Family Dinner Desserts Comforting Chocolate Puddings and Warm Crumbles
Written by jheelum basu | November 18, 2025
Thanksgiving celebrations are all about extending gratitude and spending quality time with family. Primarily celebrated in the United States, Thanksgiving is often known for preparing and sharing huge meals with family and friends. And after meals, come the delicious desserts to write the sweet culinary climax at the dinner table.
While carrying the same essence of family, gratitude, and shared meals at its core, the modern celebrations include several delicious desserts. Alongside the traditional ones, contemporary Thanksgiving dessert platters also include different types of puddings and fruit crumbles. While the milk-based sweet puddings bring that innate comfort, the baked fruit crumbles bring a fruity twist to the
family dinner dessert
menu.
Family Time and Desserts: An Age-Old Thanksgiving Tradition
Desserts are an indispensable part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Sharing deep-rooted ties with the harvest festival, the recipes prepared are often passed down through generations. Families often bond over baking the fall-inspired, pumpkin-flavored desserts together during this festival.
Pumpkin Pudding
This creamy, fall-inspired dessert is a common item on the dinner table during Thanksgiving. While it tastes like pumpkin pie, this pudding version comes with a lighter texture. Made with pumpkin purée, sugar, and spices, this lends a perfect warmth to the family dinner.
The recipe involves mixing pumpkin puree, autumn spices, milk, sugar, and a thickener like cornstarch. Once the mixture is ready, it is then cooked on the stovetop over a low flame. Prepared in minutes, this pumpkin pudding can be served warm or chilled. For garnishing, it is often topped with whipped cream.
Caramel Pudding
Caramel pudding, also known as crême caramel, flan, or caramel custard, is a popular baked dessert.
And the comfort it has to offer is unmatched.
With its soft, silky texture, this dessert offers an unmatched level of comfort.
This is a perfect example of a simple, easy homemade dessert that anyone can prepare without any hassle. This popular dessert is made from a simple mixture of cornstarch, milk, and sugar, topped with a layer of soft caramel sauce
. This Thanksgiving, prepare this classic dessert and enjoy it with family at the dinner table.
Chocolate Pudding
Thanksgiving is all about spending time with family. After busy work schedules, the dinner table is the only place to gather and share quality time with family. Post-dinner, a small bowl of chocolate pudding brings a sense of comfort and warmth that people love to share with family.
Usually served as a chilled, custard-like dessert, all this recipe takes are some of the pantry staples. To make this, start by heating milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch in a saucepan until it thickens. Here, the cornstarch replaces eggs for thickening. Cook the mixture for a minute once it starts to boil. Stir in some butter and vanilla extract. Once it is ready, allow it to chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving.
4. Apple Crumble
Apple Crumble, also known as Apple Crisp to many, is the most popular homemade fruit crumble. The dessert features nice caramelized apples on the bottom with a baked, crispy crumble on top. To prepare the classic dish, assemble flour, sugar, butter, and oats, the basic ingredients for the crumble topping. If more crunch is needed, one may consider adding almond flakes, nuts, and dried fruits of choice. Now, pour the crumbles over the peeled and diced apples mixed with maple syrup, cinnamon. Allow it to bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes. Once baking is done, one may consider adding some cinnamon to further enhance the flavor profile.
5. Berry Crumble
This variety of homemade crumbles features a warm, gooey, baked berrylicious filling made from mixed berries. The dessert is often topped with a sweet, crumbly topping of flour, sugar, butter, and oats. This simple yet very popular dessert can be made with fresh or frozen berries. It is often served warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
For the filling, various berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries) can be used with added sugar and lemon juice. Using a pinch of spice for flavor is entirely optional. Once baking is done, serve the simple dessert with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream.
Sometimes, the feeling of gratitude is best expressed through desserts made with love and care. This Thanksgiving, make the family dinner more memorable with these pudding and crumble desserts.