Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without a table full of homemade desserts! From traditional pumpkin and pecan pies to apple desserts, creamy cheesecakes, and easy no-bake treats, this collection of Thanksgiving desserts has plenty of recipes to help you finish your holiday meal on a sweet note.
You’ll find all the classics, including Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie, along with family favorites like Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, Apple Crisp, and Caramel Apple Pie. I’ve also included plenty of easy options, like No-Bake Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie Balls, for when your oven is already working overtime.
Whether you’re hosting a big Thanksgiving dinner, bringing dessert to a family gathering, or looking for something different to serve this year, there are plenty of delicious ideas here. You might even want to make more than one!
Stephanie’s Favorites
These recipes are among my favorite Thanksgiving desserts because they cover the whole table, from the pecan pie crowd to the people who want something cold and creamy. Some are incredibly simplistic and others take some effort, so there’s something here for every level of baker.
Pecan Dump Cake
I make my pecan dump cake when I want pecan pie without fussing with a crust. The bottom layer stays soft and gooey while the top bakes up buttery and golden, and the whole thing takes about ten minutes to put together.
Applesauce Cake
This applesauce cake came from my grandmother, and it is still what I make when I want something old-fashioned on the table. It is soft and heavily spiced under a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, and it freezes well if you wait to frost it until you are ready to serve.
Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
These soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have been one of the most requested recipes I have for years now. They are cake-like rather than chewy, and you can freeze the scooped batter ahead of time and bake them straight from the freezer.
Pecan Pie Cheesecake
If your table is split between pecan pie people and cheesecake people, this pecan pie cheesecake covers both with a gooey pecan layer under the cheesecake and a caramel pecan topping. It chills overnight, so this is one you can start the day before.
Mini Pecan Cheesecake Bites
These mini pecan cheesecake bites are baked in a muffin tin, so you get all the classic pecan cheesecake flavor with none of the slicing and serving. The recipe makes 24, and the cheesecakes can be made in advance and frozen until the day of your dinner.
Layered Pumpkin Spice Jello Pie
Three layers of pumpkin pudding and whipped topping sit in a graham cracker crust in this layered pumpkin spice Jello pie, with six ingredients and no baking at all. It needs four to six hours in the fridge to set, which makes it a good one to assemble the night before.
Butter Pecan Crunch
Butter pecan crunch is a frozen dessert built on butter pecan ice cream and vanilla pudding, with crumbled Heath bars over the top. It sits in the freezer until you serve it, which helps on a day when the oven and the fridge are both full.
Pumpkin Delight
My pumpkin delight layers cream cheese, pumpkin, and whipped topping over a pecan graham cracker crust. You may know it by its other names, like pumpkin lush or pumpkin lasagna. Making it a day ahead lets it firm up enough to cut into clean squares.
Traditional Thanksgiving Desserts
Pumpkin Pie
Most Thanksgiving tables expect one pumpkin pie, and this is the plain classic: a smooth, spiced custard that sets firm enough to slice, in a batch that serves ten. You can bake it a day ahead and add the whipped cream just before serving.
Pecan Pie
If pecan pie has always struck you as too sweet, this pecan pie uses dark corn syrup and dark brown sugar to push the flavor toward caramel instead of straight sugar. A little maple extract deepens the flavor even further.
Traditional Apple Pie
My traditional apple pie uses Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples together, so there’s tart and sweet in the same bite under a lattice crust. I bake mine the day before I want to serve it, which gives the juices time to firm up for a clean slice.
Apple Crisp With Oats
There is no crust to roll out for this apple crisp, just spiced Granny Smith apples under a buttery oat topping. The cinnamon goes into the filling and the topping both for a double dose of warm fall flavor, and it is at its best served warm with ice cream melting into it.
Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is what to make when you have stale French or Italian bread sitting on the counter. The homemade caramel sauce goes on the moment it comes out of the oven, making it perfect for serving fresh and warm from the oven.
Pumpkin Roll Cake
The spiral is the whole point of a pumpkin roll, and it comes from rolling the cake up in a sugar-dusted towel while it is still warm from the oven. It needs two hours in the fridge before slicing, and it freezes for up to three months if you want it handled well in advance.
Pumpkin Bars
These pumpkin bars bake in a 9×13 pan and cut into twelve frosted squares, which makes them an easy one to travel with. The cream cheese frosting is literally the icing on the cake.
Caramel Apple Pie
Caramel apple pie skips the top crust in favor of a buttery crumble, with melted caramel stirred through the apples and more drizzled over after baking. I use tart Granny Smith or Pippin apples and it helps keep the whole thing from tipping too sweet.
Easy Thanksgiving Desserts
Pumpkin Dump Cake
This pumpkin dump cake bakes up with a custardy pumpkin layer underneath and a crisp, buttery cake top, which is why it tastes closer to pumpkin pie than to cake. The pumpkin filling goes in first and the dry cake mix gets scattered over it, with no stirring once it is in the pan.
