The best Thanksgiving desserts beyond pumpkin pie give everyone something to look forward to after the turkey: flaky apple pie, gooey pecan cobbler, creamy cheesecake, or a small chocolate treat with coffee. This collection brings together 14 pumpkin-free recipes, with a mix of familiar Southern favorites and desserts that make a little room for something different. Browse by the kind of dessert you want to serve, then open each recipe for the full ingredients and instructions. You'll also find planning tips below the collection, because a beautiful dessert table is much easier to enjoy when everything isn't waiting on the oven at once.
Jump to: Pies and cobblers · Cakes · Chilled desserts · Cookies and brownies
Thanksgiving Pies, Apple Crisp, and Pecan Cobbler
If Thanksgiving still calls for a pie plate, start here. Choose tart apples, tangy buttermilk custard, or chocolate mousse filling. The apple crisp and pecan cobbler give you a spoonable alternative when you would rather skip rolling pastry.
Classic Apple Pie
A classic double-crust apple pie with tart Granny Smith apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, lemon, and clear tips for a flaky crust and filling that sets.
Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie Recipe
Old-fashioned buttermilk pie with a creamy vanilla filling, a gentle tang, and a golden top. Includes a partially baked crust, clear doneness cues, and make-ahead and storage tips.
French Silk Chocolate Pie
This French Silk Chocolate Pie is a chocolate lover's dream dessert!
Caramel Apple Crisp
A quick and easy apple crisp, served with a scoop of ice cream.
Pecan Pie Cobbler
If pecan pie and cobbler ever joined forces, this would be their masterpiece-gooey in the middle, golden on top, and unapologetically Southern through and through.
Cakes for the Thanksgiving Dessert Table
A layer cake makes a lovely centerpiece alongside the pies. Coconut-pecan frosting and cream cheese frosting bring two different directions to the table, while sticky toffee pudding offers a dense cake with homemade toffee sauce. Despite its name, that last one belongs with the cakes.
German Chocolate Cake
Tender chocolate cake layers with rich coconut-pecan frosting.
Mom's Carrot Cake #SundaySupper
A moist carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
A dense cake drizzled with homemade toffee sauce.
Cheesecakes and Chilled Thanksgiving Desserts
These are good choices when you can plan around refrigerator space. Choose a full cheesecake for slices, mini turtle cheesecakes for individual servings, or Biscoff banana pudding for a no-bake option with caramelized cookie flavor. Check the chilling instructions before deciding when to start.
Classic Cheesecake
A smooth, dense classic cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and an overnight chill.
Mini Turtle Cheesecakes
Individual cheesecakes topped with mini chocolate chips, melted caramel, and chopped pecans.
Biscoff Banana Pudding
This Creamy Biscoff Banana Pudding with Cookie Butter Drizzle is the kind of no-bake dessert that gets scraped clean before the evening's over.
Thanksgiving Cookies and Brownies
Small treats earn their place beside the larger desserts. Ginger molasses cookies bring warm spice, chocolate crinkles have soft, fudgy centers, and salted brownies offer a rich chocolate finish. Set out a platter for the guests who want just a little something-and for the ones making a second pass.
Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
The aroma of warm spices fills the air as I pull these soft and chewy ginger molasses cookies from the oven, their crackly tops glistening with sugar like freshly fallen snow.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
The first time I made this chocolate crinkle cookies recipe, I learned the hard way that the dough absolutely has to chill.
Mouthwatering Salted Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Rich, dense double chocolate brownies finished with sea salt.
How to Choose a Thanksgiving Dessert Lineup
For a small gathering, choose one centerpiece dessert and one smaller treat. For a larger table, vary flavor and texture: an apple dessert, a creamy chilled dessert, and something chocolate give guests useful choices. You do not need three different pies unless making three different pies is part of the fun.
- For a classic Southern table: Pair buttermilk pie with pecan cobbler and ginger molasses cookies.
- For a chocolate-loving crowd: Choose French silk pie or German chocolate cake, then add an apple dessert for contrast.
- When the oven is spoken for: Make Biscoff banana pudding ahead and serve it with cookies baked earlier. The pudding is no-bake, but it still needs time to chill.
- When you want small portions: Mini turtle cheesecakes, cookies, and brownies let guests sample without committing to a full slice.
Make-Ahead Tips for Thanksgiving Desserts
Plan backward from dessert time, including cooling and chilling-not just baking. The recipes below have different schedules, so use their individual instructions rather than treating every dessert as a day-before project.
- Classic cheesecake: Plan to make it at least a day ahead. The source recipe calls for slow cooling and a long chill; overnight is the best planning choice.
- Biscoff banana pudding: Allow at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, with 8-12 hours preferred for softened cookie layers.
- French silk chocolate pie: The filled pie chills for several hours or overnight. Save the topping for serving as directed in the recipe.
- Classic apple pie: Leave at least 3 hours for cooling before slicing so the filling can set.
- Chocolate crinkle cookies: Their dough needs at least 4 hours of chilling, so mix it before you are ready to bake.
Reserve refrigerator space before filling it with holiday groceries, and write each dessert's finish time on your prep list. Keep the recipe's storage directions with any leftovers; chilled pies, cheesecake, and pudding need different handling from a cookie platter.
A Few Finishing Touches
Put a pie server, cake knife, or spoon beside each dessert before guests arrive. Offer smaller plates so people can try more than one thing, and keep ice cream or whipped cream separate until serving. For a pastry project, the Czech apple strudel is another option with instructions for freezing the unbaked strudels. For a simpler apple dessert, try the apple dumplings made with crescent rolls.
Save this collection for Thanksgiving menu planning, and tell me in the comments which dessert gets requested at your house every year. If you'd like more recipes for your holiday table, subscribe below.
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