23 Pumpkin Desserts That Aren’t Pie

Credit: Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf

Pumpkin pie may be a fall staple, but there are plenty of other delicious ways to enjoy this seasonal favorite! From cozy cakes to cookies and brownies, these creative pumpkin desserts offer something for every sweet tooth. Whether you’re looking for a treat to share at a fall gathering or simply craving something sweet, recipes like our Pumpkin Trifle and 2-Bite Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts are perfect for celebrating the flavors of fall.

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Pumpkin Trifle

Credit: Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
Credit: Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf

We think this pumpkin trifle is the best dessert you’ll enjoy this fall, combining layers of pumpkin spice-flavored cake and a creamy pumpkin filling that captures the season perfectly. As a time-saving shortcut, we use vanilla pudding mixed with canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice for the filling, making it both easy to prepare and delicious. This festive dessert is sure to be a hit for the holidays or at any autumn gathering!

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2-Bite Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts

Credit: Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
Credit: Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco

These mini pumpkin cheesecakes are a festive dessert for any gathering, especially Thanksgiving. Feel free to sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top to amp up the warm, cozy flavors. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can make your own with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Use leftover pumpkin puree in muffins, soup and more.

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Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Credit: Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Credit: Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

These super-tender pumpkin sugar cookies are perfectly spiced with just the right amount of pumpkin pie spice. The optional frosting is a sweet addition that adds even more warm fall flavors. Add just a touch of orange food coloring to the frosting to make these pumpkin sugar cookies pop. While you may be tempted to use all the dough, the cookies get tougher the more times you roll, so it’s best to re-roll the scraps only once.

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Pumpkin–Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Credit: Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood.
Credit: Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood.

These pumpkin–chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are a soft, chewy dessert that blends fall flavors with just the right amount of sweetness. Pumpkin puree adds moisture and a lovely orange hue, while warm pumpkin spice enhances the seasonal vibes. Studded with dark chocolate chips, each bite is the perfect balance of sweet and spice.

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Yellow Pumpkin Frame (Pumpkin Cake)

Credit: Photographer: Jake Sternquist, Food Sylist: Sammy Mila, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
Credit: Photographer: Jake Sternquist, Food Sylist: Sammy Mila, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali

This Indonesian bingka labu kuning, or pumpkin cake, is a wonderful alternative to pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. A versatile cake, bingka’s core ingredient can comprise assorted root vegetables, from cassava to sweet potato and, yes, pumpkin. Once baked, it has a firm outer skin and a rich, custardy filling. Roasting your own pumpkin flesh is preferred, but you can use canned pumpkin in a pinch.

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Fudgy Flourless Pumpkin Brownies

Credit: Teresa Sabga
Credit: Teresa Sabga

Pumpkin spice meets chocolate: a match made in heaven. The hypnotizing smell that fills your kitchen when these brownies are done baking is unbeatable. If you don’t have canned pumpkin puree on hand, you can make it from scratch. If you don’t like pumpkin, butternut squash and sweet potato purees will work interchangeably, too. And feel free to store any extra brownies in the fridge for up to 7 days.

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Pumpkin Brownies

Credit: Sara Haas
Credit: Sara Haas

These healthy pumpkin brownies are packed with mini chocolate chips. Warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves pair well with the chocolate for a seasonal twist on a classic dessert. The batter will be thick, so be sure to spread it in an even layer for even baking.

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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Credit: Sara Haas
Credit: Sara Haas

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice are delicious seasonal additions to a classic snickerdoodle. The spice blend adds warming notes thanks to the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. These healthy pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies are light and moist, making them the perfect sweet treat.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte Cookies

Indulge your PSL obsession with these pumpkin spice cookies. Instant espresso powder gives these soft, cakey cookies a subtle yet recognizable coffee flavor. Spread with cream cheese frosting (with more pumpkin pie spice flavors) and sprinkle with cinnamon to finish. And, go ahead, drink a pumpkin spice latte while you eat them for the full PSL experience. After all, it’s only fall for so long (though we’d eat these cookies year-round). To make these cookies kid-friendly, simply omit the espresso powder.

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Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

The deep flavors of molasses, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg make these wholesome pumpkin cookies delicious without the addition of butter—and they lend themselves beautifully to the inclusion of whole-wheat flour. They are also the perfect texture for a sandwich cookie—fill them with a slightly sweetened cream cheese frosting.

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Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

Pumpkin swirl cheesecake is a delicious dessert that everyone will love, especially during the holiday season.

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Basic Crustless Pumpkin Pie

This low-fat crustless pumpkin pie is a perfect dessert for the dieters at your holiday meal or people who are watching their carbs.

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Pumpkin Dump Cake

This pudding-like pumpkin cake has a luscious cream cheese swirl amid the spiced pumpkin layer. Organic cake mix is “dumped” on top, then the cake is smothered with butter. Once baked and cooled, the mix forms a sweet and crispy topping.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Classic chocolate chip cookies get a fall update by mixing in pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Not only are these pumpkin cookies even more flavorful than regular chocolate chip cookies, they’re also oh-so-soft and cakelike. Use chocolate chunks for big gooey bites of chocolate or opt for mini chocolate chips to ensure a bit of chocolate in each bite.

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Healthy Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

These tender pumpkin-oatmeal cookies have the perfect amount of sweetness from brown sugar and raisins and a slightly nutty flavor from almond butter. Enjoy them as an after-school snack or a healthy dessert. Several testers also said they’d love to eat them with a cup of coffee in the morning.

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Easy Pumpkin Dump Cake with Streusel Topping

A dump cake recipe is exactly what it sounds like–you simply dump all of the ingredients into a pan and bake. There isn’t a step where you stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture; instead, it goes into the baking pan in three stages and the result is a pudding-like cake with a streusel-like topping. The two parts together are delicious (and you’d be hard-pressed to find an easier fall dessert)!

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Mini No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Credit: Sara Haas
Credit: Sara Haas

Make these healthy no-bake pumpkin cheesecakes for your next party or gathering. These mini cheesecakes can be made ahead of time and are already portioned out, so they’re easy to serve. Look for graham cracker crumbs in the baking aisle of major supermarkets, or make your own by pulsing graham crackers in a food processor until fine.

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Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Credit: Sara Haas
Credit: Sara Haas

This healthy pumpkin sheet cake is perfectly spiced from the pumpkin pie spice blend, a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. A tangy, sweet cream cheese frosting helps balance the flavors. This cake is perfect for any fall gathering.

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Pumpkin Roll Cake with Pecan-Cream Cheese Filling

Many pumpkin roll cakes have the starring ingredient only in the cake, which is a missed opportunity to enjoy all the flavor, plus you end up with leftover canned puree sitting in your fridge. Here, the remaining pumpkin is whipped with cream cheese, pecans and crystallized ginger for a tangy filling.

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Chocolate-Swirled Pumpkin Loaf Bread

Chocolate and pumpkin flavors pair perfectly together in this diabetic-friendly loaf bread recipe.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

For bigger hits of chocolate goodness, use chopped bittersweet chocolate in place of the chips. Hold on to the leftover pumpkin puree–it’s yummy stirred into your morning oatmeal or yogurt.

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Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

Get your pumpkin flavor fix with this diabetic-friendly crème brûlée recipe! Allow for ample time for this recipe to chill and set before adding the melted sugar topping.

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Pumpkin Cake with Dried Cranberries

This pretty pumpkin-cranberry Bundt cake is a delicious alternative to holiday pumpkin pie.

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