Food Holidays & Occasions Thanksgiving 15 Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Desserts Make-ahead options are the name of the game when you are trying to host with minimal stress. By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 5, 2023 Trending Videos Photo: Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle If you are hosting Thanksgiving, you already know that your oven is going to be extra busy that day. Give yourself a break from trying to figure out how to fit a pie alongside your turkey (spoiler: it won't work) and bake up a dessert in advance. You can make a cake like our Three-Layer Thanksgiving Cake and let it chill in the fridge. Or bake a classic French Tarte Tatin in the morning and let it sit on a sideboard, tucked away from the whir of a pre-meal kitchen as the more time-sensitive dinner components are being prepared. To help you maximize your time and precious kitchen space, we've put together this collection of fantastic make-ahead dessert recipes. Choose from Nutty Baklava Pie, Pecan-Pumpkin Cream Pie, and more. 01 of 15 Nutty Baklava Pie Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox / Prop Stylist Claire Spollen This hybrid of pecan pie and baklava is crunchy, sticky, and sweet with a hint of orange and spice from Grand Marnier and cardamom. Coconut milk replaces heavy cream in the caramel filling for a velvety, rich vegan version. A garland of crispy phyllo adds a wow factor and delicate crunch that shatters with every bite. Get the Recipe 02 of 15 Fiadone (Corsican Cheesecake) with Chestnut Honey and Figs Photo by Cedric Angeles / Prop Styling by Stephanie Bohn Fiadone, a slightly sweet Corsican cheesecake, is traditionally made with brocciu, a fresh goat or sheep's milk cheese, which gives it a crumbly texture. In this recipe from pastry chef Shawn Gawle of March restaurant in Houston, the cheesecake is topped with chestnut honey, which pairs perfectly with sweet caramelized figs and candied lemon zest. Get the Recipe 03 of 15 Spiced Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Frosting Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Kathleen Cook Varner A warming blend of cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg brings festive flavors to this tender, moist spiced carrot cake studded with golden raisins and crunchy pistachios. Brown butter ghee does double duty here: It enriches and flavors the cake batter, and the caramelized milk fat left over from making it adds a nutty flavor to the cream cheese frosting. Get the Recipe 04 of 15 Tarte Tatin Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle This classic French dessert is easy but impressive, and is one of our favorite ways to celebrate apples. Bake it in the morning, and then get the recipe 05 of 15 Gingerbread with Quark Cheesecake © Tina Rupp This clever recipe combines two cakes in one: gingerbread and cheesecake. The cheesecake half is light and creamy, with a pleasant tang from quark (a soft, unripened cheese that's similar to sour cream), while the gingerbread half is fragrant, moist, and delicately spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Get the Recipe 06 of 15 Apple Flambé Pie Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Stylist Torie Cox /Prop Stylist Claire Spollen Apple cider joins forces with both fresh and dried apples in this stovetop apple pie filling. The pie is topped with flaming apple brandy just before serving. Get the Recipe 07 of 15 Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Christine Keely We love having a cookie or two on the dessert table at Thanksgiving to nibble on while you pick between all those pies. The secret to nailing these Thanksgiving-edition Snickerdoodles is to bake them just until they’re set but not browned. They’ll finish cooking as they cool on the baking sheet, delivering their craveable tender-chewy texture. Get the Recipe 08 of 15 Pumpkin Praline Bars Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley A can of Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin Puree is the key to giving these bars created by Kentucky chef Ouita Michel their dense, cake-like texture. get the recipe 09 of 15 Fig and Caramel Nut Tart Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Rich, barely bitter caramel, deeply toasted nuts, and chewy figs combine in a buttery crust for a dessert designed for pairing with Madeira. A pinch of flaky sea salt makes it the perfect end to a long lunch. Get the Recipe 10 of 15 Pecan-Pumpkin Cream Pie Tara Donne This pie slices beautifully to reveal not one but two fillings: both pumpkin custard and gooey, syrupy pecan. Chef Joanne Chang’s technique ensures the bottom of the pie shell is perfectly cooked and avoids sogginess. Cooling the blind-baked pie shell with weights keeps it hotter, and flatter, longer. Get the Recipe 11 of 15 Milk-Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust © Con Poulos This dessert from pastry chef Colleen Grapes, a tribute to the chocolate-covered pretzel, hits just the right salty-sweet note. She mixes crushed pretzels with flour, butter, sugar, and egg to make a crunchy crust, pours in a luxurious milk chocolate filling, then sprinkles on more crushed pretzels as a garnish. Get the Recipe 12 of 15 Three-Layer Thanksgiving Cake Con Poulos To celebrate the myriad flavors of autumn, we layer three separate cakes — pumpkin, candied pecan, and cranberry cornmeal — into one giant cake, all finished with a luscious cream cheese frosting. It's got a little something for everyone at the Thanksgiving table. Get the Recipe 13 of 15 Brandy Pecan Pie Gerard + Belevender A blend of turbinado sugar, maple syrup, and honey makes for a pecan pie with a well-rounded sweetness. A dash of apple brandy adds a faint caramel apple flavor and brightens the nutty toasted pecans. Get the Recipe 14 of 15 Pumpkin Cream Pie in a Chocolate Crust © John Kernick Cookbook author Melissa Clark shakes up classic pumpkin pie with this version, which is made of pumpkin custard held together by a chocolate cookie crust. Get the Recipe 15 of 15 Pear and Cranberry Slab Pie © Con Poulos Instead of making a traditional two-crust pie in a pie plate, F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple makes this free-form, fruit-filled, ginger-laced pie on a baking sheet. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit