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Classic Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

Stacey Pirtle

by Stacey Published: Nov 16, 2024

This post may contain affiliate links.

It just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a dessert or two, and this recipe collection puts all the classic Thanksgiving dessert recipes right at your finger tips! From carrot cake to pecan pie bars, pear apple crisp and no bake pumpkin desserts, this list has it all and then some.

Collage of 4 classic Thanksgiving Dessert recipes, including caramel cake, pumpkin trifles,  pecan pie bars and apple crisp.

Any self-respecting Southern spread is going to have a whole slew of desserts to top off the traditional Thanksgiving meal.  It’s true, we love the turkey; we load up on the side dishes, but the Thanksgiving desserts… well, they just steal the show, beckoning to us from over at the dessert table with their promises of after-dinner delights. 

Table of Contents

  • Thanksgiving Cakes
  • Thanksgiving Pie Recipes
  • Thanksgiving Desserts
  • Cookies & Bars

Some of us don’t wait until after dinner to heed the Thanksgiving dessert call.  We dive right in with a nibble here and there while the cooking and the visiting is going on.  Others of us just wander by and breathe in deeply while carefully planing out our after-dinner dessert plates… (because it’s the holidays, we definitely plan on allowing ourselves “just a small slice” of each one). 

Then there are those who politely wave off the prospect of multiple desserts on one plate and just choose to have a single dessert… and another during the ballgame… and one when they visit the kitchen…  Don’t even get me started on dessert for breakfast the day after… 

The ways to enjoy Thanksgiving dessert are endless! To make sure you are well prepared for all the upcoming enjoyment, I’ve gathered up some of the best classic Thanksgiving dessert recipes around.  There are sure to be one or three that are just begging to be on your Thanksgiving dessert table this year! 

Need The Right Pans & Tools To Get it Done? Take a peek a my 18 Holiday Baking Essentials for all the things you need to make baking easy.

Thanksgiving Cakes

Fresh Apple Cake with chunks of apples and walnuts

Mamaw's Old Fashioned Fresh Apple Cake

German Chocolate Cake is a coconut pecan frosting with a thick, buttery caramel custard

Mamaw's Famous German Chocolate Cake & Frosting

salted caramel cake

Southern Salted Caramel Cake

sweet potato pound cake slices

Sweet Potato Pound Cake with Cinnamon Simple Syrup

A homemade carrot cake with a wedge cut out to show texture and layers.

The Perfect Homemade Carrot Cake Recipe

Texas Buttermilk Chocolate Sheet Cake

Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Homemade pineapple upside down cake with pineapple slice topping in a spiral desogn.

Homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Image for Old Fashioned Coconut Ice Box Cake

Old Fashioned Coconut Ice Box Cake

Thanksgiving Pie Recipes

Chocolate Pecan Pie with bourbon is perfect for Thanksgiving, Kentucky Derby, holidays.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie with Molasses Bourbon Whipped Cream

no bake pumpkin pie bites

No Bake Pumpkin Pie Bites

easy pear galette served with ice cream and honey

Celebrate Autumn with A Rustic Pear Galette

Side view of Old fashioned Coconut Pie with a high browned meringue

Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

Old Fashioned Chocolate Meringue Pie made with a stove top dark chocolate pudding

Old Fashioned Chocolate Meringue Pie

Thanksgiving Desserts

homemade banana pudding with easy cooked pudding and vanilla wafer topping.

Southern Banana Pudding from Scratch

an overhead photo of a serving of apple pear crisp showing the texture of the topping and the cooked sliced apples.

Cozy Apple Pear Crisp

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle in a glass.

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles

Coca cola jello salad in a trifle dish. Made with cherries, pineapple, coconut pecans, coca-cola and cherry gelatin.

Cherry Coca-Cola Jello Salad

A slice of pumpkin chocolate delight

Pumpkin Chocolate Delight with Pretzel Crust

Breading Pudding with Cream Sauce

Southern Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce

Loaded with apples, walnuts, sweet crispy crust drizzled with a cinnamon glaze.

Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread

Cookies & Bars

pecan pie bars turn traditional pie into an easy dessert

Best Ever Pecan Pie Bars

A gooey pecan pie brownie on a white place with coffee cups in the background

Gooey Black Bottom Pecan Pie Brownies

Soft, chewy, moist oatmeal raisin cookies will loads of traditional flavor.

Best Ever Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A stack of 3 Hello Dolly Cookie Bars

Hello Dolly Magic Cookie Bars

Easy Coconut Cookies with Pecans stacked up

Perfect Coconut Cookies with Pecans

Buttery-rich peanut butter cookies and milk make a great after school snack or dessert.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

                   

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Filed Under: Holidays, Recipe Collections Tagged With: Thanksgiving

Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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