40 Sensational Thanksgiving Pies and Tarts

Puff pastry provides a light and airy frame for a creamy ricotta filling with tart cherries. To serve, cut down the center, then slice into rectangles.

A thin layer of cranberry gelée on top of a smooth lemon filling topped with a cloud of meringue brings a classic pie to new heights. This is a happy way to finish any meal.

Shake things up this Thanksgiving. An impressive crown of paper-thin pastry hints that things are veering into unfamiliar territory; within the smooth pumpkin filling of this pie is an exotic hint of Chinese five-spice powder.

If members of your camp believe a dessert doesn't count unless it has chocolate in it, pull over here. The cocoa and espresso powders lend this iconic Southern sweet a sublime spin. It's a quick whisk-and-pour filling, requiring just one bowl, so you can easily check it off your list.

Pears are poached in mulled wine here, infusing the fruit with spices and giving the exteriors a deep crimson hue. When sliced and nestled into the rich frangipane filling, they create a glorious ombré effect.

Details do make a difference: Two varieties of apple are chosen for flavor and color. The apples, carefully arranged in delicate layers, will make this the prettiest dessert on the table.

Dates replace some of the sugar in this pie, providing an intense caramel flavor. Thoroughly blind-baking the crust before filling it ensures a flaky, golden shell that cradles the gooey nuttiness within.

There's a mod sensibility to this pie, but when you cut into it, you'll find that the flavor is classic.

The delicious, sweet flavor of freshly baked butternut squash fills this show-stopping pie. Break out your cutest cookie cutters for decorating the top, and see our step-by-step guide for cutting and braiding the dough.

Here's a rustic free-form apple tart with a deliciously savory note, thanks to the addition of sharp cheddar cheese in the crust. This dessert brings traditional flavors and up-to-the-minute style together with casual flair.

This polka dot pie features a flaky cream cheese dough that nobody will be able to pass up. The jammy filling is a nod to Oregon, the only state in the United States where marionberries grow. Substitute another fruit preserve if you can't find this unique berry.

This cheerful pie breaks out of the circle—it's baked in a rectangular pie tin, accentuating the patterned pecans on top. It also presses all our nostalgia buttons: The crumbly crust, which tastes just like Pecan Sandies, encloses a fluffy butterscotch filling.

Pumpkin pie is the classic dessert of Thanksgiving. This year, evolve it with this pillow-top confection. It features the same cinnamon and nutmeg, but roasted sweet potatoes are denser and richer-tasting than canned pumpkin. Halved marshmallows, shingled in circles and toasted with a torch or under the broiler, make an arresting design with minimal effort: Just spritz kitchen shears with cooking spray and snip the puffs in half.

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.

Yogurt and cream sweetened with honey are set with just enough gelatin to make a cool, creamy filling for the 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.

Feed a crowd? Yes indeed. This mega-fruit pie is prepared in a rimmed baking sheet, has a crumb topping and a perfect crust-filling-topping ratio in each of its 24 slices.

This is a rich version of the classic pecan pie. Take the time to arrange the pecan halves decoratively on top for a beautiful presentation on the Thanksgiving table.

Made with evaporated milk rather than cream, the filling of this classic Thanksgiving pumpkin pie is light with a concentrated pumpkin flavor.

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, navel or juice oranges work, too.

Make this pie a celebration of the best ingredients; the filling is essentially just pure maple syrup, eggs, and cream. A touch of nutmeg and a dash of vanilla add warm spice.

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.

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.

It looks traditional but this pumpkin pie holds a little surprise: chipotle chile powder gives it a warm, smoky kick. Top each serving with a dollop of bourbon whipped cream.

There's a triple dose of pistachios in this rich chocolate tart: in the chocolate pastry crust, in the bottom layer of pistachio paste, and sprinkled over the milk chocolate top layer. The dough for this tart can be made a month before Thanksgiving and kept in the freezer; just thaw overnight before using.

Traditional southern chess pie features a simple egg-and-sugar custard; this version adds tart lemon and sweet Cara Cara orange juices for a bit more sunshine.

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.

Thinly sliced lemons are marinated in sugar overnight to start this classic pie. The lemon filling is thickened with six eggs, making it temptingly rich.

Roasted peanuts are the star in this scrumptious pie, which is sweetened with golden syrup. It's so much fun, it'll bring out the kid in everyone.

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

An easy press-in vanilla wafer crust surrounds a creamy, milk chocolate filling in this winner of a pie. Vanilla-bean whipped cream tops it off wonderfully.

This pie is a satisfying study in textures: Apples are tossed with sour cream, which melts to create a delicious, rich filling, and the browned crumb topping cuts through it all. Because it's dense, give it a long cooling time—this will make the creamy apple filling easier to serve.

Celebrate the beginning of citrus season with this pure and simple tart. It showcases the brilliant color and sweet flavor of California Meyer lemons.

A filling of pecans and chocolate sweetened with sorghum syrup and spiked with Bourbon? This pie is a southerner at heart.

Twice as nice, that's this take on pumpkin pie. The crust is traditional, the filling is extra deep, and it's dressed up with a glorious mountain of meringue on top.

The dazzling look of this tart belies its simplicity. The circle of dough for the top crust is cut into rays of pastry which are twisted into a beautiful pattern over the filling of almond frangipane, with tahini adding a sesame flavor, and chocolate. It looks complicated, but our step-by-step guide breaks down the process.

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

With a pâte brisée 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.

Serve this pie and show off your knowledge of historical trivia—or at least start some fun conversations. Upping the impressiveness factor, you'll cook the coconut in the oven until it cracks, before splitting it open and grating it yourself.

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

Whole McIntosh apples are stuffed with cranberries and baked in cake batter inside a piecrust. You might consider this the turducken of Thanksgiving dessert pies but we say it's just plain delicious.