Thanksgiving is the most wonderful time of the year! Sure, seeing family and friends is nice, but what really makes Thanksgiving special are all the tasty desserts.
Whether joining your family for a Thanksgiving get-together or hosting your own Thanksgiving meal this year, you’ll likely be planning a dessert course. Before you simply grab something from the store and call it a day, know that there are some easy dessert recipes you can prepare yourself.
Thanksgiving desserts are always the favorite part, so give your Thanksgiving a personal touch by whipping up one of these delicious desserts yourself.
1. Pumpkin Pie
This easy pumpkin pie recipe is great for the holidays, as it can be made ahead of time.
Ingredients
- Pie crust
- Eggs (3)
- Brown sugar (1 cup)
- Ground cinnamon (1 tsp)
- All-purpose flour (1 tbsp)
- Salt (1/2 tsp)
- Ground ginger (1 tsp)
- Evaporated milk (300ml)
- Pumpkin puree (425 grams)
- Ground nutmeg (1/2 tsp)
- Ground cloves (1/8 tsp)
Instructions
To make this pie, start by baking your pie crust for a little while before adding the filling. It’s unnecessary to prebake your crust every time, but I highly recommend it for this recipe because it creates a crisp bottom layer.
Making Pie Crust
- To make a pie crust, roll out the dough to about 12 inches in diameter. You want your pie crust to be bigger than your pie dish so that it can fit into the dish and also be used to decorate the edges of the pie.
- To transfer the crust to the pie dish, roll it up over a rolling pin, then unroll it into the dish. Use a deep pie dish, at least 1 and 1/2 inches deep.
- Gently fit the crust into the dish. Don’t stretch it out too much, which can cause shrinkage.
- Chill the dough: This will make it less likely to shrink and ensure that your shortening and butter are cold, resulting in a flakier crust.
- To prevent bubbling, pierce the crust with a fork several times before removing the pie weights.
- Line the dough with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans (or pie weights).
- Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes
- Carefully lift the parchment paper with your pie weights off the pie crust.
- Bake the crust for 5 more minutes at 400°F. This will ensure that the bottom is baked enough to hold the filling.
- Let it cool before serving, and that’s pretty much it!
Making Pie Filling
- Turn the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C), so the filling can bake gently.
- Mix the brown sugar, flour, spices, and salt in a small bowl. Don’t worry if there are a few lumps in the mixture; these will disappear once you add them to the wet ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, lightly whisk together the eggs and pumpkin puree. Then stir in the evaporated milk.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, mixing just until blended.
- Fill the pie crust with the filling.
- Bake for 50 minutes at 375°F. If you’re using a pie crust shield, cover the edges of your crust after you’ve blind-baked it and added your pie filling. If not, use foil to cover the edges instead.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack for two to three hours. Then, cover with foil and place in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
2. Carrot Cake
Carrot cake is one of those desserts that has everything going for it. It’s tender, moist, and filled with finely shredded carrots. It’s also sweet enough to satisfy your craving for something sweet but not so sweet that it feels like a sugar rush.
This carrot cake is tender, moist, and bursting with finely shredded carrots. And you can’t forget the cream cheese frosting!
In addition, you can also check out my espresso carrot cake recipe if you want a gentle touch of coffee.
Ingredients
- Eggs (4)
- All-purpose flour (2 cups)
- Vegetable oil (3/4 cups)
- Salt (1/2 tsp)
- Unsweetened applesauce (1/2 cup)
- Carrots (3 cups finely grated)
- Granulated sugar (1 cup)
- Light brown sugar (3/4 cups)
- Baking powder (2 tsp)
- Baking soda (1 tsp)
- Cinnamon (2 tsp ground)
- Nutmeg (1/4 tsp ground)
- Ginger (1/4 tsp ground)
- Vanilla extract (2 tsp)
- Pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Set your baking oven to preheat at 350F.
- Line two 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper and butter the paper. Dust the parchment paper with flour and shake out excess flour. If you have water-soaked cake strips, line your pans with them.
- Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together vegetable oil, applesauce, eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Then add vanilla extract and beat again.
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. Add grated carrots, mixing just until evenly distributed. Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for about thirty-three to thirty-eight minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- After baking, let your cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Frost, the cake, then sprinkle chopped pecans on top for decoration if you like. Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Decorating My Carrot Cake
Following are some ways I like to decorate my carrot cake:
- To complete the cake, I add a swirled frosting finish done by hand using an offset spatula, and then I add a border of chopped pecans covering the entire outside edge. A cake turntable makes it easier to decorate.
- After frosting the cake, I like to tint some of the frosting green and some orange. Then I pipe an orange border around the top edge of the cake, followed by piping a green border around the bottom edge.
Conclusion
These two Thanksgiving desserts are the perfect choices for when you’re hosting your own Thanksgiving feast, but they’re also great for potlucks and other gatherings as well.
So whether you’re hosting a major Thanksgiving dinner or just sharing some food with a group of friends and family, these easy desserts will have everyone smiling!
