My Friends Started Calling Me the Pie Lady After These 15 Thanksgiving Desserts

Somehow, I became the friend everyone expects to bring the pie. It started innocently enough: one Thanksgiving dessert disappeared faster than I expected, then another year someone asked, “Are you bringing that pie again?”

Now I’m apparently the Pie Lady, which is a title I’m perfectly happy to accept if it means I get to keep baking the desserts people remember. I didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving as a family tradition, so I still find it funny how quickly a holiday dessert can become part of your reputation.

These 15 Thanksgiving desserts could earn you your own little title around the table.

Grasshopper Pie

When the oven is full of turkey and sides, make this pie without turning it on. Crushed Oreos make the crust, and the filling mixes marshmallow fluff, cream, and mint and chocolate liqueurs, so this one is for the grown-ups. It sets in the freezer in 2 to 3 hours, which means you can make it ahead and still bring a pie to the table.
Get the Recipe: Grasshopper Pie

Easy Buttermilk Pie

Whisk buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, sugar, and a little flour into a smooth filling in one bowl. Bake in a pie shell for about an hour, sprinkling nutmeg on top, until the filling sets and the top turns golden brown. The tang is light, so it fits next to the sweeter pies on a Thanksgiving table.
Get the Recipe: Easy Buttermilk Pie

Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie

Cook chocolate, egg yolks, milk, and flour on the stove into a thick filling, then stir in butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at the end. The filling takes about 20 minutes, and it goes into a baked crust to cool. Make it up to two days ahead, and your Thanksgiving table has its chocolate pie ready.
Get the Recipe: Homemade Chocolate Cream Pie

Chess Pie

Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and a spoonful each of cornmeal and vinegar in one bowl, then pour into a baked crust. It bakes into a gooey custard with a crisp, browned top. Chill it well before you slice, and each piece comes out clean enough for a holiday dessert table.
Get the Recipe: Chess Pie

Gluten-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

My brother-in-law kept turning down pumpkin pie, so I tucked a thin layer of chocolate ganache under the custard. A gluten-free crust gets baked first, the ganache sets on top of it, and the pumpkin custard with a little maple bakes over both. He took one bite and nodded, and that is the pie to make for the person at your Thanksgiving table who skips pumpkin.
Get the Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Old-Fashioned Lattice Top Apple Pie

I grew up in Israel watching American sitcoms, and apple pie turned up in all of them. This gluten-free pie has a woven lattice top and a crust made from almond flour and arrowroot, chilled after every step so it stays flaky. Start it two days ahead, and you get a Thanksgiving apple pie with tart Granny Smith apples under a lattice that holds its shape.
Get the Recipe: Old-Fashioned Lattice Top Apple Pie

Sugar Cream Pie

Cook half-and-half, milk, sugar, and cornstarch on the stove for about 12 minutes, until thick and without eggs in the filling. Stir in butter and vanilla; pour into a partly baked crust, top with nutmeg, and let it set as it cools for about two hours. A simple Indiana cream pie is a nice change next to the pumpkin and pecan on a Thanksgiving table.
Get the Recipe: Sugar Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie

Toasted coconut appears twice in this pie: stirred into the custard and sprinkled over the whipped cream. The custard cooks on the stove with half-and-half and egg yolks, goes into a baked crust, and chills for at least 4 hours. Make it the day before Thanksgiving, and you only have the whipped cream left to add.
Get the Recipe: Coconut Cream Pie

Vinegar Pie

Two tablespoons of vinegar sound like a dare in a dessert, but this pie tastes like a mild, creamy custard with just a whisper of tang. Whisk eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, vinegar, and melted butter in one bowl, pour into an unbaked crust, and bake until the filling is just set. Chill it for at least an hour, and it is a good surprise for the Thanksgiving dessert table.
Get the Recipe: Vinegar Pie

Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

At my Thanksgiving table, someone is gluten-free, someone avoids dairy, and some friends are vegan or skip eggs. One year I ended up with seven gluten-free pies and pastries to cover everyone, and this pumpkin pie, made with coconut milk and no eggs, works for the gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan guests all at once. Top it with coconut whipped cream, and nobody at the table is left out.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

Black Bottom Pie

One pot of custard gets split in two for this pie. A cup of it melts chocolate chips into the bottom layer, and the rest gets gelatin, a splash of rum, and whipped egg whites for the fluffy top. Bake only the crust, chill the pie the day before, and add the whipped topping last.
Get the Recipe: Black Bottom Pie

Water Pie

Water, flour, sugar, butter, and vanilla fill this pie, and you never stir it. It comes out of the oven watery, then sets into a soft vanilla custard as it chills. Bake it the day before Thanksgiving, and a pie that costs less than a dollar to fill sits right beside the fancy ones.
Get the Recipe: Water Pie

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

A friend’s mom has baked this crust and pumpkin filling for over 40 years, and I added the caramelized pecans on top. The shortening crust needs no blind baking, and the pecans only take about a minute in a pan with brown sugar. It is pecan pie and pumpkin pie in one pan, so nobody at the Thanksgiving table has to pick.
Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Gluten-Free Chocolate Pie With Chocolate Custard and Whipped Cream

The cooking club picked a Kentucky Derby theme; I pulled the dessert card, and I had no idea what to bake, so I went with chocolate. A gluten-free crust holds a dark chocolate custard that bakes until the middle still wobbles, then chills for at least 4 hours before the whipped cream goes on. Nobody asked how it fit the theme; they asked for seconds, and that is how a Pie Lady gets started.
Get the Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Pie With Chocolate Custard and Whipped Cream

Shoofly Pie

Stir together molasses, hot water, an egg, and baking soda, then pour over the crumbs in layers inside the crust. It bakes into a sticky, cake-like pie with a crumb top, dense enough to eat by hand. Let it rest for an hour, add whipped cream, and you’ll have a spiced molasses slice next to the pumpkin pie on your Thanksgiving table.
Get the Recipe: Shoofly Pie

Every Thanksgiving table needs someone who takes dessert seriously. Which one of these would earn you the “Pie Lady” title?