So, Thanksgiving desserts. Every year it’s the same story, right? Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, stuff loaded with sugar and butter. Felt like I needed a change last year. My energy levels after the big meal were just tanking, and honestly, I was getting a bit tired of the same old heavy stuff.
I decided I’d tackle making some healthier options. Didn’t want rabbit food, just something… lighter. Less guilt-inducing, maybe?
Finding the Recipes
First step was figuring out what to actually make. I started searching around online. Man, there’s a lot of ‘healthy’ dessert stuff out there. Some looked okay, but others? Using ingredients I’d never heard of, or complicated steps that just screamed ‘disaster waiting to happen’ on a busy Thanksgiving morning. I ditched those pretty fast. I needed simple.
I ended up settling on two ideas:
- Baked Apples with an oat crumble topping.
- A Crustless Pumpkin Pie thing – basically the filling without the buttery crust.
Seemed manageable. Ingredients I mostly recognized.
Getting Down to It
The Baked Apples: This was pretty straightforward. Got myself some nice firm apples, I think they were Honeycrisp. Washed them, then took out the cores. Had to be careful not to go all the way through. Made a little bowl inside the apple.
Then, I mixed up some rolled oats, chopped pecans, cinnamon, a tiny bit of nutmeg, and just a drizzle of maple syrup. Not too much, just enough to hold it together and add a hint of sweetness. Stuffed that mix into the apples. Popped them into a baking dish with a little water in the bottom so they wouldn’t dry out. Baked them until they were tender. The kitchen started smelling amazing, way better than just sugar.
The Crustless Pumpkin Pie: This felt a bit like cheating, but hey, the crust is where a lot of the fat and calories hide. I just mixed up the pumpkin puree, eggs, spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves – the usual suspects), and used coconut milk instead of evaporated milk. Sweetened it lightly with maple syrup again. Poured the whole mixture into a pie dish – no crust. Baked it until it was set, like a regular pie filling.
The Result & Thoughts
Okay, so how did it go? The baked apples were a huge hit. Seriously. Even my uncle, who usually only eats the classic pie, tried one and actually liked it. Said it wasn’t ‘too weird’. That’s high praise coming from him.
The crustless pumpkin pie? It was good! Tasted just like pumpkin pie filling. Some people missed the crust, not gonna lie. My sister mentioned it felt a bit ‘naked’. But nobody disliked it. It served its purpose – pumpkin flavor, festive feel, but way lighter.
It made me think, you know? We get so stuck on traditions, especially food. Thanksgiving feels like it has to have certain things, prepared a certain way. But last year, doing this slightly healthier thing, it didn’t ruin the holiday. We still had the big meal, the family time, everything. Just felt a bit better afterwards. Didn’t have that immediate urge to hibernate for three days straight.
It wasn’t about making everything super ‘healthy’ or depriving anyone. Just making small adjustments. I gathered the ingredients, I chopped, I mixed, I baked, and it turned out okay. It wasn’t some miracle cure, just a practical change. Felt good to actually do it instead of just thinking about it. Probably gonna try some other lighter options this year too.
