Besides the turkey and mashed potatoes, everyone knows the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is dessert! Every year Aunt Martha makes her famous apple pie, and Cousin Bob brings the smoothest pumpkin pie you’ve ever tasted. And for the last 25 years, that’s always what you expected. But this year, what if you want to spice things up?
I took four traditional holiday desserts and reimagined them; pumpkin pie, cheesecake, apple pie, and pecan pie. See the results below!
Traditional Desserts #1 and #2: Pumpkin Pie and Cheesecake
New Dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
These muffins were very easy to make, and I followed the directions to a T. My husband isn’t a huge pumpkin fan, and he ate two the first day I made them. Honestly, these were some of the most delicious muffins I’ve ever tasted. They stayed moist while the cheesecake cooked through, and had great flavor. The only thing to watch out for is how much they expanded. They rose well over the top of the muffin pan, so next time I won’t fill them quite as full.
Find the recipe I used HERE.
Traditional Dessert #3: Apple Pie
New Dessert: Apple Crumble Shortbread Bars
I have a confession. I LOVE apple crumb pie. The caramelized bits of deliciousness on top is usually scraped to the side of the plate so I can enjoy them on their own. So when I sought out a recipe to recreate an apple pie it had to be a good one. Boy, this one did NOT disappoint! I took these for dessert to my in-laws for family dinner, and everyone raved about them. You can taste the butter in the shortbread, and we all know that’s true happiness.
The only things I did differently were added more cinnamon to the apples, and I cooked it a bit longer than it called for. Those were two suggestions from the comments at the bottom of the recipe website page, and I’m glad I followed them. But guys, seriously, please do yourself a favor and make these. Aunt Martha will even be impressed.
Click HERE for the recipe.
Traditional Dessert #4: Pecan Pie
New Dessert: Pecan Pie Cookies
Pecan pie is famously sweet. The words rich and decadent are also used. When filling your dessert plate it’s hard to cut just a sliver of this pie without the whole thing falling apart. In comes pecan pie cookies.
These weren’t overly sweet, and they were a perfect two-biter. Also, no fork was required! You can add the chocolate, but I’m a bit of a pecan pie purist.
The only thing I would caution with these is cooking the pie filling. You absolutely have to constantly stir the mixture in order to not end up with scrambled eggs. Trust me, no one wants that. The other thing I would do differently next time is par cook the dough for a few minutes before adding the pie filling on top. The dough came out a little chewier than I like but didn’t deter me from eating one…. or two.
*BONUS TIP* You can roll the extra pie dough scraps in cinnamon and sugar, then bake them in between the cookies on the same cookie sheet!
You can find the recipe HERE.
All of these recipes were very easy to make and most didn’t take too much time. Don’t be afraid to change it up this year and try something new. You might just stumble upon a new tradition!
