19 Easy Thanksgiving Desserts for a Sweet Holiday Finish
19 Easy Thanksgiving Desserts for a Sweet Holiday Finish
Thanksgiving desserts have a timing problem no other course has: they are expected at the exact moment the cook has the least energy and the oven has the least space. The fix is not a fancier pie — it is choosing desserts whose work happens early. This list of easy Thanksgiving desserts is built around that idea. Roughly half can be made a day or two ahead, several need no oven at all, and the rest bake at moderate temperatures while the turkey rests, so dessert never becomes a second shift in the kitchen.
You do not need all 19. One classic pie, one make-ahead or no-bake option, and one easy bar or crisp gives a table of 10–12 people real choice without real stress — and every option below includes when to make it and how it travels if you are bringing dessert to someone else’s house.
Plan Dessert Around the Turkey, Not Against It
The turkey and its casseroles will claim the oven for most of the day, so a good Thanksgiving dessert plan works in the gaps:
- Bake pies the day before: pumpkin, pecan, and sweet potato pies all slice better after a night in the fridge, so baking ahead improves them rather than compromising them.
- Keep one dessert oven-free: a no-bake cheesecake or icebox cake frees the oven entirely and balances the rich, baked flavours on the table.
- Use the rest window: crisps, cobblers, and bread pudding bake in 30–45 minutes at 350°F (175°C) — exactly while the turkey rests and the sides reheat.
- Portion for grazing: bars, mini pies, and trifle cups let guests take a small taste of two or three desserts instead of committing to one big slice.
1. Classic Pumpkin Pie
The non-negotiable. A smooth pumpkin custard — pumpkin purée, eggs, cream or evaporated milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and a pinch of cloves — baked in a plain pastry crust until the edges are set and the centre barely trembles. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream, spiced with a little cinnamon.
Make-ahead: Bake 1–2 days ahead and refrigerate; pumpkin pie genuinely slices cleaner and tastes more settled the next day. On the day: Serve chilled or at room temperature. Serves 8. Practical tip: Bake the pie on the lowest oven rack on a preheated baking sheet — the extra bottom heat keeps the base crisp under a wet custard filling.
2. Southern Pecan Pie
A dark, gooey filling of eggs, corn syrup or golden syrup, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla, loaded with pecan halves that toast as they bake. It is rich in thin slices, which is exactly right after a large meal, and it is one of the most forgiving pies to transport.
Make-ahead: Bake 1–2 days ahead; keep at room temperature for a day or refrigerate longer. Warm slices gently before serving if you like. Serves 8. Practical tip: Arrange a ring of perfect pecan halves on top before baking and chop the rest for the filling — the pie looks bakery-finished for almost no extra effort.
3. Sweet Potato Pie with Toasted Marshmallow Topping
Southern in style and softer-spiced than pumpkin pie: mashed roasted sweet potatoes blended with butter, eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, baked in a crust and finished with a layer of mini marshmallows torched or broiled golden at the last moment.
Make-ahead: Bake the pie 1 day ahead and refrigerate; add the marshmallows just before serving. On the day: Broil for 1–2 minutes, watching constantly — marshmallows go from golden to burnt in seconds. Serves 8. Practical tip: Roast the sweet potatoes rather than boiling them; the filling stays thick and the flavour more concentrated.
4. Dutch Apple Crumb Pie
All the reward of apple pie with none of the lattice work. Tart apples — Granny Smith, or a mix with Honeycrisp — are tossed with sugar, cinnamon, and a little flour, then buried under a buttery brown-sugar crumble that bakes into a crisp, sandy lid.
Make-ahead: Assemble the crumb topping 2 days ahead and refrigerate; bake the pie 1 day ahead and rewarm at 300°F (150°C) for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 8. Practical tip: Slice the apples evenly and slightly thick — thin slices collapse into sauce, while even slices keep a gentle bite under the crumble.
5. Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling
A thin, spiced pumpkin sponge baked in a rimmed sheet pan, rolled warm around a towel to learn its shape, then unrolled, spread with tangy cream cheese filling, and rolled again. Sliced, it shows a clean spiral that looks far more difficult than it is.
Make-ahead: Make 1–2 days ahead, wrap tightly, and refrigerate; it also freezes beautifully for up to a month. On the day: Slice cold with a serrated knife for neat rounds. Serves 10. Practical tip: The warm roll is the whole trick — roll the sponge as soon as it leaves the pan, because a cooled sponge cracks when you try to shape it.
6. Apple Cider Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Sugar
A moist, tender bundt made with reduced apple cider, which concentrates the apple flavour without adding liquid. Warm spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, a little allspice — run through the crumb, and the finished cake is brushed with butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm.
Make-ahead: Bake 1–2 days ahead and keep wrapped at room temperature; the flavour deepens overnight. No oven needed on the day. Serves 12. Practical tip: Grease every ridge of the bundt pan generously and flour it well — a spiced, sugary crust releases cleanly only from a properly prepared pan.
7. Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp
The easiest hot dessert on this list: sliced apples under a rubble of oats, flour, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, baked until the fruit is bubbling and the top is crisp. It asks for no crust, no mixer, and no precision, and it is meant to be served warm with ice cream.
Timing: Assemble the topping 2 days ahead; slice the apples and bake on the day while the turkey rests, 35–40 minutes at 350°F (175°C). Serves 8–10. Practical tip: Toss the apples with a teaspoon of lemon juice and a spoonful of flour — the lemon prevents browning while the dish waits for oven space, and the flour thickens the juices.
8. Cranberry Pear Cobbler
A bright, tart-sweet change of pace: pears and fresh cranberries baked under soft, biscuit-style dumplings. The cranberries burst and stain the juices a deep pink, and their sharpness is a welcome contrast to a table full of rich, brown flavours.
Timing: Bake on the day, 30–35 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or assemble the fruit a day ahead and top it just before baking. Serves 8. Practical tip: Add an extra spoonful or two of sugar if your cranberries are very tart, and serve the cobbler warm rather than hot so the biscuit topping stays distinct from the fruit.
9. No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
The oven-free anchor of the dessert table. A gingersnap or graham crust is pressed into a pie dish or springform pan and filled with cream cheese beaten with pumpkin purée, brown sugar, warm spices, and folded whipped cream, then chilled until sliceable.
Make-ahead: Must be made at least 6 hours ahead and is best 1 day ahead; keeps 3 days refrigerated. On the day: Slice straight from the fridge and top with whipped cream. Serves 10. Practical tip: Blot the pumpkin purée on a few paper towels for 10 minutes first — removing that surface moisture is what keeps a no-bake filling firm instead of soft.
10. Gingersnap Icebox Cake
Layers of crisp gingersnap cookies and lightly sweetened, cinnamon-spiced whipped cream, stacked in a loaf pan or springform and refrigerated overnight. The cookies absorb moisture from the cream and soften into something remarkably like cake layers — no baking, no mixer marathons.
Make-ahead: Assemble 1 day ahead; it needs the full rest to soften properly and holds a second day well. On the day: Unmould, slice, and finish with a dusting of cinnamon or a few crushed cookies. Serves 8–10. Practical tip: Line the pan with cling film leaving long overhangs — the cake lifts out cleanly instead of fighting the tin.
11. Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
A sheet pan of soft, spiced pumpkin cake — mixed in one bowl from pumpkin purée, oil or melted butter, eggs, flour, and warm spices — spread with a simple cream cheese frosting once cool. Bars are the workhorse dessert: they feed a crowd, portion themselves, and travel in the pan they baked in.
Make-ahead: Bake and frost 1–2 days ahead; refrigerate and cut just before serving for clean edges. Makes about 24 bars. Practical tip: Frost the slab whole, chill it, then slice with a long knife wiped between cuts — you get neat, bakery-style bars instead of smeared ones.
12. Pecan Pie Bars
Everything people love about pecan pie, engineered for a crowd: a shortbread base par-baked until just set, topped with the same brown-sugar, butter, and pecan filling, then baked again until glossy and just firm. Once cool, the slab cuts into tidy squares that eat like hand pies.
Make-ahead: Make 2 days ahead and keep at room temperature in a sealed container, or refrigerate up to 4 days. Makes about 16–20 bars. Practical tip: Line the pan with parchment leaving an overhang on two sides — the whole slab lifts out for slicing on a board, which keeps the shortbread base from cracking.
13. Mini Pumpkin Pies
Individual pumpkin pies baked in a muffin tin using rounds of pastry or even wonton-style shortcuts pressed into the cups. The small size solves the two hardest parts of pie service — slicing and portioning — and guests can take one now and another later.
Make-ahead: Bake 1 day ahead and refrigerate; rewarm briefly or serve at room temperature with a dot of whipped cream. Makes 12 minis. Practical tip: Cut the pastry rounds slightly larger than the muffin cups and press them in gently without stretching — stretched pastry shrinks back and pulls away as it bakes.
14. Mini Pecan Pie Tartlets
Bite-size pecan pies made in a mini muffin tin: a simple press-in pastry, one spoonful of filling, and two or three pecan pieces on top of each. They bake in about half the time of a full pie and are the ideal bring-along dessert, because they need no slicing, no plate, and no fork.
Make-ahead: Bake 2 days ahead and store at room temperature in a tin. Makes about 24 tartlets. Practical tip: Fill each shell only two-thirds full — pecan filling bubbles up as it bakes, and an overfilled tartlet glues itself to the tin.
15. Caramel Apple Trifle Cups
Individual glasses layered with cubes of spice cake or pound cake, cinnamon apples cooked until just soft, salted caramel sauce, and whipped cream. Assembled in cups, they look like you planned them for weeks, and each part can be made whenever you have a spare half hour.
Make-ahead: Cook the apples and make the caramel 2 days ahead; assemble the cups the morning of and refrigerate. Makes 8 cups. Practical tip: Add the final whipped cream and a last thread of caramel just before serving — the layers underneath hold fine for hours, but the top looks freshest done last.
