Our Favorite Paleo Thanksgiving Desserts
These charming Thanksgiving desserts are 100% paleo, with all the taste and none of the sugars and heavy starches of traditional desserts. The following primal-friendly recipes were collected from a few of our trusted paleo experts!
Walnut Pie Crust with Pumpkin Filling
Mark Sisson ditches the sugar and white flour in this recipe for primal pumpkin pie. For a sturdy crust that will hold together with any pie filling, Mark uses walnuts and recommends pre-baking the crust in a tart pan. He makes a pumpkin filling from canned pumpkin, coconut milk, and a mix of classic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. This is a treat both your paleo and non-paleo friends and family can enjoy. Best to save room for dessert; the nut-based crust makes a small slice of this pie pretty filling!
Lemon Meringues
Cavegirl Cuisine’s lemon meringues make a sweet and light ending to one of the biggest meals you’ll eat all year. These delightful and easy-to-make treats only require a handful of ingredients. Michelle thickens the meringue mixture with arrowroot powder and sweetens it with coconut palm sugar. After piping the mixture into evenly-sized mounds on a baking sheet, it only takes some time in the oven before these goodies are all set. Make these meringues ahead of time so that you’ll have less work on Thanksgiving day.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake
Craving a dessert that embodies the spirit of the holidays in aroma and flavors? This pumpkin gingerbread cake with maple-vanilla frosting from Melissa of The Clothes Make The Girl is just what you’ve been looking for. Her dessert creation has the density and texture of a cake bar, and incorporates a blend of baking spices, such as ground ginger and cardamom. She whips up a frosting using ingredients like coconut oil, and adds a dollop to individually cut cake squares – topped with a nut! Melissa recommends serving the cake chilled, although it’s up to your preference.
Apple Paleo Not-So-Pie
Looking for something a little lighter to enjoy after the big Thanksgiving meal? Nell, the Paleoista, developed this naturally sweet recipe for apple paleo not-so-pie knowing you wouldn’t miss the crust. Apples and other healthy ingredients like dried cranberries take center stage in this dish, while raw flax seeds add fiber and omega-3s.
Nell adds delectable spices like cinnamon and ginger, with a kick of chili powder. This baked apple dish makes for a soft, warm, and purely delicious treat!
Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Kelly Bejelley of A Girl Worth Saving was never a huge fan of pumpkin – but that was before she created this recipe for pumpkin bread pudding. Lucky for us, her experimentation with french toast turned out to be a delicious dessert creation. As a paleo-approved recipe, the bread is made from ingredients like coconut flour and coconut oil. Once cooled, the bread can be cut into small cubes, topped with pecan pieces, and tossed in a wonderful pumpkin sauce. It’s no wonder this recipe changed Kelly’s opinion about pumpkin!
What Thanksgiving desserts will you be making on Thursday?
6 Responses to “Our Favorite Paleo Thanksgiving Desserts”
Thanks so much for including my Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake recipe in your roundup. This is a pretty tempting list of desserts! Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!
Melissa – You’re very welcome! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, as well.
Thank you so much for including me in your round up! Happy Thanksgiving.
Kelly – We’re very happy to! Great recipe. We wish you a happy Thanksgiving, too!
Aimee & Clint – Glad to hear you enjoyed the round-up!
We live in Australia and therefore don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but we sure are going to use some of these recipes anyway! The pumpkin gingerbread cake looks particularly nice, can’t wait to try it!
Thanks for posting these recipes 🙂
Excellent article. I’m facing many of these issues as well..