Holiday November 20, 2024

9 Delicious Thanksgiving Pies to Add to Your Feast

Ditch the canned-pumpkin pie this holiday

 | Published on Photograph by Carly Clark.

No Thanksgiving feast is complete without pie–we say the more the merrier. Here are nine best-in-show options for your holiday spread, from clever riffs on the usual staples to more unconventional offerings that just might become a new tradition.

Maple-Bourbon Pecan

Unconventional Diner

1207 Ninth St., NW

Photograph by Magdalena Papaioannou.

Inspired by her childhood in pecan-obsessed central Texas, pastry chef Kaity Mitchell’s interpretation has a wallop of bourbon, nuanced sweetness thanks to a few glugs of maple syrup, and a fabulously flaky, butter-rich crust.

“Pumpkin Pie of Champions”

Centrolina

974 Palmer Alley, NW

Photograph by Magdalena Papaioannou.

Taking a cue from Kamala Harris’s favorite breakfast, pastry chef Mary Mendoza crafts a festive, custardy pie featuring kabocha squash, raisin bran, and almond milk.

 

Ube

Gwenie’s Pastries

12113 Nebel St., Rockville

Photograph by Magdalena Papaioannou.

This stunner will stand out on your sideboard–and your Instagram feed–with its luxuriously creamy purple-yam filling festooned with lavender-hued icing rosettes.

 

Sweet Potato

Petite Cerise

1027 Seventh St., NW

Delicately crunchy graham-cracker crust holds velvety sweet-potato filling with Shenandoah Valley sorghum and a cornucopia of aromatic spices.

 

Peanut Butter, Rum, and Coke

Bayou Bakery

1515 N. Courthouse Rd., Arlington

Here’s a cheers-worthy collab: chef David Guas’s peanut-butter pie spiked with spiced rum from Tiki TNT’s Todd Thrasher and a slug of Coke. The result is a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and a spirited kick.

 

Caramel-Apple “Ice Cream”

Crème de la Crop

273 Sunset Park Dr., Herndon

Photograph courtesy of Crème de la Crop.

This vegan and gluten-free twist on the classic apple pie features a sugar-cookie crust filled with apple-cider-and-quince sorbet. It’s crowned with cinnamon-oat streusel and a zigzag of apple-cider caramel.

 

Black-Cocoa Chocolate Silk

The Duck & the Peach

300 Seventh St., SE

Photograph by Carly Clark.

Featuring chocolate mousse and intense dark-chocolate ganache, this cocoa lover’s dream by pastry chef Rochelle Cooper can be paired with pints of house-churned vanilla-bean ice cream.

 

Mixed Berry

Acme Pie Co.

2803 Columbia Pike, Arlington

This ramble through the bramble and bog blends blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cranberries, making it a summery counterpoint to an autumnal feast.

 

Kabocha Butterscotch

Hiraya

1250 H St., NE

This pie brings together savory kabocha-squash custard, vanilla marshmallow, ginger butterscotch, and a toasted-rice/graham-cracker crust.

This article appears in the November 2024 issue of Washingtonian.

Parenting writer

Nevin Martell is a parenting, food, and travel writer whose work has appeared in the Washington PostNew York TimesSaveurMen’s JournalFortuneTravel + LeisureRunner’s World, and many other publications. He is author of eight books, including It’s So Good: 100 Real Food Recipes for KidsRed Truck Bakery Cookbook: Gold-Standard Recipes from America’s Favorite Rural Bakery, and the small-press smash Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his wife and their six-year-old son, who already runs faster than he does.