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22 Easy Thanksgiving Desserts

Our easiest holiday-worthy, autumnal desserts take 30 minutes of active time or less.

By

Food & Wine Editors

Updated on October 20, 2023

Fresh Figs With Labneh and Carob Molasses — Photo: Photo by Heami Lee / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Pulling off a fantastic Thanksgiving feast usually comes with an extra-long to-do list, but a little strategic menu planning can definitely lighten that load. While some dishes inherently seem to demand lots of attention, dessert is what punctuates it all — those last bites of the meal should be memorable, but that doesn't mean they need to be hard to put together! Here, we've gathered our best Thanksgiving dessert recipes that are made with simple techniques and time-saving shortcuts. Use your food processor to whip up the pastry for an incredible apple galette, convert your traditional pecan pie into a batch of bars with a press-in crust, or use melted vanilla ice cream as the custard base for a decadent bread pudding. This year, let Thanksgiving dessert be easy.

01 of 22

Pear Sticky Toffee Cakes with Miso-Caramel Sauce

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."

02 of 22

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Bars — Sarah Kieffer

In baker Sarah Kieffer’s gently spiced pumpkin bars, cream cheese enhances the pumpkin filling without making everything too sweet. As Kieffer writes, “I like pumpkin pie alright, but in all honesty I will always take a slice of anything else over it, especially if cheesecake is an option. But pumpkin pie swirled into cheesecake? I will never say no.”

03 of 22

Spiced Chocolate Fondue

Spiced chocolate fondue with dippers like apples, bananas, and marshmallows — Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

This spiced chocolate fondue is fragrant with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and ginger. Serve it with pieces of pound cake, gingerbread, apples, pears, and/or marshmallows, for dunking. If you like, offer a few pretzels or salt-topped cookies for a sweet-salty dessert experience.

04 of 22

Pumpkin Praline Bars

Praline Pumpkin Bars — Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Bring pumpkin to the table in these easy to make and eat bars topped with a decadent frosting inspired by the flavors of pralines — a classic Southern confection. Topped with decadent brown sugar frosting, these cakelike bars are loaded with fall flavor — earthy and sweet pumpkin, warm spices, and toasty pecans.

05 of 22

Fresh Figs With Labneh and Carob Molasses

Fresh Figs With Labneh and Carob Molasses — Photo by Heami Lee / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely

Simple and striking: a geometric bloom of fresh figs tops a layer of labneh, served with carob molasses, olive oil, toasted sesame seeds and hazelnuts, and a shower of black pepper.

06 of 22

Butterscotch Pudding Parfait with Gingersnap Crumble

Joanne Chang's Butterscotch Pudding Parfait — Tara Donne

Classic butterscotch pudding is layered with tangy whipped crème fraîche and warm, spicy gingersnap crumble (made from store-bought cookies!) to create a beautiful parfait.

07 of 22

Roasted Spiced Cranberry Pie

Roasted Spiced Cranberry Pie — Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox / Prop Stylist Claire Spollen

Give your holiday cranberry sauce a boost. Tart cranberries are roasted with lemongrass and gochugaru (Korean chile flakes) to give this vibrant pie its fruity and fragrant kick.

08 of 22

Skillet Apple-Ginger Crisp

Skillet Apple Ginger Crisp Recipe — Antonis Achilleos

It's hard to mess up a fruit crisp, and you can skip coring the apples with this one with chewy candied ginger and a sweet apple filling.

09 of 22

Pecan Pie Bars

Pecan Pie Bars — Julia Hartbeck

Pecan pie bars have all the virtues of pecan pie without the need to roll out dough. They've got an effortless press-in shortbread crust and a stirred-together custard filling. Melted butter, light corn syrup, dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt make up that filling — once the pecan halves are mixed in, all you have to do is pour it into the prepared crust and bake.

10 of 22

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles — Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling Debbie Wee

These solid snickerdoodle cookies only take 15 minutes of active time, but keep in mind the dough needs to rest for an hour. You can simplify day-of prep by making the dough ahead, stashing it in the freezer, and thawing in the refrigerator overnight before rolling and baking the cookies.

11 of 22

Pumpkin Cream Pie in a Chocolate Crust

Pumpkin Cream Pie in a Chocolate Crust — © John Kernick

Cookbook author Melissa Clark likes pumpkin pie, but she likes making it in new and unexpected ways. Here she bakes a silky pumpkin custard in a crispy chocolate cookie crust, then dollops the pie with a tangy crème fraîche topping.

12 of 22

Country Honey Apple Galette

Country Apple Galette — © Con Poulos

Jacques Pépin loves to serve this delicate apple galette as a buffet dessert, since it's beautiful, easy to slice, and simple to eat, pizza-style, while standing. The miraculously easy and versatile pastry dough comes together in a food processor in less than 20 seconds and can be filled with all sorts of fruits or vegetables.

13 of 22

Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel

Vanilla Ice Cream Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel — © John Kernick

This genius bread pudding is made with melted vanilla ice cream, eliminating the need to make a custard. The caramel sauce comes together quickly with just four ingredients.

14 of 22

Boozy Bourbon-Pecan Tassies

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."

15 of 22

Vanilla and Cider Panna Cotta with Spiced Ginger Cookies

Vanilla-and-Cider Panna Cottas with Spiced-Ginger Cookies — © John Kernick

Chef Shawn McClain tops his cinnamon-vanilla panna cotta with an elegant apple cider gelée for a creamy, tangy dessert that's definitely holiday-worthy. The panna cotta is lovely on its own, but if you have time, make the spiced ginger cookies to serve with it.

16 of 22

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Pumpkin Tiramisu — © John Kernick

Silky pumpkin mousse is layered with coffee-dipped store-bought ladyfingers to create a spectacular tiramisu that's an easy and terrific alternative to pumpkin pie.

17 of 22

Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake

Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake — © Con Poulos

This is one of the best upside-down cakes ever — the maple syrup infuses both the apples and the cake, making the dessert taste like a stack of apple pancakes.

18 of 22

Apple Pie Granita

Apple Pie Granita — Kana Okada

Chef Emeril Lagasse transforms natural apple juice into a refreshing granita in 15 minutes.

19 of 22

Free-Form Apple Tart

Free-Form Apple Tart. Photo Â© Quentin Bacon — © Quentin Bacon

Sam Mogannam's wife, Anne Walker, usually makes this dessert with Arkansas Black apples — an heirloom variety — from Mogannam's parents' orchard near Sacramento. The dense, tart apples are harvested late in the season, making them a good Thanksgiving choice. Granny Smiths are an easier-to-find alternative.

20 of 22

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies — Â© David Malosh

These soft, lightly spiced cake-like cookies are studded with minced candied ginger and topped with a buttery sugar glaze.

21 of 22

Skillet Apple Charlotte

Skillet Apple Charlotte — © Lucy Schaeffer

A classic apple charlotte has a crust of buttered bread slices filled with caramelized apples. In this quick version from chef Jacques Pépin, apple wedges are sautéed with honey and maple syrup, topped with buttered toast, and turned out of the pan like a tarte Tatin.

22 of 22

Apple Cake with Cranberries

Apple Cranberry Cake — John Kernick

Layer apples with cranberries and brown sugar for this moist and buttery upside-down cake, then top them with a fantastic sour cream batter.

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