Canadian Thanksgiving Desserts
A list of Thanksgiving desserts from Canada would be incomplete without the mention of some region-specific dishes like flapper pies and Nanaimo bars. But we’d be repeating ourselves! You’re better off consulting our Canadian Desserts: O Canada Road Trip post from the summer in this case. Instead, today we’re going to focus on three Thanksgiving classics; pumpkin pie, maple pecan pie, and apple pie.
Pumpkin pie
We’ll begin with the most famous Thanksgiving dessert of them all, the pumpkin pie. An obvious symbol of harvest time, every autumn we effortlessly stumble across spiced-pumpkin-flavoured goodies almost everywhere we turn. However many times we see it reinvented, though, the ultimate will always be the basic pumpkin pie. Normally served with whipped cream or plain vanilla ice cream, they’re sometimes made with rustic ripple-edged crusts! If you’re lucky, you might live near a bakery that makes a soft and fluffy pumpkin brioche or a chocolate shop with specially themed Thanksgiving truffles. Look here to discover other pumpkin themed desserts near you!
This is a good time to segue to our next Thanksgiving dessert, the maple pecan pie. A variation of the standard pecan pie, for a slight detour and little slice of dessert history, did you know that after the US Civil War, the southern states decided to turn their back on the “Yankee” Thanksgiving tradition of pumpkin pie? In its place the sweet potato pie stepped forward, introducing us to a dessert with more southern flavours like bourbon and pecans. In Canada, we bypass the bourbon in favour of some home grown maple syrup! Look here to see where to find a variety of pecan-related desserts near you.
As a side note: If you’re partial to the rich and buttery pecans, we recommend reading our Pecan Desserts: 10 Must-Haves blog post!
Pecan pie from Pie Junkie
Another much loved Canadian Thanksgiving dessert is the apple pie, which is made even better if you can pick the apples yourself. We’ve mentioned this fragrant dessert not once, but twice before, in Desserts and Superheros: National Superhero Day, and in Grandma’s Apple Pie Top 5 Secrets. If you’re not the type to pick the apples and bake a pie yourself, you’re in luck with a multitude of bakeries and patisseries featuring freshly plucked apples in many pies, tarts, and cakes this fall. Some apple pies can include stripes of chocolate and crunchy, toasted almonds, while other pies, in the form of galettes may include walnuts and sticky maple-caramel desserts. Being a country that’s home to many apple orchards, too, it’s easy to see why this makes our top three Canadian Thanksgiving desserts. Have a look for yourself to see where apple pies are available near you.
If you prefer Thanksgiving desserts from Canada other than apple pie, maple pecan pie, and pumpkin pie, we understand. Sometimes you have great family recipes and it’s your Thanksgiving tradition to bake them together. If this is the case, there’s no harm in exploring your other dessert options if you want to supplement your favourite dessert with a new one from your favourite bakery.
