10 Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Desserts That Travel Well

These 10 make-ahead Thanksgiving desserts are sturdy, stunning, and won’t melt in the back seat.

By Robin Shreeves
Published November 15, 2025
Overhead view of a hand holding an apple hand pie with a bite taken out of it

Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

“What can I bring?” is often our automatic response to a holiday dinner invitation. Around Thanksgiving, the reply is frequently, “Can you bring a dessert?” It’s a great assignment—everyone loves dessert, and even if you arrive a little late, you haven’t ruined dinner.

What’s not so great is worrying whether the dessert you carefully made will still look as good when it arrives as it did when it left your kitchen. These 10 desserts travel well, holding up beautifully on the dessert table—at least until someone digs in and says, “This is sooooo delicious!”

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  • Nanaimo Bars

    Side view of nanaimo Bars

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    This Canadian treat features a base of chocolate, graham cracker, shredded coconut, and walnuts; a custardy vanilla middle layer; and an extra-chocolatey top. It comes together in 30 minutes with no cooking required, and after two hours in the fridge, slices cleanly into squares that—if kept chilled—arrive in beautiful shape.

  • Cranberry Crumble Galette

    Side view of Cranberry Crumble Galette

    Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

    The beauty of a galette is that it’s meant to look rustic, so if it gets a bit dinged on the way to your aunt’s house for dinner, no one will be the wiser. Still, it’s not hard to get this free-form tart—filled with cranberries tossed in sugar and orange liqueur, and topped with a cinnamon crumble—to its destination looking great.

  • Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

    Overhead view of a whole Apple Cider Dough Cake

    Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

    Apple cider doughnuts are a fall favorite, and turning one into a cake makes for a welcome addition to the holiday dessert table. Grab your Bundt pan, along with real apple cider and fresh apples for this spice–infused cake sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. And since there’s no frosting, there’s nothing to mess up in transit.

  • Pecan Tassies

    Decorative board with pican tassies on it, on top of a dark green velvet fabric. Smaller plate with 3 tassies on it, one bitten into. 2 cups of water.

    Serious Eats / Robbie Lozano

    These mini pecan pies have pecans in the crust, filling, and topping. With vanilla, bourbon, and orange zest in the filling, they’re absolutely delicious. To transport them ding-free, try this trick: Once fully cooled, pop them back into their cleaned and dried baking pan.

    Continue to 5 of 10 below

  • Apple Hand Pies

    Overhead view of apple hand pies

    Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

    Designed for portability, these hand pies have a flavorful spiced apple filling that’s pre-cooked to prevent overbaking the crusts. They travel well and arrive in great condition—and since there’s no slicing involved at serving time, they stay picture-perfect while everyone dives into the dessert table.

  • Sunny Lemon Bars

    Lemon bars cut into squares and dusted with powdered sugar on a marble countertop
    Vicky Wasik

    This might not be the most traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but who doesn’t love a little surprise among the holiday treats? Sweet, custardy, and intensely lemony, these bars cut into clean-edged squares—so long as they’re fully cooled. An optional lemon-pistachio Chantilly topping can be added after arrival.

  • Ginger Spice Brownies

    Ginger spiced brownies laid out on a slice of parchment paper.

    Liz Voltz

    Brownies are a year-round treat, but top them with strands of crystallized ginger and they take on a distinctly fall vibe. Like other bar desserts, they slice cleanly once cooled and look terrific on a dessert tray.

  • Classic Pecan Pie

    20151017-pecan-pie-vicky-wasik-15.jpg
    Vicky Wasik

    Honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and roasted nuts give this classic pecan pie deeper, richer flavor and lots of crunch. The top of the finished pie is covered in whole pecans, forming a protective layer that helps the filling stay intact during transport.

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  • Slab Apple Pie

    Whole Apple Slab Pie being placed on a plate. Tray is on a yellow gingham print tablecloth, with two cups of coffee, plates and gold forks

    Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

    Baked on a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet, this is apple pie built for a crowd. Once fully cooled, cover it with foil for transport. As long as it’s secured in the car, this pie—with its lightly sweetened, subtly spiced filling—will arrive looking just as it did in your kitchen.

  • Pumpkin Spice Latte Tiramisu

    Slice of PSL Tiramisu on a stylish blue and white plate, with a blue tablecloth, sparkling water, and a gold fork

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

    Since it travels in the same baking dish it’s made in, this tiramisu—with its pumpkin spice latte flavor profile—has no reason not to arrive intact. But if you want it to look perfect on the table, wait to add the cinnamon and espresso powder topping until you get to your host’s home, then dust it on just before serving.

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