Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

No other dessert turns heads like a trifle. Festive in every way, this trifle recipe glows from within with scarlet layers of juicy cranberries. The filling is made from an astounding 6 cups of antioxidant-packed cranberries! We made the custard with a combination of low-fat milk and light coconut milk. From-scratch brown-butter sponge cake, made with whole-wheat pastry flour, stands in for store-bought ladyfingers.

Inspired by the old-school, ultra-rich, mousselike chocolate cake that usually called for a whole pound of chocolate, half a dozen eggs and lots of butter, this enlightened rendition has deep bittersweet chocolate flavor and dense melt-in-your-mouth texture. No one will guess it's healthier. The secret is excellent natural cocoa powder and good-quality bittersweet chocolate, preferably with 70% cacao. Although the cake can be eaten once it's completely cool, it comes out of the pan much easier and even tastes better if it has been chilled at least overnight.

A velvety, light custard surrounds ripe pears in this healthy pear pie recipe. Serve with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream.

Single-serving pumpkin cheesecakes are the perfect way to finish off a Thanksgiving meal for two (or any other meal, given that they take just 15 minutes of active prep time!). You can make them a day or two ahead of time and keep them tucked away in the fridge in their sturdy ramekins until you're ready to enjoy them.

Here's an elegant yet simple twist on the autumn classic. Pears are oven-poached in Riesling wine, which is known for its floral accents and aromas and hints of honey and pear. Serve this dessert with lightly sweetened ricotta cheese. Delicious hot, room temperature or chilled.

Sticking to its food-waste mission, L.A. Kitchen created this dessert to work with almost any fruit you have on hand. We've done it here with pears and apples, but you can use berries or even tropical fruits instead. The addition of dried fruit adds a concentrated hit of flavor you won't get from fresh alone.

Many pumpkin roll cakes have the starring ingredient only in the cake, which is a missed opportunity to enjoy all the flavor, plus you end up with leftover canned puree sitting in your fridge. Here, the remaining pumpkin is whipped with cream cheese, pecans and crystallized ginger for a tangy filling.

Pumpkin swirl cheesecake is a delicious dessert that everyone will love, especially during the holiday season.

This simple apple-cinnamon galette is easy to make thanks to premade pie crust—no need to make your own dough! Serve it for Thanksgiving dessert or after any fall meal.

This cake was inspired by the one of the most popular Jamaican desserts, sweet potato pudding. Traditionally, raw shredded sweet potatoes are used, but we found that sweet potatoes sold in the U.S. don't provide the same texture as those in Jamaica. Instead, we mix mashed sweet potato with eggs and flour to get a slightly different, but equally delicious, cheesecake-like result.

The key to these decadent treats is the portion size--baking them in mini-muffin tins keeps the carbs and saturated fat in check. And maple syrup allows you to make this pecan pie recipe without corn syrup.

This easy vegan pumpkin pie gets its structure from aquafaba (the leftover water from a can of chickpeas) whipped up into a meringue-like foam. When it's combined with pumpkin and poured into a gluten-free pecan crust, you would never know beans had anything to do with this vegan pumpkin pie recipe.

With all due respect to baklava, we've found a new favorite Lebanese dessert. This rich, moist cake is sweetened with carob molasses and has a hit of anise. We may or may not have fought over it in the Test Kitchen.

Make a batch of these easy homemade dried-fruit bars to tuck into your kid's lunchbox all week.

Let your Crock-Pot do the work for this easy slow-cooker apple crisp. It tastes just like a classic apple crisp, with the apple combination adding a sweet and tart balance in each bite. It's sure to become a new fall favorite.

These mini cheesecakes aren't just adorable--baked in a muffin tin, they're quicker to make than traditional cheesecake and perfectly portioned.

This buttermilk pie is a stunner—and perfect for the holidays—with its creamy, golden custard marbled with a crimson cranberry swirl.

Instead of topping your apple pie with a full crust, cover the dough in cinnamon sugar, roll it up and slice it like cinnamon rolls to make beautiful cinnamon swirls to top the pie. The fragrant cinnamon bun-like topping makes homemade apple pie even more special!

The bright tartness of this passion fruit mousse makes a lovely ending to a rich feast. A garnish of toasted almonds brings crunch, but toasted coconut flakes would be lovely as well. Here the mousse is layered in a large dish, which is easier to bring to potluck gatherings, but you could also make  individual portions in ramekins or small dishes. By its nature, this dessert is best made ahead, to give the mousse a chance to really set up and the flavor to develop.

With all that delicious fruit an apple pie should be healthy, but the truth is a slice can have as much as 750 calories. For the most part, the culprit is the crust. We use whole-wheat pastry flour to add fiber and lower the saturated fat by replacing some of the butter with canola oil. The brown sugar-sweetened filling in this pie is made with two kinds of apples for the perfect balance. A slice has half the calories of a typical version—sweet!

While regular hot cocoa is lovely and warming, sometimes something a bit more spirited is in order. Some other tasty additions to hot chocolate: bourbon, creme de menthe, Galliano, creme de cassis, Chambord.

In this healthy apple pie recipe, a touch of maple syrup spiked with lemon zest, cinnamon and ground ginger coats the apples while they bake. Serve this amazing homemade pie with lightly sweetened whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

These delectable bar cookies are great for holiday cookie trays, to bring out at casual gatherings, or just to enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Ease some of the Thanksgiving cooking stress with these make-ahead diabetes-friendly dessert recipes.