15+ Easy Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas (That Aren’t Pie)

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Easy Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas

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As we add more of our favorite recipes for Thanksgiving day to Drugstore Divas, we’ll be sure to add them to this list. So save it (pin it, bookmark it, however you save posts) and come back before the holiday to see what new recipes we’ve added.

Nutter Butter Turkey Cookies

These Nutter Butter Turkey Cookies will be the cutest treat on your Thanksgiving table this year.

Nutter Butter cookies and pretzels are dipped in melted chocolate, covered in sprinkles, and arranged to look like turkeys. They’re a great treat that your kids can help with too (just be ready for some wonky faces with their help; that’s what happened with me last year).

Puff Pastry Cream Cheese Danish

Store-bought puff pastry does all the heavy lifting for this Puff Pastry Cream Cheese Danish recipe. All you really have to do is make the filling from cream cheese and sugar.

This dessert is so incredibly simple, which is exactly the kind of dessert you need for Thanksgiving. You’re spending the whole day in the kitchen making dinner. You need an easy dessert.

Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies

If you’re looking for a classic cookie for your Thanksgiving dessert table, these Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies are it.

These cookies are filled with nostalgia. Every time people see them come out, they’re instantly reminded of their childhood. And that’s the exact feeling you want to conjure up on Thanksgiving.

Quick note: If you want to make them with a little more sweetness and a little less nostalgia, we have a Thumbprint Cookies With Icing recipe too. What I do is split the dough and fill half with jam and half with icing.

Elephant Ear Cookies

Another classic cookie are Elephant Ear Cookies. These cookies pair perfectly with coffee, which you definitely need to have after Thanksgiving dinner when all the tryptophan is kicking in.

These cookies, also known as Palmier Cookies, are made from three ingredients … which is probably less than any of the other items on your Thanksgiving menu.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes

Cinnamon is such a Thanksgiving flavor. You’ll find it in your apple cider, possibly in your sweet potatoes, and in these Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes.

These doughnut holes are really easy to make and super poppable. So, if you’re having a lot of family over for Thanksgiving, you might want to make a double batch.

Pecan Sandies

Thanksgiving is the last defense before Christmas. After Thanksgiving, all anyone thinks about is Christmas.

And since my favorite Christmas cookie is Pecan Sandies, they make sense to serve as Thanksgiving dessert. It’s the perfect transition from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season.

Chocolate-Dipped Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

Crackers are a really great base for cookies. If you know, you know. And if you know, you’re definitely making these Chocolate-Dipped Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers. They’re so incredibly easy too. You stick a Rolo candy between two crackers, bake it, then dip that in chocolate. Decorate in sprinkles (of course, Thanksgiving sprinkles work best).

You have to wait until these cool to room temperature to serve them, so they’re great to make ahead of time, taking one thing off your (figurative) plate on turkey day.

Peach Cobbler With Cake Mix

I usually make Peach Cobbler With Cake Mix during peach season so I can use fresh peaches. But, since they’re not fresh in November, you can use canned peaches.

The last time I made this, I brought it to a potluck and someone told me it was the best peach cobbler she ever ate in her life. Someone else told me it tasted exactly like the peach cobbler her mother used to make. So, if you want to be mom’s favorite child this year, make this.

No Bake Thanksgiving Nutter Butter Acorns

One of the best Thanksgiving desserts I’ve ever made are these No Bake Nutter Butter Acorns. Cut Nutter Butter cookies in half, dip them in melted chocolate, dip them in sprinkles, and add a piece of pretzel. That’s it.

You can make them ahead of time, which leaves you time to watch the Thanksgiving parade in the morning.

Coffee Cake With Hazelnut Glaze

There’s a really popular boxed coffee cake up north that’s made with the most delicious crumb topping. So, of course, this Coffee Cake With Hazelnut Glaze has a tasty crumble topping with a hazelnut coffee glaze on top.

If you’re hosting anyone from up north this Thanksgiving, or if you’re planning on serving coffee after dinner, you should absolutely make this cake.

Slow Cooker Apple Pie Cake

Someone is probably going to make a classic apple pie for Thanksgiving. And that’s fine. But, it’s not for me. I’d rather have this Slow Cooker Apple Pie Cake.

It’s made with an apple pie filling and flour mixture as the base, which is topped with melted butter, apple juice, and brown sugar. That cooks in the slow cooker, leaving your oven open for turkey and your Thanksgiving side dishes.

Tennessee Peach Pudding

If you make nothing else this holiday season, make this Tennessee Peach Pudding. Every time I make it, it’s gobbled up (oh, you see what I did there?).

You can top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And I always suggest that when I bring this dessert places. But it’s perfect as is with a gooey cake on the bottom and a caramel sauce (made from water … trust me, it’s magic), no one ever adds ice cream.

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

This Thanksgiving Blessing Mix is more of a snack than dessert, but Thanksgiving is in the name. I couldn’t leave it off the list. Plus, when Pete was working at an elementary school, the class used to make this and handed it out at the end of their annual Thanksgiving feast.

It’s a Thanksgiving trail mix filled with items like pretzels, candy corn, and Bugles. But, the best part: Each item represents something different in the Thanksgiving story.

Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Pretzels

Homemade pumpkin pie is usually on everyone’s Thanksgiving table. But, maybe skip that this year, and, instead, make these Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Pretzels. That way, you still have something pumpkin on your table without actually having pumpkin.

Plus, everyone is usually so full after Thanksgiving dinner that a tiny chocolate covered pretzel might be all anyone can fit.

Halloween Fudge

Yes, this is called Halloween Fudge. But, look past the name and look at the colors of the fudge. Orange and brown. Those are also Thanksgiving colors, so it works perfectly.

The actual fudge is made from two simple ingredients: chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. You can just make that and top it with Reese’s pieces. Or, you can dye white chocolate chips orange to make the layered look we did.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

These Pumpkin Spice Muffins are an honorable mention because they’re not that sweet. However, you can add a cream cheese frosting and call them pumpkin cupcakes. Or bake them in a cake pan and just make it into a pumpkin cake. Now it’s dessert.

You only need three ingredients to make this recipe: a can of real pumpkin, a box of spice cake mix, and water. It’s so easy and the result is a really moist cake … no matter how you serve it.