The Best Healthy Thanksgiving Desserts (Lighter Pumpkin, Apple & No-Bake)

These easy Healthy Thanksgiving Desserts give you all the holiday flavor with a lot less refined sugar! From crustless pumpkin pie and vegan pecan pie bars to apple crisp, slow cooker baked apples, and a gluten-free gingerbread cake, there’s a lighter treat for everyone at the table.

Many of these desserts are gluten-free, vegan, or keto, so guests with special diets have options too. Several are no-bake or easy to make the day before, which frees up the oven for the turkey.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting use whole wheat and almond flour, pumpkin puree, applesauce, and egg whites, sweetened with maple syrup and Swerve. The frosting is whipped cream cheese blended with vanilla Siggi’s yogurt. Prep takes about 10 minutes, and the bars bake in 40, so they’re an easy pan to bring to Thanksgiving.

Healthy Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars (gluten-free)

Inspired by the coffee shop favorite, these Healthy Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars are gluten-free blondies made with applesauce, white chocolate, and dried cranberries. A lighter cream cheese and yogurt frosting goes on top with a white chocolate drizzle. They take about 35 minutes and bring a festive cranberry touch to the dessert table.

No-Bake Date Brownies with Peanut Butter Caramel

Made from Medjool dates, walnuts, cocoa, and coconut, these No-Bake Date Brownies with Peanut Butter Caramel are pressed into a pan and topped with a salted peanut butter caramel sweetened with a little maple syrup. There’s no oven involved. They keep up to a week in the fridge, so you can make them days before the holiday.

Flourless Sweet Potato Brownies

Mashed sweet potato, almond butter, raw cacao, and maple syrup come together with just one egg in these Flourless Sweet Potato Brownies. Dark chocolate chips go on top before baking. They’re ready in about 30 minutes and use up a leftover sweet potato, which is handy the week of Thanksgiving.

Healthy Banana Brownies Recipe {No flour!}

Ripe bananas, eggs, cocoa powder, and a little honey make these Healthy Banana Brownies rich and chocolatey without any flour. Chocolate chips stir right into the batter. They take about 35 minutes. Pull them when the edges are firm and the center is still slightly soft, and they’ll stay fudgy.

Healthy Millionaire Shortbread (Vegan + Gluten-free)

This Healthy Millionaire Shortbread layers a coconut flour and maple shortbread, a date and almond butter caramel, and a dark chocolate topping. It’s vegan and gluten-free. Each layer chills before the next goes on, so it’s best made ahead, which frees up time on Thanksgiving Day.

Red Wine Poached Pears

Featuring Bosc pears, these Red Wine Poached Pears simmer in red wine, orange juice, honey, cinnamon, and cloves until tender and deep red. They take about 45 minutes. Make them a day ahead and serve them chilled or at room temperature with a spoonful of whipped cream for a lighter, elegant finish to the meal.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

This Crustless Pumpkin Pie bakes a classic spiced pumpkin filling made with evaporated milk and eggs without any crust, so it’s naturally gluten-free. Part of the sweetness comes from maple syrup or honey. It needs about 3 hours to cool, so bake it the day before, and it keeps 3 days in the fridge.

Vegan & Paleo Pecan Pie Bars

With an almond flour and coconut oil crust, these Vegan & Paleo Pecan Pie Bars are topped with a pecan filling sweetened with coconut sugar and maple syrup. They’re vegan, paleo, and gluten-free, and one 8×8 pan makes 16 bars. Make them a day ahead so they have time to chill and slice cleanly.

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie

Baked sweet potato is blended with coconut cream and tapioca starch for this Vegan Sweet Potato Pie, then poured into a gluten-free vegan crust. Coconut sugar and maple syrup sweeten it. The pie needs 4 to 6 hours to chill, so it’s a natural make-ahead dessert that keeps up to 5 days.

Gluten Free Dairy Free Apple Crisp

This Gluten Free Dairy Free Apple Crisp bakes about 2 pounds of apples under a topping of rolled oats, oat flour, pecans, and coconut oil, sweetened with coconut sugar. It’s vegan and bakes in 45 minutes. You can freeze it unbaked for up to 3 months and bake it straight from the freezer.

Healthy Apple Pie Crumble Bars

Rolled oats and whole wheat pastry flour make both the crust and crumble in these Healthy Apple Pie Crumble Bars, with a spiced apple filling in the middle. They’re sweetened only with maple syrup. A pan makes 12 bars, and they freeze well, so they’re an easy way to serve apple pie flavor to a crowd.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins (Easy, Moist & One Bowl)

Mixed in one bowl, these Vegan Pumpkin Muffins use pumpkin, applesauce instead of oil, almond milk, and whole wheat or gluten-free flour, sweetened with coconut sugar. They’re ready in about 30 minutes and make 12. Serve them as a light dessert, or set them out for Thanksgiving breakfast the next morning.

Easy Slow Cooker “Baked” Apples

These Easy Slow Cooker “Baked” Apples stuff cored apples with walnuts, pecans, raisins, and cinnamon, then cook them in apple cider and maple syrup. They’re gluten-free and grain-free. Since they cook in the slow cooker for about 2 hours, they keep the oven free for the turkey and sides.

Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Almond flour cookie cups are filled with a no-bake pumpkin cheesecake mousse in these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites. They’re sugar-free, with about 5 grams of carbs per two bites, and the recipe makes 24. Assemble them a day ahead for a bite-size dessert that works for guests watching their sugar.

Healthy Caramel Pumpkin Pudding

Blended with no cooking, this Healthy Caramel Pumpkin Pudding combines coconut yogurt, pumpkin, and warm spices, sweetened only with a date caramel sauce. It’s vegan, gluten-free, and about 130 calories a serving. Spoon it into jars and chill overnight for an easy individual dessert.

Gluten-free Gingerbread Cake

Molasses, applesauce, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves flavor this Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cake, a 9×13 snack cake that uses only half a cup of sugar. It bakes in about 30 minutes and makes 12 slices. It keeps 4 days at room temperature, so you can bake it early in the week.