The 3 Best Thanksgiving Day Pie Recipes

Who doesn’t love pie? Every year, Thanksgiving signals the official beginning of pie season (OK, it’s also the holiday season) and everyone has their favorite kinds. From pumpkin and pecan to apple and sweet potato, there are so many different ways to enjoy the sweet treat. Why not try adding a new pie to your annual dessert rotation? Here are three fun recipes to try this year. The first recipe is better for more experienced chefs, while the second one is perfect for anyone with a little amount of pie-baking knowledge. The third recipe is no-bake, and is a great way to wow the family without ever heating up the oven. Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving!

Buttery Pumpkin Pie

Everyone loves pumpkin pie, right? Well, this pumpkin pie recipe takes it up a notch with the addition of brown butter, which adds a sweet yet smokey flavor to your pie. It's important to watch the butter closely so it doesn't burn, as there is a fine line between delicious brown butter and burnt butter. Also, make sure to cool that butter and cream mixture completely, before you stream in the eggs, so you don't end up with scrambled eggs in your pie. This is a slightly more difficult recipe, but the results are oh so worth it.

Ingredients

• One ready-made crust
• Six tablespoons unsalted butter
• One cup light brown sugar
• Two tablespoons water
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• One cup heavy cream
• Two large eggs
• Pinch kosher salt
• One can pumpkin puree
• Pinch allspice
• Pinch cinnamon
• Pinch ginger
• Pinch ground cloves
• One teaspoon molasses
• Two teaspoons lemon juice
• 2/3 cup whole milk

Directions

• Follow the directions on your pie crust to prebake the pie shell.
• In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
• Stir the butter constantly until it turns light brown, but not burnt.
• Add the brown sugar to the butter and then add the water, mix well.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until it starts to darken.
• Remove mixture from heat and add the heavy cream, whisk until it’s all combined.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Stir in the vanilla extract and set aside.
• Using your blade attachment in a food processor, blend the pumpkin puree with all of the spices, lemon juice and molasses until smooth.
• Keep the machine running and slowly stream in the butter mixture until well combined. 
• Beat the two eggs with the salt, then steam in the eggs to the pumpkin mixture.
• Add the milk into the mixture as well, stopping to scrape the sides.
• Pour pie mixture into the prebaked shell.
• Bake at 350 for 45 to 55 minutes, rotating after 30 minutes.
• The pie is done when you can slide a toothpick in the center and it comes back clean.
• Allow to cool completely.

Old Fashioned Apple Crumble Pie

Apple pie is always a staple for Thanksgiving, but apple crumble pie makes things even more special. If you are one of those people that likes to eat the crumble off the top of the pie before you devour the rest, you'll really love this recipe. Make sure not to over-mix the topping, as the big crumbles are what you are after here, you don't want fine dust on top of that pie. The large chunks are amazing to pick at as you are enjoying your Thanksgiving dessert.

Ingredients

• One pre-made pie shell
• Eight apples peeled and sliced (Granny smith works well)
• ¼ cup sugar
• One teaspoon cinnamon
• One cup flour
• One cup sugar
• One teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• One egg, beaten
• One cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl add the cinnamon and sugar to the apples. Mix well then spoon into the pie shell.
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder, mix well and sift.
• Add the egg into the flour mixture and mix until large lumps form.
• Spread the mixture over the apples, being careful not to crush the lumps.
• Pour melted butter over the crumbs.
• Bake for one hour.
• Serve warm.

No Bake Carmel Apple Snickers Pie

Sinfully delicious! That is the only way to describe this no-bake pie filled with bite sized Snickers bars and lots of caramel sauce. You can make your own caramel sauce from scratch, but the store-bought variety works just as well here. When it comes to selecting apples, Granny Smith usually works the best for pies, but other varieties can be used as well. Just make sure your apples are the freshest you can get and you'll have an amazing dessert that looks like you spent hour slaving away, when in reality this one whips up very quickly. You can also use other candy bars for the layers, but Snickers have that great mix of peanuts and chocolate that works perfectly with this recipe.

Ingredients

• One pre-baked pie crust
• Three apples, diced (Granny Smith works well)
• 1/3 cup prepared caramel sauce (the kind you use for ice cream)
• Three tablespoons cream cheese
• 20 mini snickers bars, chopped
• Two cups whipped topping
• 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions

• Evenly distribute the snickers bars on the bottom of the pie crust.
• Then layer the apples and lightly drop the caramel sauce on top.
• In a separate bowl, combine the whipped topping, cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk, mix well.
• Add milk mixture to the pie and spread evenly.
• Drizzle the top with more caramel and a few more snickers bars for decoration.
• Chill for at least four hours.