Thanksgiving Pie and Tart Recipes

Finely chopped walnuts take the place of some flour in this two-fruit pie. You can bake the pie up to one day in advance to minimize Thanksgiving Day work.

A homemade crust made with chocolate wafers, dark-brown sugar, and butter encases this decadent mixture of heavy cream and confectioner's sugar.

This recipe perfectly showcases the bright citrus flavor of Meyer lemons.

This light and fluffy twist on pumpkin pie uses sweet heirloom squash. With only 15 minutes of prep time, and the ability to stay refrigerated for three days, it's bound to become a favorite.

An easy gingersnap crust sets this pumpkin pie apart. The silky-smooth custard filling is cooked on the stove top.

To make chef Emeril Lagasse's interpretation of this down-South favorite, scatter chocolate chips and toasted pecans over the pie crust, then pour the sweet filling over the top. You can use store-bought crust to save time.

This rustic free-form take on apple pie gets a savory tang from the addition of sharp cheddar cheese to the crust. After the crostata comes out of the oven, brush melted apricot jam over the filling to make it glisten.

This recipe is a Thanksgiving version of frangipane tart, which features ground almonds in the filling. For a holiday touch, cranberry jam is spread in the bottom of the tart before baking, and candied cranberries go on top once it's done.

This traditional sweet potato pie features an easy press-in graham cracker crust. The custard filling is spiced with just a little bit of allspice, letting the rich sweet potato flavor shine through.

Melt semisweet chocolate into hot cream and stir in a splash of rum to make the filling for this easy pie. Top it with macadamia nuts and whipped cream just before serving.

Just as essential to the Thanksgiving dessert offerings is rich pecan pie. The pie should cool completely before you cut into it, so it's best made a day ahead.

Maple syrup and lemon zest give a nuanced sweetness to the filling of this tart. Fold fresh breadcrumbs into the pumpkin custard before baking for a unique texture.

Prepare the filling for this pie by poaching quince in sweet dessert wine with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Use store-bought puff pastry to form the quick and easy crust.

Honey and nutmeg flavor this pie’s custard filling. Use leaf lard for an exquisitely flaky crust.

Update classic key lime pie with a coconut-milk filling and a sprinkling of toasted shredded coconut atop billowy whipped cream.

This recipe for Shaker lemon pie begins with thinly sliced lemons marinated in sugar overnight. The lemon pie filling thickened with seven eggs, making it temptingly rich.

Fresh quince turns aromatic and rosy-pink as it simmers with vanilla bean and maple syrup. Top the filling with cornmeal biscuits and sliced almonds to make this cobblerlike fall dessert.

This beloved Southern-style Thanksgiving dessert is made extra-delicious with the addition of dark chocolate. The filling needs time to set, so this pie is best baked a day in advance.

The light, crisp crust for this unique pie is made with kataifi (shredded phyllo dough). Layers of caramel-coated apple slices surround the semolina custard filling.

These mini pies feature a cranberry filling and are topped with billowy meringue. The recipe calls for the juice and zest of blood oranges, but if unavailable, regular ones work too.

This is a real pecan-lover's pie, featuring four cups of pecans bound together with honey caramel instead of the usual butterscotch filling. This pie is best served warm, with bourbon whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

A layer of rich chocolate pudding is topped with fluffy meringue in this pie that will be a welcome addition to the Thanksgiving dessert assortment. Feel free to save time by using purchased pie crust.

This rustic French dessert features decoratively arranged pear slices cooked in caramel. The mixture is topped with a circle of purchased puff pastry, baked until golden, and flipped so that the caramelized pears are on top.

No need to take the extra step of cooking the lemon custard filling on the stove top for this pie: instead, it bakes right in the crust. The whipped cream topping can be stabilized with gelatin if you would like to make the pie the day before Thanksgiving.

With a pate brisee crust on the bottom and crumbly oat streusel on top, this pie offers a delicious array of textures and flavor. The filling is a combination of pear wedges and homemade cranberry sauce.

Chocolate shows up in three guises throughout this dressed-up pumpkin pie. A layer of bittersweet chocolate coats the cinnamon-spiced graham cracker crust, semisweet chocolate adds depth and smoothness to the pumpkin custard filling, and melted milk chocolate is drizzled over the top just before serving. Make this pie the day before Thanksgiving (minus the milk chocolate topping) to give the filling time to set in the refrigerator.

Made with evaporated milk rather than cream, the filling of this traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie is lighter than some other recipes. The crust is blind baked for 30 minutes before the pumpkin custard is poured in, so the pastry is golden-brown and flaky even on the bottom.

This recipe for pear and almond-cream tart is based on the traditional French tart, which calls for poaching pears. This recipe uses canned pear halves for ease of preparation.

