This genius bread pudding from ice cream maven Jeni Britton is made with store-bought brioche and melted vanilla ice cream, eliminating the need to make a custard. The simple whiskey-tinged caramel sauce comes together with just four ingredients. Get the Recipe 10 of 31 Giant Chocolate Cookie with Cacao Nibs and Flaky Salt Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland Few desserts are easier to prepare than a tray full of cookies, but this chocolatey, salty crowd pleaser makes things even simpler by letting you skip rolling or scooping with just one big cookie you can slice and serve like a pie. Get the Recipe 11 of 31 Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Brownie Crust © William Meppem This eye-catching dessert combines creamy, chocolate-swirled pumpkin cheesecake with a chewy, nutty brownie. It can be easily made and refrigerated up to four days in advance, if you're able to refrain from cutting into it sooner. Get the Recipe 12 of 31 Apple Crostata with Brown Butter Streusel © Justin Bernhaut This rustic apple tart recipe has a similar ingredient list to a traditional streusel-topped apple pie, but its assembly makes for an entirely different dessert. The apples are precooked with maple syrup, vanilla bean, and butter, then arranged atop a free-form crust, their juices reserved as an instant sauce for serving. Get the Recipe 13 of 31 Chocolate and Fig Cake Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis If figs are a holiday favorite in your house, this cake can really pack them in, accommodating as much as 12 ounces of fresh fruit alongside plenty of rich, bittersweet chocolate. Get the Recipe 14 of 31 Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Cookies Cookies may get all the attention around Christmas, but you can turn classic chocolate chip cookies into an easy Thanksgiving-appropriate dessert with the addition of dried cranberries and rolled oats. Get the Recipe 15 of 31 Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Caramel Swirl © Alexandra Rowley Food & Wine Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple tops these chocolate-crusted bars with a homemade caramel that sinks into the pumpkin cheesecake batter during baking. Get the Recipe 16 of 31 Apple Cake with Toffee Crust © Anna Williams This mouthwatering dessert has all the makings of autumnal holiday indulgence: an ultra-moist apple cake with a buttery toffee glaze, brandy-tinged toffee sauce, caramelized apples, and vanilla ice cream. Get the Recipe 17 of 31 Purple Sweet Potato Pie with Coconut and Five-Spice Christopher Testani Add some color to your Thanksgiving dessert table by swapping regular sweet potato pie with this gorgeous purple one. Get the Recipe 18 of 31 Apple Pie à la Mode Ice Cream Sandwiches Eva Kolenko 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. Get the Recipe 19 of 31 Pecan Pie with Candied Ginger and Rum © JOHN KERNICK For a wonderful contrast to the sweetness of her pecan pie, master baker Alice Medrich adds minced candied ginger and a splash of rum to the filling. Get the Recipe 20 of 31 Pumpkin Layer Cake with Mascarpone Frosting © Con Poulos Ditch the pumpkin pie and try out this moist, delicately spiced pumpkin layer cake, which trades plain old vanilla buttercream for a tangy mascarpone frosting. Get the Recipe 21 of 31 Dutch Apple Pie Tina Rupp To vary the flavors and textures in this iconic dessert, be sure to use a blend of different apples, such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Golden Delicious. Get the Recipe 22 of 31 Classic Pumpkin Pie © Frances Janisch To create a crisp crust on the bottom, we partially bake the pie shell before adding the filling. If the edge starts to darken too much, cover it with a pie shield or strips of foil. Get the Recipe 23 of 31 Pear and Cranberry Slab Pie © Con Poulos Instead of making a traditional two-crust pie in a pie plate, Food & Wine Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple makes this free-form, fruit-filled, ginger-laced pie on a baking sheet. Get the Recipe 24 of 31 Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie Abby Hocking Since it's technically a custard, a smooth and creamy consistency is the goal, and processing the pumpkin helps break up any fibers for a smoother filling. The addition of browned butter gives the pumpkin a subtle butterscotch flavor. Get the Recipe 25 of 31 Pear Tarte Tatin with Red Wine Caramel © John Kernick Instead of apple pie, chef 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. Get the Recipe 26 of 31 Boozy Bourbon-Pecan Tassies Alison Miksch "These diminutive pecan pie poppers, with a higher crust-to-filling ratio, offer the perfect bite," says cookbook author Andrea Slonecker. "I spike them with bourbon to both cut through and complement the sweetness. And you (yes, you) can get this cream cheese crust right 100% of the time. The dough is forgiving as can be, no rolling pin needed." Get the Recipe 27 of 31 Apple-Pomegranate Cobbler David Cicconi This juicy and bright apple cobbler — made from Granny Smith apples and pomegranate juice — is just the right amount of sweet, with an irresistibly tender and crunchy crust on top. Serve sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and topped with vanilla ice cream. Get the Recipe 28 of 31 Goat Cheese Cake with Wine-Poached Cranberries Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Crowned with candied pistachios and draped in tart, glistening cranberry gelée, pastry chef Claudia Fleming's holiday cheesecake is extra creamy thanks to a combination of tangy goat cheese and mascarpone. Be sure to beat in the mascarpone at low speed to preserve its extra-smooth texture. Get the Recipe 29 of 31 Honey-Pear Sweet Cream Galette Erin Kunkel A mix of alternative flours — here, two kinds of rice flour and arrowroot — delivers a gluten-free crust that is flaky, buttery, and crisp. The floral sweetness from the honey and pears is nicely balanced by tangy cream cheese. Be sure to let the baked galette rest at least 30 minutes to give the filling time to firm up for easier slicing. Get the Recipe 30 of 31 Skillet Apple-Ginger Crisp Antonis Achilleos "There are few things better (or easier) than a fruit crisp," food stylist and cookbook author Susan Spungen says. "It's extremely hard to mess it up — even if you aren't a baker." Get the Recipe 31 of 31 Sweet Potato Pie with Honeycrisp-Kabocha Salad Marcus Nilsson With more eggs than a traditional pumpkin pie, this version is much richer. It's a magnificent match for the optional licorice ice cream accompaniment but is delicious served simply with the honeyed apple-squash salad. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit