Thanksgiving is a festival of celebration, delicious food, and giving thanks. We gather with our friends and family, eat plenty of stuffings, and enjoy our football. Even though there are some lip-smacking Thanksgiving dishes, this celebration is incomplete without unique Thanksgiving dessert recipes!
According to various stats, in America alone, a person consumes more than 3,000 calories at Thanksgiving. More than 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed on this holiday. Desserts for Thanksgiving are undoubtedly the real heroes of this feast!
Delectable Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes You Must Try!
If you are one of those people who have a knack for eating desserts in abundance during Thanksgiving, you just can’t picture this holiday without its traditional desserts. However, this year, let’s modernize your Thanksgiving dessert menu.
From the traditional pecan pie to the more modern pumpkin dump cake making appearances on holiday tables, here is a list of some of the most popular desserts for Thanksgiving. These Thanksgiving dessert recipes will fill your party with a delicious aroma and satisfy your sweet tooth.
Desserts for Thanksgiving you must try are:
- Pecan Pie
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Cranberry-Apple Cobbler with Biscuits
- Rachel’s English Trifle
Pecan Pie
Let’s remove monotony from the traditional pecan pie and add a dash of cinnamon to revolutionize the taste of this one of the most old-fashioned Thanksgiving dessert recipes. Sweet and salty – enjoy pecan pie uniquely this year.
Quick Stats
Prep Time: 2 hours 3 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 10 serves
Ingredients
- One unbaked Flaky Pie Crust
- Egg wash made by beating one large egg with 1 Tablespoon milk or heavy cream
- 2 and 1/2 cups shelled pecans
- Three large eggs
- 1 cup dark corn syrup
- 1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Method to Prepare
- Take a large bowl and add flour and salt to it. Then, add butter and shortening and mix them.
- Add ice cubes into water and drizzle this cold water into the mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Don’t forget to stir every time you add water into the mixture.
- When you see large clumps in the mix, stop adding water.
- Transfer this dough to a floured surface. This dough will come together quickly and will not feel overly sticky.
- Fold the dough into itself with floured hands until it is fully incorporated into the fats.
- Now, form a ball and cut it in half. Flatten each half using your hands.
- Wrap each dough tightly in plastic wrap and slide it into the refrigerator for around 2 hours.
- Once the pie dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Meanwhile, roll out the chilled crust into a lightly floured surface.
- Start rolling from the center and work your way out in all directions to form a roll of 12 inches in diameter.
- Now, place the dough into a pie dish and tuck it with your fingers to give smoothness.
- Flute the edges by crimping them using a fork or your finger. Brush the edges with the prepared egg wash.
- Chop the pecans roughly and put them evenly inside the crust.
- Now, take a large mixing bowl and whisk eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, melted butter, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add pecans to this bowl. Now, add this mixture to the pie crust.
- Slide the pie into the oven and bake it for around an hour until lightly brown.
- Take out the baked pie from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool.
- Slice and serve this pie warm and enjoy!
Pumpkin Dump Cake
Get a baking dish and two bowls and create one of the most effortless and delicious Thanksgiving dessert recipes. This modern pumpkin dump cake is a perfect combination of cake and pumpkin pie – this modern pumpkin dump cake is brimming with all the fall flavors, pumpkin, pecan, and cinnamon spice.
Quick Stats
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 12 serves
Ingredients
- One can of pumpkin purée
- One can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- Three large eggs
- 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- One box yellow cake mix
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup butter, very thinly sliced
- Whipped cream for serving
Method to Prepare
- First, preheat the oven to 350º F and grease a baking dish with cooking spray.
- Then, take a large bowl and add pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk them together.
- Pour this mixture into the greased baking dish.
- Take another bowl and add cake mix and pecans together. Sprinkle this mixture over the pumpkin mixture and top it off with butter evenly.
- Bake it until the edges are crisp for around an hour or so.
- Take out the cake once it is done. Let it cool completely and cut into square pieces.
- Top these cakes with whipped cream and serve to enjoy.
Must-try: Pumpkin Pie Recipe – A Dish with Extravagant Flavors!
Cranberry-Apple Cobbler With Biscuits
This Thanksgiving dessert is full of fresh cranberries and sliced apples. Top it off with buttery, flaky biscuits to enjoy a uniquely delectable dessert for this year’s holiday. Serve it cold or warm straight out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Quick Stats
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6 serves
Ingredients
Cornbread Biscuits
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine or medium cornmeal
- One tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
- 1/2 buttermilk
Filling
- 1 cup cranberries
- Four sweet-crisp apples, cut into chunks
- One teaspoon finely grated lemon or orange zest
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon or orange juice
- One tablespoon cornstarch
- Three tablespoons brown or sugar
- A pinch of kosher salt
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Method to Prepare
- Heat the oven to 400º F. Take a medium bowl and add flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them together.
- Gradually add buttermilk with a wooden spoon until just combined. Slide it into the refrigerator and start prepping for the filling.
- Take a cake pan and add cranberries, apples, lemon zest and juice, cornstarch, salt, and sugar.
- Pour six large dollops of chilled cornmeal batter over the surface of the skillet.
- Slide the skillet into the oven and bake the cobbler until the fruit is bubbling, biscuits turn golden brown, for around 50 minutes.
- Let it cool completely before serving.
- Top the cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy.
Rachel’s Thanksgiving Trifle
Don’t worry; we will not add beef, peas, and onions into this traditional English trifle. Here, we will help you recreate that same thanksgiving dessert recipe that is more palatable than Rachel’s version.
Quick Stats
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 3 hours
Servings: 12 serves
Ingredients
Custard Layer
- Four large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Layer
- 2 cups heavy cream
“Beef” Layer
- One 13-ounce package of chocolate fudge sandwich cookies
- 1/4 cup shaved coconut
- 2 to 3 tablespoons round green colored chocolate candies
Assembly
- Two 3-ounce packages of soft ladyfingers
- 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
- 1 1/4 cups whole raspberries
- One large banana, sliced into rounds
Method to Prepare
- Take a medium-sized bowl and whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until combined. Set it aside.
- Combine the whole milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan and place over medium-high heat.
- Cook the mixture until the milk is steaming and not boiling. Gradually add the egg mixture and whisk them together to combine.
- Cook and whisk until the mixture is thick enough. Remove the prepped custard into a large bowl.
- Cover it with plastic wrap and slide it into the refrigerator for around one and a half hours.
- Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream in a large bowl using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Slide this whipped cream into the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Now, take out the cookies and pulse them using a food processor, and they are coarse clumps of crumbs.
- Take a medium-sized bowl and add coarse cookies, shaved coconuts, and green candy pieces.
- First, line a singly upright row of ladyfingers at the bottom of the 4-quart trifle dish. Lay some more ladyfingers, and make sure you lay them down flat to let them overlap and cover the bottom completely.
- Now, stir the raspberry jam until it is loose and pourable. Spoon it over the layer of ladyfingers, cover them completely.
- Now, take out the custard and pour half of it over the jam layer. Ensure you spread it to the edges of the dish.
- Then, add a layer of raspberries on top of the custard. Top it off with a layer of ladyfingers.
- Now, take the cookie crumb ‘beef’ from the fridge and spoon a layer over ladyfingers.
- Spoon the remaining custard over the cookies with the help of an offset spatula.
- Top the custard with a single layer of sliced bananas and cover them with whipped cream.
- Slide it into the refrigerator for around one and a half hours.
- Serve it chilled, and enjoy!
Must Read: Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes – Delicious ‘Friends-themed’ Meals!
Final Words
Fill your Thanksgiving feast with sweetness with these delectable Thanksgiving dessert recipes. These recipes are a perfect blend of traditional flavors and modern cooking techniques. So, what are you waiting for? Make these desserts and enjoy the feast with your family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!