This pumpkin pie features an extra-rich, cinnamon-spiced pumpkin filling. The whipped-cream topping is stabilized with gelatin so it stays high and fluffy, making it possible to assemble the entire pie the day before Thanksgiving.

Sliced Bartlett pears are arranged decoratively in a chocolate-almond filling. The pears are brushed with apple jelly after baking to give them a glossy sheen. There's no need to make a crust for this easy Thanksgiving dessert.

Maple syrup and a few spoonfuls of bourbon or dark rum add depth of flavor to this classic pecan pie. Don't throw away any extra scraps of dough; use them to make leaves that can be adhered to the edge of the pie crust for a pretty Thanksgiving garnish.

These individual pumpkin pies are a sophisticated alternative to the typical Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. The pies have a gingersnap crust and a silky no-bake custard filling, and are garnished with ribbons of candied pumpkin spiced with cinnamon and ginger.

The "black bottom" of this pie is a creamy chocolate custard made with cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. The fluffy meringue topping is spiked with rum.

This tart is a double-crust version of the Southern classic, chess pie. The sweet, gooey filling is made from sugar, eggs, butter, and a little bit of cornmeal; the crust is made with crushed vanilla wafer cookies.

Brown sugar, corn syrup, and a half-dozen eggs make an exceptionally rich, sweet filling for this tartlike pecan pie. Take the time to arrange the pecan halves decoratively on top for a beautiful presentation on the Thanksgiving table.

Paper-thin slices of orange and lemon are tossed with sugar and refrigerated overnight for their juices to come out and mingle. Eggs thicken the filling, which is smoothed into a simple pastry crust. Serve this pie with cranberry compote on the side for a Thanksgiving touch.

Begin with either roasted sugar-pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin to make this pie filling, which is baked in a press-in graham crust made with a blend of all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, ground pepitas (pumpkin seeds), brown sugar, and a touch of cinnamon. A tiny bit of cayenne pepper sparks the crunchy candied pepitas that top the pie.

Similar in flavor to pumpkin pie, the filling of these individual Thanksgiving desserts is made from pureed acorn squash sweetened with honey and spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Cornmeal gives the crust an appealing crunch.

Two types of honey give this tart a unique nectarlike taste. As the tart bakes, the pine nuts rise to the top and form a crunchy layer. Cut in to reveal the gooey interior.

Instead of apple pie this Thanksgiving, try a pear pie. Dried cherries bring color and sweet-tart flavor to the cinnamon-, nutmeg-, and clove-spiced filling.

Tart apple wedges are interspersed with sweet, juicy blackberries and tart apples in this pie filling. The top is decorated with an elaborate arrangement of fall leaves cut out of pie pastry.

Slices of fresh pineapple are poached with rum and vanilla bean to form the exotic filling of this creative Thanksgiving dessert. The decorative lattice top is surprisingly easy to make. The secret is to start with very cold pie dough.

The creamy custard in this pie is made by simmering milk and cream with vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks. After baking, dust the pie with ground cinnamon for extra aroma and flavor.

This elaborate-looking Thanksgiving apple tart is actually very easy to make. The crust is formed from a sheet of purchased puff pastry. A small amount of applesauce is spread onto the dough to make a bed for the apple slices. Once the tart is baked, glaze it with apricot jelly for a pretty shine.

This pumpkin icebox pie is an easy Thanksgiving dessert that everyone will love. The no-bake pumpkin filling gets its silky texture courtesy of cream cheese and gelatin.

The crust for this pumpkin pie tastes like a shortbread cookie, and is easy to make. No rolling pin required; just press it into the pan with your hands. The pumpkin custard pie is extra rich, thanks to a cup of heavy cream.

This rich pie is a coconut triple threat: there is shredded coconut in the macaroon-like chocolate wafer crust, in the rich and creamy custard filling, and in the nutty toasted topping. Cutting into this pie is sheer coconut joy.

The crisp crust of this tart is made with crushed ice-cream cones. The easy chocolate filling is made by melting bittersweet chocolate with heavy cream, and then folding whipped cream into the mixture once cool.

A buttery crust is packed to bursting with Granny Smith apple slices tossed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. This may be the ultimate recipe for apple pie, a perfect choice for your Thanksgiving menu.

This twist on the classic French apple tart features seductively fragrant quince. Add rustic elegance to the Thanksgiving feast with this dessert.

Yogurt and cream are sweetened with honey and thickened with gelatin to make a cool, creamy filling for a gingersnap-walnut crust. This recipe uses dried plums for the poached fruit topping, but you could also use dried pears, apricots, cherries, cranberries, or peaches.

The sweet filling of this old-fashioned pie gets color and depth from molasses. The top is sprinkled with a crumb topping spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.