Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

Tender pumpkin-spiced cookies are filled with tangy cream cheese frosting for a delightful autumnal dessert. Kids and adults alike will love this recipe, which comes from Matt Lewis' Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.

To ace this American tradition, we combine different varietals of apples that each have their own nuanced flavors and textures in the filling for this apple pie. The sublime result is a bold, aromatic filling bubbling inside a golden-brown double crust. This pie takes about an hour of hands on making and an hour to bake but allow time for the apples to meld with the sugar and spices before prepping the filling and making the pie—and allow plenty of time for the pie to cool before slicing and serving.

The store-bought puff pastry crust makes quick work of this delicious apple tart. 

These simple shortbread-like treats use plenty of butter.

Cut into pie-like wedges, this citrusy, streusel-topped bar cookie makes an unexpected yet spectacular Thanksgiving dessert.

Tart apples, sweet raisins, and a crumb topping make for a blue-ribbon dessert. Pack the apples in tightly to minimize gaps between filling and crust once the pie is baked.

This family recipe for sweet potato pie comes courtesy of actor Danny Glover.

Elegan and gluten free, this tart starts with a no-bake, press-in crust made with coconut and almond flour—no rolling out or blind-baking required. The filling is an enchanting elixir of butter, sugar, cream, and condensed milk speckled with coarse semisweet chocolate and pecan halves (imagine the best candy bar you've never eaten). Sprinkle on salt flakes, and slice it thin; even a sliver will satisfy.

This scrumptious sweet-potato pie, created by Martha's daughter, Alexis, strikes all the right balances: its consistency is dense but not heavy, and its flavor sweet but not saccharine. When buying fresh sweet potatoes, choose small- to medium-size examples with smooth, unbruised skins. Martha made this recipe on episode 705 of Martha Bakes.

Because the dough isn't rolled out, you don't need a rolling pin -- just a mixing bowl and a spoon. The finished crust is crisp, cookielike, and sophisticated. Use this recipe as a crust for our Pumpkin Tart.

Take advantage of fresh cranberries while they're plentiful. This homey creation takes just minutes to make and would be a festive treat throughout the holiday season.

This mash-up recipe combines two holiday dessert favorites: apple pie and pecan pie. Delicious on its own, this pie also pairs well with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Celebrate seasonal spices with a simple syrup infused with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, orange peel, and black peppercorns.

This fun, cinnamon-scented twist on apple pie can feed a crowd while wow-ing them at the same time. The same homemade pie dough forms both the base crust and the topping—the magic happens when a sweetened cinnamon-butter is spread on half of the dough and rolled up like a log and chilled. Once sliced into swirly rounds, they're shingled on top of the baking sheet of spiced apples and baked until golden brown and bubbly. You can find a step-by-step photo guide to assembling the top crust here. 

This familiar fruit-filled dessert is a close cousin to classic apple pie. We started with a standard all-butter piecrust and our favorite cooking apples, then added raspberries to the mix. You should be able to find fresh berries in your local market; if not, frozen ones will do.

A rustic French classic, this skillet-baked apple tart recipe is our founder's favorite. 

Adapted from Anne Quatrano's "Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating with Southern Hospitality" (Rizzoli). Martha made this recipe on episode 705 of Martha Bakes.

This recipe for Libby's famous pumpkin pie is courtesy of Libby's.

Celebrate harvest season with "ears" of candied popcorn, reminiscent of Indian corn. Unbleached parchment paper from your pantry is all you need for the pretty presentation.

This pie is inspired by the version served at the Virginia Diner, a landmark restaurant in Wakefield, Virginia, that's renowned for this dessert. Martha made this recipe on Martha Bakes episode 709.

Shredded coconut is folded into a silky coconut-milk custard for the filling of this indulgent pie, then the whole thing is finished with whipped cream and toasted coconut.

Two kinds of persimmons are recruited for steamed pudding; soft, ripe hachiyas are used in the batter, and oven-dried slices of fuyu -- resembling orange flowers -- form a ring around the dessert. The pudding is full of golden raisins, pecans, and candied ginger and warmed by brandy's sweet heat.

This is peak season for coconuts, and the fresh, creamy meat is well worth the effort in this pie. To crack a coconut, pierce its eyes with a screwdriver and drain liquid. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and bake coconut until it cracks, 15 to 30 minutes. Remove coconut, wrap in a dish towel, and tap with a hammer to separate the meat from the shell. Remove the skin with a vegetable peeler, and grate meat on a box grater.

Loaded with fall flavor, apple brownies mix up as quickly as the chocolate version -- just the thing for a school bake sale. Any sweet, firm variety of apple will work in this recipe, which was developed by John Bunker's friend Amy Traverso. Recipe adapted from " The Apple Lover's Cookbook," by Amy Traverso.