16. Maple Pumpkin Custards
Crustless pumpkin custards baked in individual ramekins — essentially the smoothest part of pumpkin pie, sweetened partly with maple syrup and finished with a small pool of cream or a spoonful of whipped cream. They suit guests who want dessert without a heavy, pastry-laden slice.
Make-ahead: Bake 1–2 days ahead and refrigerate in their ramekins; the texture stays silky. On the day: Serve chilled, straight from the fridge. Serves 6–8. Practical tip: Bake the ramekins in a water bath and pull them when the centres still have a slight wobble — custards keep cooking briefly after they leave the oven, and an overbaked one turns grainy.
17. Salted Caramel Bread Pudding
Cubes of day-old bread — brioche, challah, or plain white — soaked in a cinnamon custard, baked until puffed and golden, and served warm with salted caramel sauce. It is the best possible use for the extra bread bought for stuffing and rolls, and it reheats like a dream.
Make-ahead: Assemble the pudding 1 day ahead and refrigerate unbaked; bake on the day for 40–45 minutes at 350°F (175°C) while the turkey rests. Serves 10. Practical tip: Let the assembled dish sit at least 30 minutes (or overnight) before baking — bread that has fully absorbed the custard bakes up custardy throughout instead of dry on top and soggy below.
18. Pumpkin Dump Cake
The least-effort entry here, and unapologetically so: spiced pumpkin filling spread in a dish, dry cake mix scattered over the top, melted butter drizzled across, and the whole thing baked until the top turns crisp and cobbler-like. No mixing bowls beyond the filling, and it feeds a crowd from one pan.
Timing: Bake on the day, 50–60 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or bake a day ahead and rewarm — it is good both ways. Serves 12. Practical tip: Drizzle the butter slowly and evenly so it moistens as much of the dry mix as possible; any large dry patches left behind will stay powdery after baking.
19. Rustic Pear and Brown Sugar Galette
A free-form pie for people who find pie tins stressful: one round of pastry on a baking sheet, a pile of sliced pears tossed with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little flour in the middle, and the edges folded up and over. It looks charmingly rough-edged, and it travels flat and unbothered.
Make-ahead: Assemble and freeze unbaked up to a week ahead; bake from frozen, adding about 10 minutes. Serves 8. Practical tip: Slide the assembled galette onto parchment before filling it — the paper becomes your handles for moving it, and catches any juice that bubbles out in the oven.
Make-Ahead Dessert Timeline
- Up to a week before: Freeze the unbaked galette (item 19); make and freeze the pumpkin roll (item 5).
- 2 days before: Bake the pecan pie bars and mini pecan tartlets (items 12 and 14); make crumb toppings, caramel sauce, and the cooked apples for the trifle cups.
- 1 day before: Bake the pumpkin, pecan, and sweet potato pies and the bundt cake (items 1, 2, 3, 6); set the no-bake cheesecake and icebox cake (items 9 and 10); assemble the bread pudding unbaked (item 17); bake the mini pumpkin pies (item 13).
- Morning of: Frost and cut the pumpkin bars (item 11); assemble the trifle cups (item 15); take pies out of the fridge so they are not fridge-cold at serving.
- While the turkey rests: Bake the apple crisp, cobbler, bread pudding, or dump cake (items 7, 8, 17, 18); broil the marshmallow topping on the sweet potato pie (item 3).
- Just before serving: Whip cream once, in one big batch, for everything that needs it.
Conclusion
The secret to a calm Thanksgiving dessert course is deciding early which desserts work ahead and letting the fridge and freezer do their quiet work. Pick one classic pie, one no-bake or make-ahead option, and one easy bar or crisp, and the sweet finish of the meal is covered. And if you are still mapping out the savoury side of the menu, our 19 Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes That Practically Make Themselves follows the same make-ahead logic — plan both courses together and Thanksgiving Day starts to feel surprisingly manageable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many desserts do I need for Thanksgiving?
For 10–12 guests, three desserts is the sweet spot: one classic pie, one contrasting option such as a crisp or cheesecake, and one small-format choice like bars or mini pies. Guests typically take a full slice of one and a taste of another, so three desserts comfortably serve a table that size with leftovers.
Which Thanksgiving desserts can be made 2 days ahead?
Pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and sweet potato pie all keep well for 2 days and slice better for it. Pecan pie bars and mini pecan tartlets also hold 2 days at room temperature, and a pumpkin roll keeps in the fridge — or a month in the freezer. No-bake cheesecake is best at 1 day ahead so the filling stays fresh-tasting.
What is the best dessert to bring to someone else’s Thanksgiving?
Choose something that travels in its baking dish and needs no oven at the other end: pecan pie bars, mini pecan tartlets, a bundt cake, or the no-bake pumpkin cheesecake in its springform. Avoid anything that must be reheated, broiled, or assembled on arrival — your host’s oven and counter space are already spoken for.
