Three Thanksgiving Desserts & Recipes

No matter how you feel about the holidays, Thanksgiving is a time of year to celebrate with great food and even better company. My favorite part about Thanksgiving are the desserts. Growing up, my sister and I would help divide tasks and the two of us were always in charge of dessert. Served by the fire with tea and coffee, here are three dessert recipes that will please all of your guests and have them asking for the recipe for years after.

If there’s one staple Thanksgiving dessert in our household, it's Key Lime Pie. The tart and refreshing taste is perfect to compliment the heavy and rich Thanksgiving meal, and it’s even easier to make. Three ingredients that can be found at most grocery stores. One Thanksgiving, we even put this simple recipe to the test. We made one pie using this easy recipe and another pie with twenty ingredients and we organized a blind taste test for our family. The three-ingredient pie was the clear winner and we haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving without it since. Pro tip: grating some extra lime zest in the batter provides depth and delicious flavor, and the presentation is charming (if possible)! Serve this pie with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and relax like you’re basking in the Florida Keys with this pie. 

In my family, dessert is the best part of the thanksgiving meal. It symbolizes the sweetness after all the hard work and extensive preparation for the main meal. Enjoying different treats with coffee and sitting by the fire with my family is such a special, memorable experience. When my sister first made this blackberry pie, all twelve of us sat in silence for the first three minutes, savoring every taste and sensation. The buttery crust compliments the tartness of the blackberries beautifully. The undertones of cinnamon balance the rest of the thanksgiving menu and the flakey tasty crust cannot be beat. You can use frozen or fresh pie crust, and this pie will still be talk of the town all the way until Christmas. 

The first time I tried Maple Pie was in my tenth grade English class. My teacher made two types of pies for the class in celebration of our final project submissions. He made derby pie, a chocolate and walnut open-faced custard pie baked in a pie shell, and a maple pie. Because I am allergic to walnuts, the Maple Pie was calling my name. I have never and will never taste anything like this Salted Maple Pie. The texture combined with the salty & sweet brings endless smiles and always a crowd favorite. Most have never heard of something as simple as a Salted Maple Pie, but let it be remembered as a popular favorite and staple for our thanksgiving. 

Easy Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

• 5 egg yolks, beaten

• 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

• ½ cup of key lime juice

• Lime zest (optional)

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F & gather ingredients

• Whisk sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, and egg yolks in bowl until well combined

• Pour mixture into unbaked graham cracker crust

• Bake until filling is set, around 15 minutes

• Allow to cool on rack then finishing cooling in fridge before serving

Blackberry Pie

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 cups blackberries, rinsed, picked clean, patted dry (for frozen berries, defrost and drain them)

• 1/2 white sugar

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice (use 2 teaspoons if using store-bought berries)

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

• 4 to 6 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 pie dough for top and bottom crust

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400°F

• Combine blackberries, sugar, cornstarch lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, and almond extract in large bowl mixing to combine (the more juicy your blackberries, the more cornstarch to thicken up the filling) let sit for 30 minutes

• Roll out bottom pie crust to 12 in diameter, place in pie dish, and remove excess crust from rim

• Add the filling to the bottom crust

• Place second pie crust on top, crimp the edges using a fork with the bottom crust, and cut 4 slits in the top to allow steam to escape

• Bake pie in two sages: first, bake it at 400°F for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, cover the pie with a piece of aluminum foil to protect the top crust from burning. Reduce the oven to 350°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes

• Serve with vanilla ice cream (a la mode)
  

Salted Maple Pie:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter (1¼ sticks), melted and cooled

• 1 cup dark robust maple syrup

• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar

• ¼ cup fine yellow cornmeal

• Heaping ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

• ¾ cups heavy cream, at room temperature

• 1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 large egg, beaten

• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

• 1 baked pie crust with additional dough for bottom crust

Directions:

• In medium bowl, whisk melted butter and maple syrup until combined

• Add brown sugar, cornmeal, and kosher salt

• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and vanilla. Slowly pour egg mixture into maple mixture and whisk until combined

• Pour maple filling into pie shell 

• Crimp edges of pie crust & brush edges with beaten egg

• Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

• Remove from baking sheet and transfer to wire rack to cool for 4-6 hours, serve with flaky salt and store leftover pie in refrigerator.