Pumpkin Magic Cake
You pour one batter into the pan for this pumpkin magic cake, and it separates into layers on its own as it bakes, with the pumpkin sinking to the bottom and the cake rising to the top. It’s a magical way to make a tasty dessert, and it’s especially yummy after a Cool Whip and pudding frosting gets spread on top.
Pumpkin Sheet Cake
I make this pumpkin sheet cake when I am feeding a lot of people, since it bakes in a full sheet pan and cuts into fifteen generous squares. The cinnamon cream cheese frosting is what makes it taste like fall rather than just a basic spice cake.
Crockpot Chocolate Caramel Cake
Not everyone at the table wants pumpkin, and this crockpot chocolate caramel cake gives those people a scoop of what they really want. Everything goes into the slow cooker with dulce de leche poured over the top, and three hours later it is ready to serve warm.
Snickerdoodle Cobbler
My snickerdoodle cobbler layers apple pie filling between a cinnamon sugar cookie base and dollops of the same dough on top. It’s in the oven in ten minutes and simple enough that the kids can put it together with you.
Apple Dapple Cake
Apple dapple cake is studded with diced Granny Smith apples and pecans under a dulce de leche topping. It tastes even better on the second day once the flavors have settled, so this is a good one to bake the night before.
Caramel Apple Eclair Cake
If the oven is full, this caramel apple eclair cake gives you apple pie flavor with no baking at all. It takes about fifteen minutes to layer and then the fridge does the rest overnight.
Cinnamon Roll Poke Cake
Warm cinnamon filling soaks down into the holes of this cinnamon roll poke cake before a cream cheese frosting goes over the top. It should chill overnight anyway, which makes it one you can get out of the way a day or two early.
No-Bake Thanksgiving Desserts
No-Bake Pumpkin Pie
Three layers get spread into a graham cracker crust for this no-bake pumpkin pie: a sweetened cream cheese base, a spiced pumpkin pudding middle, and whipped cream over the whole thing. It can be assembled the day before, which frees up the oven for the turkey.
No Bake Pecan Cream Pie
If regular pecan pie strikes you as too sweet, this no bake pecan cream pie gets its depth from maple syrup and brown sugar instead of corn syrup. Ten minutes of work then six hours in the fridge makes it a perfect choice on a busy day.
Salted Caramel No-Bake Pie
This salted caramel no-bake pie is the dessert to make for your guests who don’t want pumpkin or pecan. It takes five minutes to put together and four hours to set, with salted caramel folded through the pudding and drizzled over the top.
Creamy Stovetop Pumpkin Pudding
Five ingredients is all it takes to make this pumpkin pudding, and it gets easily served in six individual cups for a cute presentation.
Easy Pumpkin Trifle
Cubes of spice cake, pumpkin cheesecake filling, whipped topping, and toffee bits stack up beautifully through a glass bowl in this pumpkin trifle. It’s a show-stopping centerpiece for the dessert table.
Pecan Pie Balls
These pecan pie balls hold a gooey pecan and graham cracker center inside a hard chocolate shell, with maple syrup and a little rum extract in the filling. They keep for five days in the fridge so you can serve them throughout the holiday.
Condensed Milk Pecan Balls
The filling for these condensed milk pecan balls gets cooked on the stove until it thickens like cookie dough, which makes them extra creamy and smooth. Ground pecans go through the filling and chopped ones go over the chocolate coating.
Caramel Apple Dip
Perfect for a casual Thanksgiving get-together, this classic caramel apple dip layers sweetened cream cheese with caramel and toffee bits. It takes five minutes to make and there’s never a scoop leftover.
Mini Thanksgiving Desserts for a Crowd
Mini Pumpkin Pies
One can of pumpkin turns into 54 of these mini pumpkin pies, so they’re ideal for bake sales, work parties, or church potlucks. Or, you can do what I do, and keep a batch in the fridge for snacking over the holiday weekend.
Mini Pecan Pies
Mini pecan pies often end up mostly crust and nuts with the gooey part missing. I thinned the shortbread crust and thickened the filling to make room for a real caramel layer in these mini pecan pies.
Mini Apple Cheesecakes
Four things stack into each of these mini apple cheesecakes: a graham cracker base, cheesecake filling, apple pie filling, and a cinnamon streusel over the top. They need about three hours in the fridge to set, and they freeze for up to three months.
Caramel Cheesecake Bites
Four ingredients make these caramel cheesecake bites, with no baking involved beyond heat-treating the dry cake mix. The centers stay soft and the salted caramel coating hardens around them, so they hold up on a plate without a wrapper.
Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Each of these salted caramel cupcakes gets a hole cored out of the top and filled with salted caramel before the frosting goes on, so the caramel is inside as well as on top. Flaky sea salt over the finished swirl keeps the sweetness in check.
Thanksgiving Cookies
- Apple Pie Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Cookies
- Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
- Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies
- Maple Cookies
Thanksgiving Bars and Cheesecakes
- Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars
- Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars
- Apple Brownies With Maple Glaze
- Orange Cranberry Cake
Leave a Comment